St. Patrick Celebrations

Being a wee bit Irish, I always celebrate St. Patrick's Day! This year, our local businesses organized a St. Patrick's Day parade and festival that was held on Saturday. It was a cold and windy day, but everyone seemed to have a good time.

My favorite part of St. Patrick's celebrations are the music and the dancing. We saw a young Irish step dance group perform at the fest. They had to wear their Irish sweaters to stay warm. The littlest girls were so cute! I took a short video to share:

Terry and I couldn't resist these green cupcakes!

I made a batch of Irish stew and baked some Irish soda breads. We have plenty of leftovers to celebrate again on Thursday! I thought I'd share my recipes with you all.

Everybody can be a little Irish on St. Patrick's Day. Have fun!

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Irish Stew

Serves 4

1 tbl. olive oil

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, chopped

5-7 small waxy white potatoes, quartered

1 lb. baby carrots

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups low sodium veggie broth

1/4 cup dry red wine

2 bay leaves

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1-1/2 cups roughly chopped cabbage

1 tsp. dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

1 can chickpeas or cannellini beans

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and celery, cover, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the potatoes, carrots, garlic, broth, wine and bay leaves. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer on low for 15 minutes.

Add the soy sauce, cabbage, thyme, salt and pepper, cover and cook for 15 more minutes.

Add the beans and gently simmer 10 more minutes.

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Irish Soda Bread

Makes 2 loaves

5 cups white flour

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 to 3 cups of fresh raisins

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup powdered sugar

2-1/2 cups milk

3 tbl. white vinegar

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 stick butter

Pour the milk into a container and add the vinegar. Let sit for at least 5 minutes until milk curdles.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, powdered sugar and salt. Cut in the butter until mixture forms fine crumbs. Fold in the raisins. Add the curdled milk and egg, blending only until flour mixture is moistened.

Generously butter 2 loaf pans and divide the batter between the pans. Bake at 350° for 1 hour. Cool briefly in pans, then remove and cool on wire racks. Serve with butter or honey.