Monday, March 16, 2009

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day

Bunnies
Good morning! I hope you all had a good weekend. Phillip went away on a mini business trip, so I deep cleaned the house and put out my spring decorations.

St. Patrick's Day figurines
My friend, Tina Leigh was worried I was forgetting about St. Patrick's Day and wanted to see more GREEN! Along with my spring decorations, I have these little figurines...

Shamrock napkins
and the shamrock napkins I made last year. The girls and Benjamin also have some mugs.

Pots of gold
And, we can't forget our little pots of gold. A leprechaun always hides them in our backyard, but I don't know anything about that. ;0)

Here is our St. Patrick's Day menu:

-Corned Beef
-Colcannon
-Spinach Salad
-Soda Bread
-Clarice's Chocolate Mousse
-Chocolate cupcakes

Soda bread

Irish Soda Bread

4 cups white flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400F. Sift dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center. Add buttermilk and stir together with a wooden spoon. The dough should be thick but not too wet. Turn dough onto a floured surface and form with hands into a round loaf. Place the loaf into a cast iron frying pan or heavy round casserole dish that has been greased with butter. Score the top in the form of a cross with a wet knife. Bake for 40 minutes. Bread should cool for an hour before serving.

Potatoes

Colcannon

1 pound new potatoes, peeled
4 leeks (or one bunch scallions), chopped
1 small cabbage, chopped
Milk (just enough to moisten potatoes)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon ground thyme
Salt and Pepper (to taste)

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook potatoes until tender. Slowly saute the chopped leeks and chopped cabbage separately until soft and limp (but not brown).
Mash the potatoes with a hand masher, then add the leeks and milk and mash together until smooth. Next mash in the cabbage, adding the heavy cream, butter, and thyme; blend well until smooth and fluffy. Season with salt and pepper. Put this mixture into an ovenproof dish and place under broiler to brown.
If the colcannon is prepared up to the point of browning ahead of time, reheat covered with foil in a 350 oven for a half hour. Uncover and brown under broiler.


Cupcakes

Cupcakes

Have a wonderful start to your week and if you are celebrating, a fun St Patrick's Day!

Wishing you always—
Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain
And tea beside the fire—
Laughter to cheer you
And those you love near you—
And all that your heart might desire!

36 comments:

Southern Bears said...

Kelli, your home is looking very crisp and pretty, just ready for
Spring.

The Old Parsonage said...

Ohhh the Colcannon sounds yummy. I made a brisket yesterday with coleslaw. Not your traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage, but Irish enough. I had to do it yesterday, as I work and the brisket took hours.

You have such a beautiful home. It looks so warm and inviting. Have a wonderful week.

BTW - Thanks for my goodies! They were delivered Friday. What a treat!!

Unknown said...

Lovely items and recipes.

I don't know anyone who eats corned beef here in Ireland, but it is obviously a big thing to do in US for St Patrick's Day! :)

Hope you join in my St Patrick's Day bloggy carnival which starts tomorrow.

BECKY said...

Love your St Patty's spirit!! Isn't it great to get some of that cleaning done?? We did a lot of it here, too!!

Have a joyful week, Kelli!!
Blessings,
Becky

KBeau said...

Sounds like a good menu. Happy St. Pat's.

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Love the napkins with the four leaf clove you put on and all the cute St. Patty's day decorations. Your menu sounds wonderful. Hugs, Marty

Anonymous said...

I'm not into the green on St. Patrick's day, but I love your ideas. So cute!!!

Linda C said...

Happy St.Patrick's day! Your decorations are so sweet-- love the napkins too!

Linda C

American Homemaker said...

I still haven't had a chance to pull out the rest of my spring stuff. I feel like a slacker :)

Anonymous said...

Your home is looking great and the bread sounds goo and easy.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kelli! Thanks for sharing your pics. I love the Mr. and Mrs. Leprechauns....or maybe they are just dating?

Now, I am going to visit Miss Tina Leigh and see if she has any green going on???? HE! HE!

Have an awesome week. Love, Debbi

Jennifer said...

Have a wonderful time - and a great week!

Lisa said...

Kelli,
Stop by for a visit! I've got your card display on today! Very pretty!

The Raggedy Girl said...

What a sweet St. Patricks post and I love Colcannon and think I will make that with my corned beef. Thanks for the recipe.

Happy Monday ♥♥♥♥
from Roberta Anne

Elena said...

Beautiful decorations and happy St. Patrick's Day!

Unknown said...

Your home looks lovely and ready for St. Patrick's Day. And your menu looks great! Have a beautiful day!

Carla said...

what a great post! Your bunnies are darling, and your little St Patty people and shamrock, love you recipes, thanks for sharing Kelli:)

Clare said...

I just love soda bread goping to give it a whirl thanks for recipe.

Now I havent found any gold in my gardeen they must of missed me :)

Anonymous said...

Kelli,
May sunshine be on your face! At my blog(top sidebar) I put a link about St Patrick on the shamrock.
Blessings,
Miriam :)

Gena said...

I love your decorations and that recipe for colcannon sounds so good.

The girls love St. Pat's day and we usually do something, but this year we are all under the weather and will probably just make it a pajama day!

Carrie P. said...

Very sweet decorations.

Susan B said...

Love your Spring, and St Patrick decorations! Have a wonderful St Patrick's Day!!

Tina Leigh said...

Whew!! I feel better now!! I was a little worried that you were gonna skip a holiday! I wonder if I could have called 911 from here?

I love the little leprechauns! So cute. Cant wait to see tomorrows post!

Mary Anne said...

I love your little figurines;-) And what a neat idea for a leprechaun to hide pots of gold in the yard! I've never heard of that tradition before. Really sweet. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Blessings,

Mary Anne @ Marigold Manor

joyh82 said...

Love those little leprachun people so cute! Have a Happy St. Pat's Day!

Irene said...

Enjoy the celebration!

Anonymous said...

i never thought to use that candy as pots of gold! thanks for the tip!

Sue said...

Kelli,
Very pretty decorations, thanks for sharing.
Blessings,
Sue

GranthamLynn said...

What a sweet post. I loved the new spring tour.
Blessings,
Sherry

Mimi Sue said...

It's looking very festive over at your house. Happy St. Patricks Day! Mimi

Michelle said...

Beautiful! I have never planned a St. Patrick's day meal. What a great idea!

SmilingSally said...

Top o’ the mornin’ to ya! Have a good St. Patrick's Day.

Tammy said...

I just love the little St. Paddy leprechauns! Adorable!

We're having corned beef and cabbage and watching The Quiet Man...something we do every single year! :)

When you get a chance, I hope you'll come on over to the Home School Open House!

Blessings,
~Tammy

TJ said...

I have never heard of colcannon, sounds good! We had corned beef, egg noodles and coselaw.

Hope you all enjoyed the meal!

nancy said...

Colcannon sounds just wonderful. I may try that!

Farrah said...

We had a St. Patrick's theme day for homeschool! It was fun!

I would love to try that potato recipe! :-)