Happy St. Patrick's Day

Are you Irish? Well, isn't everyone on March 17th.

I grew up south of Boston. The small town I grew up in was an interesting mix of Irish and Italian. Seriously. I went to school with the McGrail's, MacInyre's, McGee's, Murphy's, O'Neil, O'Connor's...and the Sarro's, Cucinotta's, Patalano's, Scarpellini's, DeTrolio's. It seemed like you were either Irish or Italian. St. Patrick's Day was big in our little town, as it is in most of Massachusetts. I have since moved away but, I will be making the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner that I grew up with. I can't imagine a St. Patty's Day without it. My mom would make it every year. She also bought a cake with green frosting from a woman she worked with. We looked forward to both every year.

One time about 4 years ago, my husband was traveling on business and I went with him. We had a little kitchenette in our hotel room and since we were there over St. Patrick's Day, I could not skip the traditional dinner. It's just not the same St. Patrick's Day for me without it. We had a little kitchenette in our hotel room and I managed to scrap up enough pots and pans to cook up the traditional fare of corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes. Of course, they don't give you a giant pot in those little kitchenette, so I remember having to use 2 smaller ones. I boiled the corned beef and potatoes in the large of the 2 pots and figured that the carrots would give a bit of flavor to the cabbage in their own pot. I didn't want the carrots and cabbage to have none of the salty flavor that comes from the corned beef, so I remember clearly playing this crazy game of taking liquid out of the cabbage pot, adding liquid from the corned beef pot and switching it all around quite often so the flavors would all come together. It turned out delicious. One thing I didn't consider is the unmistakable smell of boiled cabbage filling the hallway of our hotel!

We will be off to the local brew pub tonight for a pint. I recommend surrounding yourself with other St. Patrick's' Day revelers. It proves to make the night more exciting, educational and often eye opening!

Tonight I will be also making bread pudding with whiskey sauce for a desert. I have never made it before, but found the perfect recipe. I will be sure to post the recipe.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! East Coasters...start your Corned Beef....