Saturday, March 19, 2011

St Patrick's Day at My House


St Patrick's Day Dinner Table Dressed in Green

We all wore green.

To celebrate Spring.

To avoid getting pinched by loved ones.

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day at my house.


See the pretty Irish linen tea towel with shamrocks that my Mom gave me years ago?

Each year I bring out the official Irish Linen shamrock covered tea towel that my Mom gave me years and years ago. I have never used it as a towel. Too pretty for that. I have always kept it pristine and have never even washed it. It is still as crisp and clean as the day she gave it to me. I only use it one day per year for St Patrick's Day decor. I treasure it because it reminds me of her.

So the table set in vibrant green colors, it was time to enjoy a green beverage as is tradition. We all have heard stories about drinking green colored beer on St Pat's Day, but this was dinner at home instead of a party in a bar, so we drank green colored wine instead:

Green Chardonnay ~ Pretty emerald color!

In past years I have made corned beef & cabbage in my crock pot, but this year I had a craving for something a bit more healthy and with less salt, fat and no nitrites/nitrates. So I purchased some inexpensive lamb shoulder chops/roasts (thin) and chunked them up to make my famous Irish/Greek Lamb Stew in my trusty crock pot instead. It was delicious, if I do say so myself!

Irish/Greek Lamb Stew

We each had two bowls full and between us we ate an entire loaf of homemade Caraway Seed bread that I had turned into warm garlic bread by slicing the loaf, adding fresh chopped garlic and olive oil and baking it in the oven until it was warm and crusty. I do think the men ate a bit more bread than I did. I only remember eating 2 slices. Note to self: must bake more bread.

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful St Patrick's Day however and wherever you celebrated it. What traditions does your family have for St Pat's, if any?



© Copyright 2011 Mountain Harvest Basket

5 comments:

Danni said...

I love all the sweet things you have around that remind you of your mom. She's always with you in one form or another - I bet this would tickle her so.
Jim and I toasted with Guinness in our Irish Guinness glasses, gave each other a couple of pinches even though we were both wearing green (lol) and talked about how much fun we had on our trip to Ireland last May. Then we ate tacos for dinner. :-)

Looks like your meal was delicious and well-appreciated!

Farmer Jen said...

Hi Danni,
Yes, I actually have lots of Mom-reminders around as she gave me lots of decorative and practical stuff for my home over the years. I am thankful I have them and still feel her energy when I use them.

Your Shamrock day sounded very cozy and romantic. I enjoyed the part about you eating tacos for St Pat's. Made me smile. True food-fusion.

Hardware Bob said...

Farmer Jen's lamb stew was totally scrumptious, the homemade bread absolutely perfect, the green wine was fun and a delight. The table setting and decorations would have made St. Paddy proud.

An Irishman, a Scot, and a beautiful Greek woman, we had a fun time honoring St. Patrick together. Too bad there were little leftovers to take home. Me, well I could have consumed an entire loaf of that caraway seed bread all by myself.

There are good ships,
and there are wood ships,
The ships that sail the sea.
But the best ships, are friendships,
And may they always be.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone

Farmer Jen said...

Hi Bob,
I am not only Greek, I am also Irish and Scottish (and English & Welsh), but mostly Greek. Thank you for your compliments and your friendship poem. St Patrick brings out the poet in you. That's the second poem you've quoted me this week.

I forgot to mention that we had your homemade apricot/peach pie for dessert. I forgot because I write my blog posts using my photographs as cues, and I did not have a photo of your pie. Sorry.

Danni said...

Oh man, one of these days I hope to try a piece of one of Hardware Bob's famous pies. Every single time I read about one, my mouth starts to water. :-)