Head of Dairy Diary; I'm passionate about producing high quality products that our customers will cherish. I'm also a mum of three and I enjoy cooking, walking, gardening and painting with my family, as well as printmaking (when I find the time!)
Burns Night celebrates the life and poetry of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Rabbie Burns, as he is affectionately known, penned more than 550 poems and songs before his death in 1796.
At a Burns Supper, Haggis is usually served (piped in with bagpipes should you own them!) with ‘neeps and tatties’ or swede and potatoes, mashed together with plenty of butter.
This Dairy Diary dessert, using Scottish whisky, is a perfect Burns Supper pud.
Following the meal; recitals of Rabbie’s poems and then a rousing rendition of Auld Lang Syne finishes off the evening.
Enjoy your Burns’ Night folks and Lang may yer lum reek.
20 fun facts about Robert Burns
The legacy of Robert Burns is incredibly impressive reaching far and wide across the globe and into the consciousness of some of the world’s most well-known people.
I have many ways of memorising different dates, but for leap years, the easiest way to remember it is that the millennium was a leap year. And therefore, any multiples of 4 after that date will be a leap year.
We need leap years to keep our modern-day calendar in alignment with the earth’s revolutions around the sun.
It takes earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds to circle once around the sun.
Having studied the history of maths at university (yes, I did have to precede the lectures with an early night and strong coffee), I find the decisions made by our ancestors to create the modern calendar quite fascinating. They didn’t have telescopes or computers to help them but instead had to work from observations and inferences.
The Gregorian Calendar
The ancient Roman calendar added an extra month every few years to keep in line with the seasons until Roman general Julius Caesar introduced the first leap year. But his Julian calendar had only one rule: any year evenly divisible by four would be a leap year. This formula produced way too many leap years. It was not corrected until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar more than 1,500 years later.
Aloysus Lilius
The Gregorian calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII from advice given by Italian scientist Aloysus Lilius. Aloysus Lilius was a philosopher, astronomer and all-round very clever guy who we must thank for making our diaries work perfectly. Or almost………
Even adding a leap day every four years, the figures are actually out by 26 seconds per year. So, by the year 4,909 it will need rectifying by a day. But I don’t think that’s something that we at Dairy Diary need to worry about planning just yet (we just have to deal with last-minute decisions to move Bank Holidays by Governments instead!)
After the excesses of Christmas, this delicious vegetarian recipe makes a quick, tasty and healthy meal.
Originating in Mexico, Quesadillas are, in essence, hot tortillas with a filling. A traditional quesadilla is made with a corn tortilla, filled with cheese and served with salsa and guacamole.
As our recipe uses a tortilla filled with a flavoursome Quorn mixture and just a little cheese it’s lower in saturated fat than the traditional version (unless you serve with copious amounts of soured cream of course!)
The new Roaring Twenties are now in full swing and many of us will be trying to stick to those tricky New Year’s Resolutions.
This year, I’ve decided to make an alternative affirmation, and rather than list the things I shouldn’t do (eat chocolate/drink wine!), instead I’ve made a list of the things I would love to do this year.
This list is without pressure; its title is the ‘Could Do’ list, which means that it would be lovely to achieve but is not essential. That way, I don’t feel as though I have failed if I don’t tick off everything on my list – quite the opposite of a Resolution, which I so often fail at.
The Could Do List comprises things that I would really love to do in 2020.
With the caveat that they are attainable (take 6 months off for an around the world trip is not on my list!)
I made my list over several days, and when I thought of something else that I really fancy doing, I added it. It’s at the back of my Dairy Diary so that I can refer to it or add to it whenever I choose.
Ranging from the small things (bake bread) so the larger goals (plan a long-haul holiday) I’ve tried to include ideas that will enrich my life and improve my wellbeing (slow down and be calmer). Thus aiming for a happy and healthy 2020.
Why not open your diary today and make your ‘Could Do List’.
It could change your 2020 for the better!
If you don’t have your diary yet don’t worry, Dairy Diaries are still available.
20 fun facts about Robert Burns
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