An Irish Celebration
March 12, 2008 by Andrea 
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Filed under Holidays
It’s that time of year when those of us with at least a little Irish blood running through our veins like to celebrate our heritage with a few traditional foods and beverages. My side of the family has a primarily Irish and Scottish background, and we do like wear green on St. Patrick’s Day. We’re going to visit my parents next week during Spring Break, so we’ll have a chance to celebrate with family this year.
For breakfast I’ll make some Irish Soda Bread (photo above) and then for dinner we’ll enjoy an Irish stew my mother is planning to make. We particularly love this Irish Beef Stew recipe I found on Epicurious. It’s been mentioned all over the food blogs in the last few years, so I won’t repost it here, though I will say that I use Yukon Gold potatoes rather than russets and I like to toss in a few meat bones to give it more beefy flavor. Adding the Guinness or a good porter beer is a must! If you decide to make it in a slow cooker, make sure you saute the meat and vegetables first because it really does add wonderful flavor. After sauteeing the vegetables I like to deglaze the pan with a little bit of the broth and add it all to the pot.
For beverages, I’ll enjoy some Irish Cream and Michael may have a Guinness. Though Baileys Irish Cream is the most popular in the United States, my personal favorite brand is Carolans, and I like it to drink it with milk, though other cocktails are also quite yummy! It also makes a delicious brownie ice cream sundae, just top a brownie with a scoop of ice cream and pour Carolans on top.
Lovely Irish Soda bread. I always made it when my boys were little. So simple and so good.
I was just talking to mom yesterday about how I have never made an Irish soda bread. Is it because i don’t have a drop of Irish blood in me?
Yours looks great!
Tanna, my boys love it! The recipe makes two loaves, but they don’t last very long at our house.
Susan, I hope you get to make it sometime!