Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

Every year, for the past who knows how many, I have made corned beef and boiled potatoes and soda bread for St. Patrick's Day.  Some years, I've made cabbage, but I really don't like the smell of cabbage, so the last few years I skipped cabbage.  Every year, everyone mentions how corned beef is a "once a year" thing and it's not really anyone's favorite.  In fact, it's just tolerated.

SO?  This year, I made a beef stew with a Guiness beer base.  Everyone loves my soda bread (which is a very basic recipe -- no weird additions -- just flour, baking soda, baking powder, egg & buttermilk.  No raisins or currants or caraway or any other weird thing in the bread that makes it look like bugs died in the flour and you used it anyway.) 

Dinner was delicious and everyone enjoyed it!  I used my slow cooker, which meant that even though I scrambled to get ready for my TV interview, dinner was cooked and ready when we were.  Soda bread mixes up quickly so it wasn't a big deal to make it right before we ate.

Another tradition left behind . . . and some days?  That's a good thing!