Happy St. Patrick's Day.

I have a corned beef and fixings, but the weather is really, really bad and I doubt I will be able to cook it today.

Looks like one of those PB & J days so far.

with a Slovak twist. I'm making Ishkosha (and that is probably not how it is spelled). It's small potato dumplings, smaller than gnocchis, mixed with chopped up cabbage sauteed in butter. Washed down with buttermilk and some canned plums on the side.

with carrots and new potatoes. Irish soda bread in the oven now and smelling luscious! Happy St. Paddy's!

Was my first time making it. The Corned beef was very tasty!! The carrots, potatoes and cabbage could have used a tip or two...

The first time a cook makes any recipe is always the most time consuming. Tip: cook the corned beef until it is tender, let it cool off in the broth then remove it to a platter. When it is cool, slice it into servings and cover it with wrap. Next, put your potatoes into the broth (and carrots if you want an extra veggie) and simmer until they are almost done. After that, lay thick slices of cabbage on top of the veggies and then lay the sliced CB on top of the cabbage. Lid back on, return broth to a boil and steam until cabbage is the degree of tenderness you like. That keeps the overcooked/undercooked veggies from happening.

Congratulations on your first traditional St. Patrick's Day feast! I bet you were very popular at your house!

It's my neighbors who are the frequent quinea.... uh.... recipients of my trials and errors. They tested three versions of pumpkin/butternut squash soup before Thanksgiving.

I haven't had a report back yet, but they really are good about giving me honest feedback. They also take care of my dogs when I go out of town, so a *very* small price to pay!! And we take turns shoveling in the winter time. Best neighbors EVAH!!!!!

So I thought the beef was great. I read a tip to take the beef out of the pot and finish it up in the oven, brushing with dijon mustard and sprinkling with some brown sugar. Made for a yummy glaze. Meat was very tender and sliced up easily after letting it cool a bit.

The veggies I added to the broth before the meat was done... potatoes about an hour... little later the carrots... and cabbage wedges for about 20 minutes. I was happy with the "doneness" of all those... but not happy with the plain jane flavor. Actually, the carrots were just fine. But I thought the potatoes and cabbage needed to be dressed up somehow.

All in all, I was happy for a first go around.

As you've already discovered, when you bond with food you bond tightly. That plain jane flavor...that's traditionally Irish. I jazzed ours up yesterday with Dijon mustard spiked with grated horseradish, and also a creamy white horseradish condiment I bought at the store. Made a loaf of Irish soda bread, too. So this morning we had a nice chunky corned beef hash made with baked potatoes, onion, and a dab of mustard, a shot of Worchestershire sauce, and a tsp. of sriracha. The soda bread toasted up nicely. Top o'tha mornin' to ya!

I did include a sauce made with sour cream, horseradish. dried chives and lemon juice.

I tried corned beef hash this morning... had the onion and the mustard... no Worchestershire sauce or siracha... but I still have leftovers!!

And, yes. Good neighbors are priceless. I feel very fortunate.

Now that I know you have leftovers, I won't have to worry about you for the rest of the day!

with my son. It'll be a treat for me since we're going to do a chicken and pesto. My daughter(who is in the UK now) doesn't like pesto but he loves it.

Apple sauce or sour ream?

I just put potatoes, carrots and celery on to boil. When they are half done I'll add the cabbage wedges.

I slathered the Corned Beef with whole grain mustard and cooked it in a bottle of beer. It didn't shrink as much as it usually does when I cook it on top of the stove. I put it in around 2:30 at 325 degrees. It's not quite tender enough yet so I'm giving it an other half an hour or so.

And it was delicious. We had it with dilly potato salad, and Russian rye bread. And some excellent English cucumbers with rice wine vinegar sprinkled over.

The potato salad may make me suffer -- carbs ya know.

--spaghetti and meatballs with homemade noodles, + sourdough bread and a salad.

I did a mozzarella, Parmesan, and basil quiche and a cheddar and caramelized onion quiche.