Burns Night Supper

So my husband and I did a thing we never in a million years thought we’d do. 

We hosted a dinner party for twenty in our home. 

And not just any dinner party, mind you. No, we had a full-on Burns Night Supper! 

Do you know what a Burns Night Supper is? Well, let me enlighten you if you don’t! 

Every year on January 25, Scots all over the world—and especially in Scotland—celebrate the birthday of Robert Burns, or Rabbie Burns, as he is informally known. If you still are scratching your head, Robert Burns was an eighteenth-century Scottish poet. He died young but wrote a ton of poetry. You’d recognize many of them, I promise, but perhaps the most well-known is “Auld Lang Syne,” you know, the song you sing on New Year’s Eve as the ball drops. 

Anyway, ever since our trip to Scotland a couple of years ago and discovering through Ancestry DNA testing that we both have a high percentage of Scottish genes, Jeff has wanted to host a Burns Night. And when he realized January 25th was on a Saturday night this year, he decided it was time. 

Ok, so a little bit about us. We are not party people. We are both introverts, although he plays an extrovert sometimes at work. We certainly not “let’s throw a party” people. At. All. But once Jeff latches onto an idea, he is all in. 

The first decision was invitations. Yep, we sent them through the mail. But guess what? He designed and ordered them! Of course, it helps that all those sites have examples of every kind of invitation, even Burns Night. He ordered twelve. 

“Twelve couples?” I tried not to sound panicked. “You know that’s twenty-six people including us.” 

“They won’t all say yes,” he said. “We’ll have two or three couples, max. It will be fine.

We ended up sending eleven invitations. Nine couples said yes. 

So . . . food. Jeff wanted to go traditional, so he found a Scottish bakery in Michigan that ships. He ordered haggis, sausage rolls, neeps and tatties, and shortbread. We filled in with oatcakes from another online store, clotted cream, mashed potatoes, broccoli, salmon, and (thank you, Costco) shepherd’s pie. 

For dessert, he made ice cream to go with the shortbread (some servings of ice cream may have had whisky stirred in) and cranachan, a traditional Scottish dessert that is basically whipped cream and raspberry layers, with some toasted oats and whisky thrown in the whipped cream! 

Let’s just say no one went hungry! Or thirsty. Along with the traditional whisky, we also bought some of the second best-selling drink in Scotland—a soft drink called Irn Bru for our guests to try. We had plenty of Scotch and Irn Bru left over after everyone who wanted to try it did. Side note: Jeff and I went to the liquor store for the first time in our lives to buy it. We had no idea what to get, so we bought the bottle with a picture of Robert Burns on it, lol! 

Finally, Jeff was determined to bring a traditional Scottish feel to the night. He had a playlist of bagpipe music for “piping in the guests” and “piping in the haggis.” He had a playlist of Scottish folk music for dinner music. He picked out several Burns poems to read. 

He bought—and wore!—a kilt! (Yes, I bought some plaid pants, but they were on clearance and I’ve been wanting some to wear to Christmas parties for a while now!) He also got us Burns Night t-shirts to complete the outfits. 

Our guests joined in the fun. Several people wore plaid clothing. They also took their turns reading a Burns poem—some even attempting an accent. One of our friends played a traditional hornpipe song on his violin. When it came time to do the traditional “Toast to the Lassies” and the “Lassies reply,” Chat GPT joined the party! Of course, I think this part is where the Scots have an advantage after consuming so much whisky prior to the festivities, but I think our crew had a great time without being tipsy. 

Lots of poems.

Lots of toasts. 

Lots of laughter. 

It was a very fun night, but we were exhausted when it was all done! Thankfully, my sister and brother-in-law insisted on staying and helping us put our house back together before we headed to bed. 

My husband declared this the “first annual.” Me? I still a bit wary of trying this again. Partly because I know that the guest list will get bigger. But I’ll cross that bridge next December, when he brings it up again. 

Have you ever hosted a large dinner party at your house? Have you ever heard of or participated in a Burns Night Supper? Have you ever tried haggis?