Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. While I am not even a wee bit Irish myself, I always enjoy the festivity of St. Patrick's Day. And since a little birdie told me that my internet friend Kathleen was hosting a wonderful St. Patrick's Day dinner at her beautiful home in Long Island, I baked some Irish soda bread using her recipe. And I must confess, my favorite thing about St. Pat's, is the food. Specifically, the Guinness beef stew.



We celebrated Saint Patrick's Day with Guinness Beef Stew. I found the recipe at Elise.com and we really enjoyed it. Every other St. Pat's day, we have the stew. Next year it will be corned beef which I make using a 3 lb. flat cut. I cook it slow, and then I finish it in the oven after I rub it down with brown sugar and Dijon mustard.



Since DH has some Irish blood, I put together a little collage for him.



I wish I could have picked fresh flowers from my garden, but the supermarket had some nice ones for this celebration. We finished the evening with St. Patrick's Irish Mist brownies and Irish Coffee. I found these beautiful crystal mugs at the Village Basement.




I am so glad that my internet friend Barb shared the recipe for her St. Patrick Irish Mist Brownies. They are excellent, and will be on my St. Patty's table for many years to come. Thanks Barb! Check out Barb's wonderful blog. Foley's Follies

St. Patrick’s Irish Mist Brownies

Brownies ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
2 (1 oz.) squares unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 eggs

Frosting ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar
1 (3 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
3 T butter, softened
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
5 drops green food color
2 drops yellow food color

Drizzle ingredients:

1 (1 oz.) square unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

Heat oven to 350ºF. Melt 1/2 cup butter and 2 squares chocolate in 2 qt. saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth (4 to 6 minutes).
Stir in all remaining brownie ingredients until well mixed. Spread into greased 8 in. square baking pan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until brownie just begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely.

Combine all frosting ingredients except chocolate in small bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Spread over cooled bars. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Cool completely; cut into bars. Cover; store refrigerated.

You will be in for a real treat when you check out Kathleen's Irish fare on her blog. She went all out.

click on this: Cuisine Kathleen

Irish Soda Bread....Kathleen

4 C flour
1 t salt
4 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 C sugar
2 t caraway seed
1 C raisins
1 egg
1 t vanilla
2 C buttermilk
1/4 stick of soft butter

Sift dry ingredients. Mix in the seeds and raisins. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix.

Add beaten eggs and soft butter, mix

Put into 2 greased loaf pans, or 1 10 in round. Slit the top with a knife.

Bake at 350 about 30 to 35 for loaf pans, 50 for round.
Brush with butter or milk 10 min before removing from oven.
Check center to see if done, do no over bake..

Thanks for stopping by! Happy St. Patrick's Day to you.
Debbie