St. Patrick's Day Celebration

I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day yesterday (Irish or not!). St. Patrick's Day is my second favorite holiday of the year, mostly because of the food. I know many people (including my husband) are skeptical about the "boiled dinner", but until you've had it right, don't judge it (I will say after having a real St. Patrick's Day dinner Jason now really enjoys it)! I have to say I topped myself this year--dinner was delicious!

Of course I had to get my little Irish gal in a cute green outfit.



She was more interested in rolling around then posing for a picture. Lately she loves falling forward from sitting up and rolling through to her belly. Talk about flexible!



Sadly Aspen will have to wait til next St. Patrick's Day to have her first of many corned beef meals, but I did plan for her to have some green peas for lunch. She was having a good time feeding herself.



This year I took on the challenge of making homemade Irish Soda Bread. It was really easy and delicious. It has inspired me to try out some other breads in the future. Our house smelled like a bakery when the bread was in the oven. You can't beat that!



Recipe: (Makes enough for two loaves. I halved it, but in the future I would make the full recipe and freeze one of the loaves.)
* 4 cups bread flour
* 1 tablespoon double-acting baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 cup raisins or dried currants, rinsed in hot water and patted dry
* 1 tablespoon caraway seeds
* 2 cups buttermilk

Into a large bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the salt, and the baking soda and stir in the raisins and the caraway seeds. Add the buttermilk and stir the mixture until it forms a dough. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead it for 1 minute. Halve the dough, with floured hands shape each half into a round loaf, and transfer the loaves to a lightly greased baking sheet. Cut an X 1/4 inch deep across the tops of the loaves with a sharp knife and bake the loaves in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Transfer the loaves to racks and let them cool.



Of course I also prepared a corned beef dinner. I boiled the corned beef for about 2 1/2 hours and then added turnips, cabbage, fingerling potatoes, carrots, and onions for the last hour.



You of course have to serve this meal with butter and I like to put mustard on the meat too.



We had a great St. Patrick's Day with wonderful food, drink, and company!