My Late St. Patrick's Day

Being part Irish, but not Catholic, St. Patrick's Day is purely for fun around here. But since I was working the on the Day Itself, I had to put off any celebration for a week. THEN we had a party.

Not a rowdy party. We're not that young. But we had four friends over and I cooked dinner and we listened to Irish music and had a good time. That's what it's about, isn't it?

Here's a side issue that I face everytime we have people over:

I've taken to setting up appetizers on a card table in the living room. It's the only way I can think of to get people to go in there. Otherwise, I swear that every party I have would take place just in the kitchen. With a small table and four chairs, we end up with a lot of people standing around. I don't know why this happens, but it does. It must have something to do with the layout of the house or the furniture. It's a straight shot from the front door to the kitchen, but you have to go left around a banister and left again between a table and the sofa to get into the living room. The way the furniture is arranged makes the living room kind of closed off. Maybe people feel trapped.

But I like the card table idea: for this party, I put on a nice spring tablecloth, some green and white flowers, and my Celtic Cookbook propped up behind all the food. I located several books about Ireland and spread them around the living room, so people could glance through them if they wanted. I had a tray of steamed asparagus and cut jicama surrounding a dip of goat cheese and chives. Another tray held crostini's with a bean spread. This was really colorful and quite good. The recipe is below.

I also put out a block of Irish Cheddar and made cocktails of Guinness and champagne (a Black Velvet). This all made for a nice time to sit around and catch up with our friends and their latest adventures.

Dinner was corned beef and cabbage, and I say "why not?" Maybe we're all peasant stock, but we loved it. The brisket was from a grass-fed cow and so tender it felt just like butter. The cabbage was from my CSA farm and so were the potatoes I threw in there. A few organic carrots rounded out the dish.

I also made that delicious Soda Bread - a crusty, brown loaf of tender wheat and buttermilk, with butter melting on each slice. Dessert was simple: sliced strawberries with whipped cream sweetened with Stevia. We served everything with a fruity Zin or a Sauvignon Blanc.

It was all wonderful.

So the holiday was done in style, with friends and love. It didn't matter at all, that it was a week late.

Bean Crostini (modified from Cooking Light):

1 bunch Kale or other greens (I used Swiss chard since that's what I had from the CSA)
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can cannellini beans, drained and washed
3 small tomatoes (plum works best), seeded and chopped
Salt and pepper
Baguette slices, toasted

Wash and chop the greens. Cook in 3 cups boiling water for 6 minutes. Drain, reserving one cup of liquid.

Sautee the onion, garlic, and oregano in the olive oil for 5 minutes, then add the beans, tomatoes, and reserved liquid. Cook for 3 minutes, and mash with a potato masher until beans are crushed, but not puréed. Add the greens and stir well. Let simmer until most of the liquid is gone.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread on toasted baguette slices and serve.