Still Celebrating St Patrick's Day

Even though we're all shuttered in right now, we can still celebrate St Patrick's Day. It's just having some ingenuity and imagination. A party is what we need right now so go to it.

It may be a little late for some foods but you can try tomorrow. There is corned beef and cabbage, an Irish-American dish that's easy to make. If you're busy with the kids, think a crockpot one ,flavored with beer. You can also make this for weekends for a festive change up from the usual. You can also grill it if you have your barbecue ready, Use a dry rub of cinnamon, mustard seed, ginger and cloves along with ginger and dill. You can also brine it in dark beer for a marinade. This is sweetened and spiced with brown sugar, pickling spices and onions along with garlic and cold water. If you've already had your corned beef and cabbage, then start tomorrow with corned beef hash. The kids will like this, especially with scrambled eggs. Just chop the meat and saute it with some onions and potatoes .  Create some nests in the hash for making eggs sunnyside up. As for the cabbage, try the traditional bubble and squeak which is frying up the greens with potatoes in butter. Serve with crispy bacon or even eggs for a different kind of brunch and lunch.

Irish soda bread is another must have for the day. Since everyone is inside , baking is easy and a great past time.It's a simple make, thanks to the recipe not using yeast,It's baking soda that gives the loaf its' rise. The recipe also uses buttermilk and egg too and is sweetened with raisins or currents. Think about turning  any leftovers into a tasty bread pudding. This is  a rich decadent bake, complete with heavy cream and eight eggs. You can also add cinnamon and cardamon for more flavor along with  freshly squeezed orange juice and zest. More raisins or other fruit such as blueberries can be mixed in. Any good bread pudding deserves a topping and you can top this one with a store bought or homemade caramel topping.. Once you've mastered the bread you can move on to Irish soda bread muffins and scones. The muffin recipe has some slight modification. Baking powder is added in this recipe to give the muffins some rise along with the addition of carraway seeds. Sugar is dusted on top for sweetness.  You can also make the scone version and serve them warm from the oven. There are even Irish soda bread cookies .It's the same recipe save with only using one egg. They sort of look like flat little scones and I guess you could put some butter on them.

We may be quarantined. Yet we deserve a party with good  food. Create a St Paddy's one with traditional tasty foods.