The Feast of the Irish

We had our traditional St. Patty's day festivities here this year. Even though Mama had to work (and was fighting a cold), we still managed to scrounge up some green clothing and prepare a grand feast. Dad put together some colcannon and we made sure that we had plenty of beer on hand. We had the traditional corned beef, of course, but this year we tried baking it instead of boiling it (shocking, I know). I thought it would be fun to try something different, although I was a little worried about ruining the corned beef. It actually turned out really well and I'd be willing to try it again. Baked corned beef also has the distinct advantage of NOT boiling over all over your stove top (always a risk, especially if you never seem to have a pot that the corned beef fits in properly). Dinner was a big hit -- it seems that Max and Molly both highly approve of corned beef (or corned beef "hot dogs," as Molly calls them).

Although I ran out of time and energy for the soda bread this year, I did spend St. Patrick's Day Eve putting together a special St. Patty's Day treat. I ran across a recipe for Irish Car Bomb cupcakes and, political correctness aside, I decided I just had to make them. I'm not a fan of Guinness, but chocolate stout cupcakes, with whiskey ganache filling, and Bailey's frosting just sounded too tasty (and oh so festive!). Given that the kids would be consuming some of the goodies, I did make a few non-alcoholic cupcakes. They exceeded my expectations -- they were delicious. I could have eaten a vat of the Bailey's frosting all by itself.

After we tucked the kids in bed, Dad and I sat back with a couple cups of (Bailey's-enhanced) coffee, some cupcakes, and watched "The Quiet Man." It was the perfect end to a perfect evening.