Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, and the Irish-American tradition in this house, started by my mother-in-law, Carolyn (or "Mom" as I call her), is to have a dinner of corned beef,

cabbage

and mashed potatoes.

She passed this tradition on to me a few years ago, and it is a meal George and I look forward to all year. Another tradition is for George to work the festivities at Finnigan's Wake, a local Irish Bar. After he left for work, the kids and I, not wanting to go out on the roads with people who've been drinking since early this morning (crazy, I know, but itfell on a Saturday), watched the classic Irish favorites Darby O'Gill and the Little People

(yes, that is the hunky, pre-bond Sean Connery) and The Quiet Man,

one of my favorite movies of all time. That's my kind of St. Patrick's Day.

If you don't have any tartar sauce

Last night, while I was making some Archer Farms Pub Style fish bites, I realized I didn't have any tartar sauce. As I was reading the baking instructions on the box, I looked farther down and found the following recipe for tartar sauce:

Tartar Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbsp. chopped dill pickles (relish or capers - but I used the pickles)

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Combine ingredients in small bowl.

2. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I made some, and it was fantastic! If you're ever in a pinch for tartar sauce (which I'm sure happens all of the time), this is a winner. 

Our weekend...

My weekend started on Friday with another "day off" on which I ran errands (refilled prescriptions for both me and Harley, went to the post office, etc.), packed for our trip to Jacksonville, cleaned (a bit), and waited for Megan to get home from school. George and Danny

had gone over on Wednesday to be with Zachary while he's still going through his radiation treatments, so my preparations were just for me, Megan and Harley. One of the "errands" I ran was to Thomasville for a visit to the Sweet Grass Dairy Cheese Shop.

There I picked up some Georgia Olive Oil (I am so excited to try it!!!) and some Pecan Oil (which I use in Indian cooking and other recipes that require oils with lighter flavors).

After picking up Megan from the bus stop we headed out,

she watched Hugo, and we made it just in time for dinner. The next day, I was just plain exhausted and slept most of the day. Highlights of the day were a trip with the whole family to Santioni's (the Italian restaurant where I worked in high school), and seeing John Carter at the theater with George and the kids.

Sunday morning was relaxed quiet, so we went outside and smelled the orange blossoms on my dad's beautiful trees.

They smelled so divine, even Harley enjoyed smelling them.

I think she even ate a few. We really didn't get going until it was time to go see Granny. We got some good pics of everyone during our visit,

including one of Mom and Dad taking them!

It was a great weekend visit. Megan, Danny and I headed back late Sunday afternoon. Danny, who cried most of the way home, sure misses his daddy and Zachary, and can't wait to see them again. George will be home Friday, but Zac has a few more weeks to go.  We all can't wait until things go back to "normal," whatever that is. I miss my husband, and can't wait to have him back home. :(

My newest find...

Last week, on a late evening trip to Publix, George convinced me to buy a new cookbook, The Shamrock and Peach.

That night I embarked on a journey from Northern Ireland (Ulster) to the American South (Atlanta). The story and recipes are so compelling that I had to do some more research - in other words, I am in love with this book. Judith McLoughlin, Irish chef and caterer based out of Roswell, Georgia, runs a small shop called the Ulster Kitchen, where she sells Irish linen goods and teaches cookery. She also has a food blog called The Shamrock and Peach where she posts recipes and informational tidbits. Check is out - this is good stuff!

Finally, he got to play with his b-day present!

George finally got to use his big green egg this week!

Since the weather was nice, on his day off George cranked it up and smoked some ribs

(which we ate for dinner that night) and two boston butt roasts


(which we saved for later).






They were delicious, and he really enjoyed cooking them.

I'm so glad he's happy with his present!