Happy St. Patrick's Day

Both my husband and I have Irish roots. My husband's grandmother is a Davis descended from County Kerry known for its scenic mountains and coastline as well as the Lakes of Killarney. My roots are in County Kildare, home to the shrine of the Celtic goddess Brigid, "woman of poetry, healing, and smith's work" her name means "a fiery arrow." I would love to live up to all of that. It is also where Saint Brigid is from. She was an Irish Christian nun who founded several monastaries.

Brett and I have always loved celebrating St. Patrick's Day.

While he was in college, he would go to Savannah's River Street with fraternity brothers to celebrate it "thoroughly." After college, we found a couple of irish pubs we really liked, and not just for St. Patrick's Day. One was Ireland's Four Provinces in DC, we loved the Irish bands that played there, and I admit, I loved eating a late night shepherd's pie there. But now with kids we have found some other ways to celebrate the Patron Saint of Ireland.

I have to note that this year is the first year that, our son, who is named Patrick, didn't think today was his birthday. Usually he is asking me where his presents are by now since we usually have some sort of party. Alas, this year we have been so busy, we did not do it up as we usually like to. However, we did try to keep the spirit. I bought him this book last year:

It is by Tomie dePaola. I like everything he does! I actually learned a few things from this book:

1) Patrick was English, not Irish

2) He was captured by the Irish and employed as a slave until he escaped about six years later.

3) He returned to Ireland after having a dream that "called" him back to be a missionary

4) How he was conitinually persecuted

5) That he started the first church in Ireland out of a barn.

The book also has a section at the back that tells the legends about St. Patrick, such as how he drove snakes out of Ireland and how he taught the trinity with a shamrock. As always, dePaola's illustrations are amazing.

After learning more about St. Patrick I am reminded that God calls us to difficult tasks, ones that may even seem impossible. However, we must have faith, we must obey, and we must persevere. Patrick led a life that did that.

"As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverence and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."-- James 5:11

Now what you really came for, the food!!

Of course, I made our traditional Shepherd's Pies. Tonight I made them in individual ramekins since we all needed to eat at separate times. I just popped them in the fridge and baked them when I needed them. I will say this, the Hungarian paprika is a must, it has such a wonderful flavor, regular paprika is too bland.

Mini Shepherd's Pies

5 medium sized potatoes, sliced
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons cream cheese
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 onion finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 cup frozen peas
1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon pepper

8 oz. tomato sauce

In a medium pot boil the potatoes for about 15 minutes or until tender. Preheat oven to 375'. In a nonstick skillet brown the beef with the onions and carrots. Once browned drain the grease. Add the peas and spices. Add the tomato sauce and heat through.

Divide the beef mixture among 8 6 oz. ramekins.

Meanwhile, drain and mash the potatoes with the milk, butter, and cream cheese.

Top the beef mixture with the potatoes.

Bake for 30 minutes.

You can make this a few hours ahead of time and bake once you are ready to eat. Just bring ramekins to room temperature first.

Leek and Potato Soup
This is my favorite! It is super easy, and leeks are super good for you.

3 tablespoons butter
3 large leeks
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 1/2 cups of chicken stock

Melt butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Clean leeks and cut leeks. Add leeks to the butter, stirring often. Once leeks are tender add the potatoes. Cover and cook until the potatoes begin to soften but are not browned. Add the chicken stock and simmer 30 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup, you could also puree in a regular blender in batches.

Of course, all this tastes better with Guiness!

Leprechaun Soda 

3 scoops Lime Sherbet

6 oz. Sprite

"May you always walk in the sunshine. May you never want for more. May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door"

Irish Blessing

Mom's Pizza

Growing up my mom made homemade pizza every Friday night. Such a treat. She even made the dough from scratch. Paul and I used to fight over who got to punch the dough once it had risen. So, I have resurrected this recipe once again and my kids are loving it! The best part is they get to choose their toppings.

So here it is:

Pizza Dough

2 pkg. active yeast

1 tsp. sugar

2 cups very warm water

~5 cups flour

2 tsp. salt

Sprikle the yeast and sugar into water in a large bowl. Stir until blended. Let stand about 10 minutes until it bubbles. Stir in flour and salt until a stiff dough is formed. Turn out onto a lightly floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in a large greased bowl, turn over, cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 mintues. Punch down. Divide into two. Gently begin rolling out and stretching to fit your pan. Add sauce . . . .

Cook 30 minutes at 400'. Cover for 1st 15 minutes so cheese won't burn.

So, there it is folks. So very simple. But so very good. Tastes like a Friday night. Yum!

Easier Than You Can Imagine Cookie Cake Bars

So this is what is left of last night's dessert. Actually, since I took the picture I think Brett and Patrick split this last one. I got this recipe from my friend Kristin, who actually got it from her friend Sandra who has an amazing blog.

I brought these over for a little impromptu get together we had with some friends last night and they left the pan so fast. Our little friend Amelia proudly shouted, "I had three!" as if she had meddeled in the Cookie Bar eating Event!!

So, at our other friend, Addy's, request here is the recipe:

Cake Mix Bars

1 box yellow cake mix

1 large egg + 1 egg white

1/2 cup butter (or margarine), melted

2 Tablespoons milk

1 teapsoon vanilla

1 cup mix-in-- I always use chocolate chips, just because that is what my family likes but you could branch out!

Directions:

• 
  
  Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom only of a 9x13 pan
• 
  
  Mix cake mix, butter, egg, egg white, milk and vanilla in a large bowl with a wooden sppon. Mixture will be thick.
• 
  
  Spread evenly in the pan.
• 
  
  Bake for 22-25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Best if allowed to cool completely for an hour before cutting.

Enjoy!!

Grammy Martinell's Ravioli

I have adapted my Pop-Pop's mom's ravioli. She made these for special occasions, probably Easter or Christmas. I've been told she made these much larger than I do. But the filling and the sauce are the same. It is a favorite in our house. I like to make a batch to give to my Pop as well. So, making these are usually an all day affair. But nothing says love, like homemade ravioli!!

Filling:

1 1/2 lbs. stew meat, chuck- cooked in sauce and then ground

fresh ground pepper

parsley

2 large eggs

1/2 cup plain bread crumbs

1 cup Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, grated

Sauce:

2 29 oz. cans tomato sauce

2 12 oz. cans tomato paste

2 tbsp. sugar

thyme

pepper

marjoram

sweet basil

oregano

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

parsley

Brown the stew meat in a dutch oven with garlic, pepper, and parsely. Once browned add a little water. Cook meat until half done and add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Simmer on low until meat is done. Remove meat with a slotted spoon. Grind meat in a meat grinder. Add 2 eggs, bread crumbs, cheese, and parsley. Mix. If dry add some sauce to the meat so it is moist and not crumbly. Use the middle cutter for grinding meat.

Pasta:

2 3/4 cups flour

3 large eggs

1 tsp. salt

Build a mound with the flour on a pastry mat. Make a hole in the moung and crack the eggs into the hole. Add the salt. With a fork start to mix up the egg and the salt. Once mixed start to incorporate the flour. This gets very messy and you will think it is all ruined, not so! Keep incorporating the flour with your hands. If it gets too dry and flaky, add tiny bits of water at a time. Once you have a dough start to knead, as you would bread. Turn the dough a quarter of a turn, push the heel of your hand into the dough, repeat for 5-10 minutes. Don't skimp on kneading time or the pasta will not turn out silky.

Wrap the dough in plastic and let rest at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.

Clamp a pasta machine to your counter. Set the rollers at the widest setting, on mine it is "1". Unwrap the pasta dough and cut it into quarters. Work with one quarter at a time, wrapping the other three pieces in the pastic wrap.

Flatten the quarter of dough with your hands, lightly floured. Make it into a rough rectangle Feed it through the machine.

Fold into thirds and run through lengthwise 2 or 3 times.

Turn the setting in one notch and feed through, unfolded.

Continue to do this until you have reached the narrowest setting on the machine.

Use a sharp knife to cut the rolled pasta strip into 18-20 inch lengths.

Using a teaspoon, put about 10 little mounds of the filling along one side of the pasta strips, spacing them evenly.

Either use a pastry brush or use your finger to brush water around the mound of filling. Fold the plain side of the pasta strip over the filling.

Starting from the folded edge, press down gently with your fingertips around each mound, pushing the air out at the unfolded edge. Sprinkle lightly with flour.

With a pasta wheel, cut the long side and then between the mounds to make small squares.

Put the ravioli on floured dish towels, sprinkle lightly with more flour and let dry while repeating the process with the remaining dough. You should get about 80 ravioli.

Tips:

You can reroll the trimmings, to keep them from drying out and becoming unworkable, wrap in plastic wrap.

Once pasta is dried you can freeze for up to 1 month.
Once you are ready to eat, boil for 4-5 minutes and serve with sauce.

Long Time No See

It's been forever since I have blogged. We have had quite a busy year and blogging just fell off the list. However, I am newly insipred to start it up again!

I'll try my best to catch you up on some of our top happenings since I last wrote.

To start, I have read some very good books. My latest is Sitting at the Feet of the Rabbi Jesus Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. This book really explores what a first century Jew's faith would have been like: feasts celebrated etc. I found it so interesting especially now, during Lent. It makes me want to host a Christian Passover dinner. So, I am trying to figure out how to plan that.

I also have completed both To Live is Christ by Beth Moore and Me, Myself and Lies by Jennifer Rothschild in our Women's Bible study. Both were wonderful. I especially loved To Live is Christ. I did not feel I knew much about the life of Paul unti I read this book, it is fascinating and truly inspirational to learn how much he suffered in the name of Christ. Even more impressive is the zeal he had throughout--that's the Holy Spirit workin'!

I have actually decided to step out of leadership of the Bible study. Tonight is my last night-- I feel a bit like Wendy in Peter Pan. However, it is for the best. Patrick will be full-time in school next year and I need to spend those pm hours at home. I can already tell completing homework with two kids will be interesting to balance. I hope to find a lively am class to attend in the fall. I hear very good things about a few CBC studies around here.

I am sad to leave the fellowship of the ladies in this group, however, I am actually trying not to think about it. It is hard. We all come from different age groups and situations yet we have found a common bond in Christ. We have an interest in what happens to each other, there is care and love there. I will miss the weekly gathering.

Apples!

Like strawberries, my kids pick apples faster than I can pay for them! We had great weather for some very fun apple picking this weekend with some friends. The funniest part of the trip was when my son and his friend tossed an apple into the dirt road and sat and watched for several minutes for it to be squashed by a car. They were not disappointed!

For many Maryland apples, picking time is almost over, so get out there with your basket and enjoy the beginning of fall!

Here are two recipes to use your picked apples in:

For Gala apples:
Waldorf Salad Jubilee

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

6 Gala apples, unpeeled nad cut into 1/2" pieces

1 1/2 cups chopped celery

1 1/2 cup chopped radishes

3/4 cup orange flavored craisins

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 1/2 cup toasted pecan pieces
2 heads radicchio, washed

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well. Toss apples with the next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add mayonnaise dressing and toss to coat. This can be done 1 day ahead. Cover and refridgerate. Before serving fold in toasted pecans and then spoon salad into the radicchio leaves as if they are little bowls. Yield: 10 servings
For any apple that is excellent for baking:

My Grandma's Apple Pie

This is my grandma’s recipe. She usually used Granny Smith apples. She and her mother were known for their excellent pies.

2 9-inch pie crusts (if you want to make your own click here for a great recipe from Melissa D'Abrabian from Food Network)

1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

8 medium sized apples (a medium apple = about 1 cup)

2 tablespoons margarine


Heat oven to 425. Peel, core and slice the apples. Try to keep the size of the slices even. Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Stir in apples. Pour into pastry lined pie plate. Dot with butter or margarine. Cover with top crust and seal the edges. Cut slits in the top. Cover edge with foil to prevent too much browning. Remove foil during the last 15 minutes. Bake 40 to 50 minutes.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Our play group headed out to pick strawberries this week, an annual trip of ours. I always look forward to it. I feel such satisfaction in getting outside and working in the dirt. Maybe I should be a farmer. I also love being able to make things like my grandmothers used to. I like to make jam and pies. So, I was really motivated to pick as much as I could so I could make all these things when I got home.

I went a little overboard. (Geez, I could say that about so much!) I was a picking machine. I picked 21 pounds. Holy moly! This year's crop was definitly full of smaller berries than last year and because of the rain and lack of sunshine, the berries started to spoil faster. I needed to act fast! So, I did--- in two days this is what I did . . .

Strawberry Jam

This is no secret recipe, it actually can be found on the inside of a packet of Sure-Jell.

ingredients:

5 cups crushed strawberries (already washed and cut)

7 Cups sugar

1 packet Sure-Jell

Wash jars in extra hot dishwasher, leave in the steamy dishwasher until ready to fill. Boil the 2 piece lids, drain before using.

Prepare strawberries by washing, hulling, and roughly cutting any large berries.

Measure exact amount of fruit into a saucepan (I use a large pot).

Measure exact amount of sugar into a separate bowl.

Stir one box of Sure-Jell pectin into the fruit. Bring to a full rolling boil on high heat.

Stir in sugar quickly, return to a full rolling boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Ladle quickly into the hot jars filling to 1/8 from the top. Wipe the jars and the threads. Cover with the two piece lids. Screw tightly.

Katie's Upside-Down Seal Method:
Pace upside down on the counter for 15-minutes, then flip over, jars should seal, to test, press the middle of the lid with your finger.

Jam sets in 24 hours.

Strawberry Gelato Hearts

Alyssa loves to help make and eat this. If you have an ice cream maker, this is worth it!

1/2 pound fresh or frozen strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold heavy whipping cream

Pull off the leaves and stems of the strawberries and cut in half. Wash in cold water. Put the strawberries with all the sugar in a food processor and pulse for a few moments, then add 3/4 cup water and continue to process until liquefied. Whip the cream until it thickens slightly, to the consistency of buttermilk. Put the cream and the strawberries in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Use a spatula to fill silcone hearts with the gelato. Freeze in the mold. When ready to eat, remove the ice cream from the mold and serve.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
This is my absolute favorite pie! My grandma and I used to make it together when I was little. I love the combination of sweet and tart in this!

2 1/2 cups cut rhubarb (about 6 stalks)
2 1/2 cups cut strawberries
1 cup plus 2 tsps. Sugar
3 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. butter
2 tsps. Orange or lemon juice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt

Blend sugar cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour. Add rhubarb and strawberries and toss until well coated. Pour into pie shell and dot with butter. Preheat oven to 425°. Bake 30 minutes then reduce temperture to 350° and bake for 30 minutes.

Strawberrries 'n' Cream Pie

1 8 oz. package of light cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

1 baked 9 inch pie crust, I use the Pillsbury kind

1 quart strawberries, hulled

Beat cream cheese at medium speed iwth an electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar and almond extract, beating well. Stir in 1/4 of the whipped cream into the cream cheese. Fold in the remaing whipped cream. Spoon mixture into cooled pie crust. Arrange strawberries stem side down over whipped cream mixture. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.