Today's sheep and oatmeal news

[Dave W]

US to lift 21-year ban on haggis

Still sounds revolting to me.

OTOH, this survey claims that 26% of kids in the UK think bacon comes from sheep, and 29% think oats grow on trees.

[Pilgrim]

"For the past two decades, Americans of Scottish descent, of whom there are at least 6 million, have been forced to celebrate Burns' night without a true haggis, much to their distress."

Perhaps they'd have had MORE distress if they'd actually eaten the stuff.  

[Highlander]

HOOTS MON...!

(hasn't been a genuine haggis in our house for that long too... )

Raising a dram to the haggis (veggie style) tonight... 

[Denis]

US to lift 21-year ban on haggis

Still sounds revolting to me.

OTOH, this survey claims that 26% of kids in the UK think bacon comes from sheep, and 29% think oats grow on trees.

Sheep bacon? That's an odd thought. A poll I read recently indicated that 10% of those polled didn't believe Hawaii was a state. It's not uncommon to hear someone say the capitol of New York is, uh, New York City.

[Highlander]

Britain's in a terrible "State..."  

[gweimer]

US to lift 21-year ban on haggis

Still sounds revolting to me.

OTOH, this survey claims that 26% of kids in the UK think bacon comes from sheep, and 29% think oats grow on trees.

You mean it's not true?  I suppose you're going to tell me that pasta doesn't grow on trees, either...

[uwe]

Eating innards and liking it is something you either learn as a child or not at all a friend of mine once said. And he's right: I tried Haggis in an Edinburgh restaurant (actually a fancy place) for the first time about a year ago and it tasted great. Recommended. Like all folksy recipes it is probably very much down with how much love it has been prepared. 

But if you are from a well-to-do family like Dave is where eating innards was frowned upon ...

Next week, class, we'll learn about the enjoyment of eating humble pie, another innards dish, this time prepared from game.

Uwe

[Pilgrim]

In the US we are often known to eat crow, especially after football games.

[uwe]

The bird? That must taste kind of lean.

I once had a giant bat sloppy joe in the Seychelles. They're supposed to be solely fruiteaters (and get a constant high from mangos that are overripe) but to me they tasted distinctly carnivore. Definitely not like chicken, wings or no wings. 

[SKATE RAT]

"Eating Crow" is an expression. no one actually eats a crow.

[uwe]

And what does it mean? It must come from somewhere?

[Barklessdog]

Eating crow means, you having to take back your words in a unpleasant or forceful way.

Its original form, to eat boiled crow, first appeared in the 1850s in America.[1] Its exact origin is unknown but there are a number of explanations.
It may be related to the English idiom to eat humble pie.[1] The English phrase is something of a pun—"umbles" were the intestines, offal and other less valued meats of a deer. Pies made of this were known to be served to those of lesser class who did not eat at the king's/lord's/governor's table. Another dish likely to be served with humble pie is rook pie (rooks being closely related to crows).
It may also be the American version of "umble," since the Oxford English Dictionary defines crow (sb3) as meaning "intestine or mesentery of an animal" and cites usages from the 1600s into the 1800s (e.g., Farley, Lond Art of Cookery: "the harslet, which consists of the liver, crow, kidneys, and skirts." [2]

[Barklessdog]

Speaking of crows......

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18429-if-you-think-a-crow-is-giving-you-the-evil-eye.html

Wild crows can recognise individual human faces and hold a grudge for years against people who have treated them badly. This ability – which may also exist in other wild animals – highlights how carefully some animals monitor the humans with whom they share living space.


"We may think they are just bystanders minding their own business – but we are their business," he notes. "It's likely that they're incredibly perceptive of the dog and cat components of their environment, as well."


Crows, jays and many other birds have been wiped out near us from West Nile desease. Birds would just "drop dead".

[uwe]

Another idiom learned!

[Dave W]

Eating innards and liking it is something you either learn as a child or not at all a friend of mine once said. And he's right: I tried Haggis in an Edinburgh restaurant (actually a fancy place) for the first time about a year ago and it tasted great. Recommended. Like all folksy recipes it is probably very much down with how much love it has been prepared. 

But if you are from a well-to-do family like Dave is where eating innards was frowned upon ...

Next week, class, we'll learn about the enjoyment of eating humble pie, another innards dish, this time prepared from game.

Uwe

Well-to-do? Tell me more. Is there a family fortune somewhere I missed hearing about?

Best description of oatmeal I heard was that it tastes like something someone ate and regurgitated. Who knows, maybe the innards would make the taste palatable.