Party time…

 

A St. Patrick’s Day Bloghop with Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen and a Celebrity Cook Along hosted by Lynn at Happier Than a Pig in Mud are happening this week. These are only two of the events this week. There are more but if I tried to combine them, it would take too long to read much less write. I am also joining REDnesday which is one of my new favorites hosted by Sue at It’s A Very Cherry World.

My mother loved Irish Belleek. You can read about it here. I did buy a shamrock plant but could not get a good picture of it.

The vignette for the St. Patrick’s Blog hop is done.

I found these vintage St. Patrick’s Day postcards on the internet at Vintage Holiday Crafts and printed them on white cardstock.

  

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

And dinner is almost on the table.

Corned Beef and Cabbage is an absolute favorite at our house.  I buy a corned beef with the seasoning packet in it but if you cannot find that pickling spice is a good substitute. I like the one made by Mosey but I have good luck with other brands as well. We are going out for dinner on St. Patrick’s Day but I am making the whole dinner anyway because I want the leftovers. I am also making Ina Garten’s Soda Bread to accompany the meal. Print recipe here.

Ina Garten’s Soda Bread

4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 tablespoon all purpose flour for dusting currants
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, ½ inch dice
1 3/4 cup buttermilk, shaken
1 extra large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup dried currants

Preheat oven to 375°. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and mix on low speed until butter is mixed into the flour mixture. Mix the buttermilk, egg and orange zest together with a fork and slowly add to flour mixture on low speed. Toss the currants with the 1 tablespoon of flour and add to the dough. This will be a wet mixture. Dump the dough on a well floured board and knead it a few time to make into a round loaf. Cut an X into the top and for for 45 to 55 minutes. The loaf should sound hollow when tapped and a cake tester should come out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes nice toast.

I am going to join Sue for REDnesday again this week. I have used this mixer quite a bit lately.

 

 

Mine wasn’t as pretty as Ina’s but I think I could have used a little more flour and few more turns with the kneading. However, it was absolutely delicious.

Thank you Ina for all your wonderful recipes.

Be sure to join the Bloghop and see what the other bloggers are doing with Ina’s recipes. REDnesday is a fun event too.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day