sf wrote:

> Yep and I'm wearing green too. I don't have a drop of Irish blood
> (that I know of), but everyone in the US is Irish on March 17, because
> it's fun. It's also a good excuse to eat corned beef (I'll let hubby
> eat the wilted cabbage). Why eat corned beef? It's a good beginning
> for corned beef sandwiches and corned beef HASH. I can hardly wait
> for the hash. Hash, topped with soft boiled eggs and hollandaise.
> Yum.

I've only got a droplet of Irish blood (my maternal grandmother was 1/16
Irish, as far as any of our family can tell), but I'm observing St.
Patrick's Day anyway. (I'm not sure "celebrating" is quite the accurate
term.)

Since I learned that corned beef and cabbage is not an authentic Irish dish,
I decided not to have it this year. But Lin is going out to buy corned beef
anyway, since the prices are so low. We'll have it sometime in the near
future, and I'm positive that corned beef hash will be made shortly
thereafter. I like corned beef hash with poached eggs and a mild mustard.
Tonight's menu is:


Cheddar with Sage
Pickled Onions
Irish Soda Bread

Guinness Lamb Stew with Carrots, Potatoes, and Turnips

Steel-Cut Oat Pudding with Dates
Coffee with Bailey's Irish Cream

(or http://i43.tinypic.com/w88euw.jpg for those who prefer the non-text menu
style favored by Mr. Bill.)


The pudding was made this morning, and is cooling in the refrigerator. The
onions have been pickled. The bone (with a fair amount of meat and
connective tissue on it) from the leg of lamb is currently simmering in a
mixture of stock, red wine, and Guinness.

The Irish soda bread will have to wait until Lin gets back from shopping;
the recipe I'm using calls for buttermilk, and there's no buttermilk in the
house.

Lin and I are members of the Mount Vernon Winery wine club. Part of the
membership includes a quarterly selection of three bottles of wine. We
picked up our bottles yesterday, and we're using one of them today: It's an
Alicante Bouschet, which is a fairly obscure variety. I looked up the wine's
characteristics, then opened and tasted it, and decided that a cup of it
could go into the stew, while the remainder of the bottle will be consumed
with dinner tonight. (The other two bottles were a Viognier and a Barbera.)

Bob