Happy St. Patrick's Day 2014!

Welcome! We are Shamrockin' the Farm!

Couldn't resist adding the seed catalog to the festivities!

Tower of treats from the farm and the Grower's Market. Red potatoes, parsnips, carrots, and Dead On Savoy Cabbage are all perfect crops for wintering over. 

Such pretty cabbage and the super sweet and delicate flavor is perfect for a quick dunk in the corned beef broth or sauteing...butter only!

Irish Chocolate Potato Cake, recipe here.

And, gluten free Chocolate Irish Potato Cupcakes!! Using the same recipe as above only substitute Namaste Gluten Free Flour.

Getting close to dinner time!

Irish Soda Bread:  

3 1/2 Cups flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

1 t. sugar

1 Cup Golden Raisins

2 Cups Buttermilk or Milk with lemon juice

Combine all dry ingredients and raisins.

Add milk and stir.

Place soft not quite sticky dough on floured counter top.

Knead about 15 times.

Shape into round loaf.

Flatten out.

Using a sharp knife cut a cross in the dough.

Bake at 430' for 20 minutes.

Reduce heat to 400', bake additional 20 minutes.

Remove from oven when thumping the bread sounds hollow.

Let bread rest for 30 minutes before slicing. 

Enjoy! 

Generations of Irish Girls! xo

Dinner is ready. Corned Beef was made following this recipe:

This is a bison brisket. The Irish call this particular cut of beef, the Silverside.

The Great Irishman ready for St. Paddy's Day meal:

Corned Beef

Cabbage

Kale

Boiled potatoes

Carrots

Deviled eggs

Irish Soda Bread

Butter

Apple Butter and

a blessing of thanks.

Feeling lucky to be on the farm with local food on the table.

Purple Velvet Shamrock plant!

Cead Mile Failte!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The day began with cinnamon rolls, coffee, and fresh snow in the mountains...also known as white gold at this time of year!

Corned beef is set to simmer and cook all day until it is tender and falls apart with a fork. It is seasoned with mustard seeds, bay leaf, whole black and red peppers, and basil.

Sunshine streamed through the windows all day. Canning shelves are more than half eaten and we feel so lucky that our garden produced enough to preserve to eat our farm food for a while longer.

Chives are loving the sunshine and are beginning to bulb at the tips for a lavender colored blossom. Leprechauns deposited golden chocolates on the counter top too!

A break in the mid afternoon for a toast and a blessing and prayers to our family and friends to live life in the ways of love, faith, hope, and charity.

Irish man, Tim, wit his traditional greeting of 'Happy St. Paddy's Day!'.

Irish soda bread with golden raisins is out of the oven and dinner is nearly ready to serve.

The sunshine continued into the afternoon and early evening as dinner was set on the table.

Corned beef, cabbage, boiled potatoes, carrots, bread and butter.

Late evening Irish coffees and a movie The Quiet Man, with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara finished off the evening of a perfectly green and lucky day!

~ Happy St. Patrick's Day ~

Here is a little journey through our day:


This quilt was handstitched by Grandma Wade with scraps from clothes she made for my dad and Aunt Billie Sue. The little photo in the middle of the shelf has my nephew David, Jolene and Karyn playing games through the window shelves at Ganny's house many years ago.


Beautiful roses and carnations were given to me from Tim, along with locally made candies in the Waterford crystal dish from Grandma Kelly. The quilt is a handmade gift from Karyn and has all of the grandchildren's names stitch on it. In the oval shaped frame is our two Irish girls when they were such tiny little people. xo


The breakfast of champions: farm grown sausage links, fresh eggs, and kiwi...well, the kiwi are green! My sister, Trina, can flip the eggs in the pan, but I never developed the proper wrist action. The eggs were cooked in the small iron skillet that was Grandad's and a gift from my mom.


The wonderful collection of cutting boards and wooden handled ulu knives are from Mom and Bob. The are the best made tools for the kitchen. The loaves of Chocolate Irish Potate Bread will be going to the Marks and Brown families. There are chocolate chip orange cookies on the stand.


The Irish Man at work for the college math classes he teaches. See the tree through the window? The moss really is that bright green color! Even walnut trees celebrate St. Patrick's Day!


Our Irish Girl, Jolene, made a special delivery from her cupcake shop, Cocoa. She created Luck-O-The-Irish Pops in a variety of colors and flavors, each one was a delicious treat.


The tasty Irish Pops stood perfectly in the "Maher" mug. Maher is my mom's family name. My grandfather's family ran a pub in Dublin.


The corned beef and spices are put to simmer on the stove top. The smell of Irish dinner fills the house all day long.


Time for a toast with a little Irish, whiskey for himself and a stout for her. The little Irish Shamrock was made by Tim's Irish grandmother, Margaret (O'Brien) Chiappetti.


The table is set and for dinner we will eat corned beef and cabbage, potatoes and Irish Soda Bread.


My Irish Sweetheart, who has the best taste in music. We are listening to Martin Marron with Charlie Austin on the fiddle. The perfect choice.


Slicing the Irish Soda Bread, which we decided we liked best with currants or raisins. Tanks for joining us and a very Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We celebrated St. Patrick's Day a few days late this year due to other commitments, but it was definitely worth the wait. We feasted on corned beef and cabbage, red potatoes, and Irish Soda Bread. Later in the evening we got to watch the Irish Classic: The Quiet Man with John Wayne. If you have never seen this movie, rent it, buy it, check it out at the library. It will be worth it!

Here is to you and yours!

May luck be our companion
May friends stand by our side
May history remind us all
Of Ireland's faith and pride.
May God bless us with happiness
May love and faith abide.

Slainte'