With funny names like boxty and colcannon, it is a wonder any Irish food makes it on the table. But after tasting both of those foods from the Emerald Isle you realize the genius of Irish cookery. So,yes, it was a difficult task to find food for the menu, especially since the day turned out to be so sunny and warm and no one was really in the mood for a meaty Irish stew. Lucky for us what we might have lacked in the food department, we made up in libations, mostly in the form of Irish Whiskey and Stouts. So as you can imagine by the end of the night we were singing old folksongs from the 'homeland'. Well not really. It was a good time though and you know the Irish they are fond of those so I feel like we did them proud with our celebration. Cobes and I also learned a lot about Irish food history in the process of developing our menu.
Colcannon, while not only being a good choice for our feast because it is generally vegetarian, but also because it is one of the quintessential dishes from Ireland with interesting customs. Cobes and I were toying of the idea of trying to do a veggie version of
corned beef and cabbage when I found out it is not considered a true Irish dish because it was mostly consumed by the wealthy. Then Coby nearly had his heart broken when he learned about
bread baking in Ireland especially when the process called for baking relatively small loaves for an hour. Well, his worry was for nothing because while his breads were different than his usual, they were still delicious. Enough dazzling you with all the historical background and on to the nuts and bolts of the Supper. We raised $147 which brings our total to $442. WaHoo! It really adds up. So here is what we enjoyed food and drink-wise.
Cold Irish Coffee (Texan-style)
Imperial Stout Bread
Traditional Irish Soda Bread
Boxty
Serrano-Spiced Applesauce
Kale Salad
Potato Chips with an herbed dip
Colcannon
Chocolate Stout Cupcakes with frothy inspired frosting
John's boxty were amazing and according to him 'easy to throw together'. Oh sure John, maybe for you. I was also impressed by Julian's bravery in confronting his fear of dogs. He will be cured of that fear in no time. I was also glad that my folks made a special trip down here for it and I hope they get a chance to come down again soon. Take a look at the tomfoolery in these
photos.
This month in celebration of the end of Lent (well not really) and my love of all things brunch we are changing the celebration to an earlier time: 11am. So come get your brunch on. So far on the menu:
