Haggis - it's never too early...

The freezer needs some serious consideration if I am to fit all the Christmas goodies in that I intend to for the two of us (And I know there's now three, but if you're not on solids, you don't count on this particular occasion). I found - stashed in the back from last January when I optimistically bought it for Burns Night - a haggis. Being pregnant at the time, it was the first Burns Night in a few years I had gone without my customary haggis fill, but I need the space in the freezer now and it seemed the perfect solution for a warming supper toute seule.

Wrapped in foil and bunged in the oven for 90 minutes, half of it was comfortingly savoury with chips (of course...) and some - oh the shame - Bisto roast onion gravy which I almost never use but can get you out of a culinary hole when time is tight and only thick gravy will do. The other half - well, all I can say is if you haven't tried a haggis sandwich, you haven't eaten the best this can offer. I fried some mushrooms in a pan with some butter, added the remaining haggis and cooked through until completely hot. I spread a little redcurrant jelly (I know but work with me) on a slice of white (home-made!) bread, then tipped the contents of the pan over said slice, topped with another and applied to face. It strikes me now it would have been less messy to eat in a bun of some kind, but it was a very Scottish take on a Sloppy Joe, a deconstructed burger dish of which I am inordinately fond.

Naturally, come January I shall be going down the traditional route once more, but as MCD isn't that keen, I might have half on Burns Night and save the other half for sandwiches again. Who knew...?

Too high a price to pay?

Too often we simply feed our faces without thinking of what it took - and what price was paid - to put the food on our plate. Melanie Reid's article on the tragic case of the Aquila - where 3 fishermen lost their lives this week - and what it actually means to be a scallop fisherman is both fascinating and disturbing.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/melanie_reid/article6723750.ece