Thursday, 17 March 2011

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY

I was born in Ireland: in the capital city, Dublin. So, for today, let me say: Céad míle fáilte - Welcome! (this is nearly the sum total of my Gaelic)

Being Irish by birth, I have always celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. My shamrock may have been suspiciously like clover but the green,white and gold ribbons tying up my bunches made for very effective camouflage.

The dinner for today, the one that is wafting meaty goodness up the stairs, came from a recipe I found on the Bloginity site. You can't smell how tasty it is but I have posted the details here and a picture too. For a change, the meat in my pot doesn't look too dissimilar ;)

St. Patrick’s Day Recipe: Corned Beef and Cabbage
Ingredients:
6 lb. corned beef
2 12-oz. bottles of your favorite beer
4 garlic cloves
3 tbsp. peppercorns
2 tbsp. mustard seed
1 tbsp. coriander
1 head cabbage
Directions:
Rub open faces of corned beef with garlic. Insert corned beef into large pot, and fill with beer. Add water if necessary to cover corned beef by one inch. Add spices, including garlic, and cover. Bring pot to boil then lower to a simmer. Maintain simmer for four and a half hours. Remove corned beef and allow to sit while you boil cabbage in the water from the corned beef. Enjoy!


Read more: St. Patrick's Day Recipe: Beer-Cooked Corned Beef and Cabbage 


Did I mention this is the fourth day of my notexactlyatkins inspired, healthy eating programme? I ate in a restaurant last night, and I spent ages selecting the driest Indian curry - no naan bread for me, thank you - keeping to the spirit of the programme ;) 


Today, I have had the bubbling beef speaking to me for nearly four hours and I've resorted to sucking the string on my borrowed, orange hoody  which I have teamed to co-ordinate with my green, satin dress and white leggings. 


Have you noticed St Patrick's Day is not about elegance? ;) Are you celebrating today?


Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh - Happy St Patrick's Day to you. :D 



ST PATRICK'S BREASTPLATE
(I found this on my trip around the blogs - wish I could remember where - it is SOOOO beautiful)
'I bind to myself today
the power of Heaven,
the light of the sun,
the brightness of the moon,
the splendour of fire,
the flashing of lightning,
the swiftness of wind,
the depth of sea,
the stability of earth,
the compactness of rocks.'
Posted by Unknown at Thursday, March 17, 2011
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12 comments:

  1. Golden Eagle17 March 2011 at 17:32

    Happy St. Patrick's Day! :)

    How cool that you're Irish! My mom's family is, too; they came to the USA from Ireland, way back in the 1600s.

    Thanks for the recipe! The extent of my celebration is wearing a green tee-shirt . . . LOL.

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  2. Unknown17 March 2011 at 17:42

    HI GE
    Happy St Patrick's Day. The wearing of the green - tee-shirt - is a great idea :D

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  3. Summer Ross17 March 2011 at 18:19

    Happy St pattys Day, I let my girls wear fun green feathers in their hair to school today, so I think that counts as celebrating. :) Your recipe sounds very yummy. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Unknown17 March 2011 at 22:58

    St Paddy would approve. The green feathers sound so cute - and yes it definitely counts. Happy St Patrick's Day.

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  5. Jolene Perry17 March 2011 at 23:04

    My kids see St. Patricks Day as a day to use green food coloring on EVERYTHING.
    The bread comes out of the oven in a few minutes, and while it smells awesome, it looks... not. awesome.

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  6. Angela Ackerman17 March 2011 at 23:30

    Woot, another recipe to add to my collection...thanks!

    Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  7. Maria McKenzie18 March 2011 at 00:11

    Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'll have to make that corned beef recipe--yum! Can't say I celebrate, but I did make sure the kids wore green to school:).

    Elaine, there's an award waiting at my blog for you!

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  8. Tricia J. O'Brien18 March 2011 at 00:49

    Happy St. Pat's to you, Elaine. I've baked my brown soda bread and am off to a friend's for dinner. :D

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  9. Unknown18 March 2011 at 08:29

    Hi Jolene
    I'm trying to imagine your green bread :D

    Hi Angela
    It was tooth-pickingly good ;)

    Hi Maria
    Thank you for the good wishes. It is such a tasty way to cook beef - if you are not in a hurry ;) I bet you kids looked lovely in their greenery.

    Hi Tricia
    Thank you for the St Patrick's Day wishes. Soda bread was a real treat when I was young - made with buttermilk. I hope your friends appreciated it as much as I did :D

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  10. Anonymous18 March 2011 at 10:37

    Your recipie looks great. I've enjoyed others celebrations vicariously rather than my own. I've baked soda bread a few years ago when I was on a no yeast diet. :O)

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  11. Margo Berendsen18 March 2011 at 22:44

    Couldn't resist commenting on that comment "St Patrick's daY is not about elegance" - love it! and yum, I forgot to make corned beef, maybe we'll make it tonight!

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  12. Unknown19 March 2011 at 00:13

    Hi Madeline
    Your soda bread sounds delicious. I love the smell of bread baking - there is nothing like it :)

    Hi Margo
    My outfit was colourful - I'll say that with pride :D
    The beef was amazing. The house smelled delicious, for hours - long before it was time to eat.;)

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