Luck O' the Irish!

Pshaw.

Who am I kidding?

Luck has absolutely nothing to do with all that went on in this old house this past weekend.

 The gathering that commenced had everything to do with the unmitigated, miraculous gift from the gracious hand of God.  Period.

 There is no other explanation of the incredible blessing that a gathering of that magnitude could take place.  There are schedules to orchestrate, travel in fickle weather, illness to hopefully stave off, menus to design, recipes to cull, bathrooms to clean, beds to make and all the endless everyday that happens in life.  
How else could this be done except His powerful Hand?

 And speaking of His Hand, what about the reason for our gathering?
To celebrate the lives of people that have profoundly influenced so many.

Hubby, celebrating an exuberant 60 years.

Miss Viv, whose birth altered my life forever, turning The Big Four.

My Thirdsie, my intellectual, philosophical, mercurial, hilarious son, turning a chapter in his life at age 28

My absent son in law, Baby Girl's Hubby, who makes us so proud and pleased to share him with his family, turning 26.

These special, special people were created and designed for this world, this family at this time, is nothing short of divine.

Former babies of mine, turning delightfully into the most wonderful of adults and bringing their babes into the gathering, is something that is not easy to describe.

Seeing parenting skills that are remarkably, comfortably familiar yet vastly improved upon, makes me smile down to my toes.

Watching the next generation play with the things of play of many years ago, brings to life the bygone days....

Feeling the joy of adding an additional Big Girl pretend granddaughter with all her wit and input and help, well -over the moon....

I think you get the idea.

*sigh*

Now, the REAL reason we gather:
The. Best. Corned. Beef. Recipe. Ever.

4 lbs corned beef brisket
2 onions, sliced
1 bunch parsley, tied
1 bay leaf
1 onion stuck with cloves
Pepper to taste
1 large carrot, sliced
2 lbs small round new potatoes
2 lb cabbage, cut in wedges

Place beef in large pot, cover with cold water.  Bring to boil; discard water.  Add fresh water to cover, and all the ingredients except potatoes and cabbage; bring slowly to boil, uncovered.  Skim foam.  Cover' simmer gently about 4 hours.  Remove parsley, cloved onion.  Add potatoes, followed 10 minutes later by cabbage. Cover; simmer 20 minutes or until potatoes and cabbage are cooked.  Makes 6-8 servings.

(author's note:  My group of 11 consumed 4 hefty briskets...All that was left was photographed and used in the BG's Hubby's own recipe: Corned Beef Hangover Omelets, the next day.

VERY IMPORTANT!!  YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS MAKING THE IRISH MUSTARD SAUCE!!

IRISH MUSTARD SAUCE!
1 TBLS cornstarch
2 tsps sugar
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 tbls butter
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp grated horseradish
2 egg yolks, beaten

Combine cornstarch, sugar, mustard and salt in heavy quart pan.  Add water. Stir over low heat until mixture thickens and boils.  Remove from heat; add butter, vinegar, horseradish.  Beat a little of hot mixture into egg yolks, then add yolk mixture back to pan.  Cook slowly, stirring, until sauce thickens slightly.  Serve with corned beef. 


Enjoy!!
(interested in the Irish Soda Recipe from Dublin?  Leave a comment! :D 

Busy Thursday

How does a Busy Thursday start?
1. Head off to school to turn Loving Tree into Wishing Tree.
Stop first at the library to get several St. Patrick's Day books to share with my Favorite First Graders.
(One little boy even complemented me on my new haircut. Gotta love first graders.)
Have each one of them tell us the wish that they had while they put up their Lucky Shamrocks on the Wish Tree.
Break your heart. 'I wish my brother lived with me'...things like that...

2. Turn into Nurse Ratchet to help Crazy Dee back to Crazy Health.
First stop: New Diet.
Big long list for her hubby so that we can implement immediately a heart healthy diet.
CD just happens to love veggies and fish so we are good.
Take her blood pressure, make sure the meds are ingested, stick her finger to test blood sugar and go hide all the Girl Scout cookies.
Prepare a fiber/iron/cholesterol helping breakfast cereal for tomorrow morning.
Make sure she's taking 'laps' around the house after each bathroom visit.
Arrange her multitudinous floral arrangements so that she can see them well from her vantage point.
Make sure my Nurse Hat that I made for the occasion is where I left it and out of reach of eager grand children's hands.

3. Tuck CD in carefully and back to the elementary school to pick up my little friend Lily for an evening full of seven year old activities:
a). Long walk with dog.
b). Get a fire going so that she can cook hot dogs for part of her supper.
c). Prepare the real supper which she ate as well. And a large apple, some grapes and I was impressed. Whew.
d.) Make snicker doodles. Eat a lot of the batter to boot. Don't you think mixing the dough with your hands just feels better? Certainly more fun when you can lick your fingers! What a girl!
e) Search storage for more tempera paints but ending up only using the blue that we could find. If you only got one color, blue is a good choice.

f.)Pack up the cookies and the little Paddy's Day pin I made for her while she painted my dining room blue and off I take her to her home where math problems await.
Math Problems are not allowed at her friend Debbie's house.
Just fun. Not that math isn't fun, Daddy Mike- Math Teacher. No offense.

Sigh.
My kind of day....
Full of friends, crafts, laughing, children...
Thank you Lord.....