St. Patrick's Day

Jon and I met at a bus stop in Northern Ireland in the summer of 2004, and have been together ever since (although our relationship may have never taken off if I had been aware of the alcohol content of Strongbow Cider, but that's a different story for a different day).  Also, if you couldn't tell by the fact that our last name is Burke, our children are Conor and Finian, and our dog is named Seamus, we are of Irish descent as well.  I have some Italian and Portuguese mixed in there too, which Jon never lets me forget.

So yesterday was a big day at our house! We had my family over and served grilled malted barley sausages, colcannon, soda bread, baked beans, Irish cheddar, an Irish whiskey mousse cake, and molasses cookies with green sprinkles, making them Irish, right?  Oh, and entirely too much homebrew, Jameson, Magners cider, and Irish coffee.

Such fun. (I don't have any pictures of the crazy shenanigans with cousins here, because I don't like to post pictures of other people's kids, but just imagine a pack of under-4s dressed in green, running around the house pretending to be leprechauns.)

Grammy love.

At the table, Jon asked Conor to tell everyone "what we say" before we eat.   The four of us always say "slainte!," but we never say grace as a family. Last night, though, Conor responded: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" and I just about died of pride.


Because one blog can never have too many pictures of soda bread.

Ranunculus from the grocery store.  I needed a little bit of spring, even though we are getting ANOTHER snow storm tomorrow.

One of my favorite Irish blessings, which I read in a cookbook from the 1960s, is Slainte 'gus Saol agat:

 

Health and long life to you,
Land without rent to you,
The woman of your choice to you,
A child every year to you,
A long life, and may your bones rest in Ireland.