Tuesday, March 13, 2007

If I Didn't Do All This Crazy Domestic Stuff This Year, I'd Never Do It. So Bear With Me.

With St. Patrick's Day coming up, I'm starting to try and put together a meal that's both Irish-y and delicious.

Yes, I've fallen so far that I've started to cook "Theme" meals. Much like the dining hall at my university. But if I ever fall so far as to have "Circus Day" with corn dogs and chili dogs (and possibly other sorts of -dogs that I am unaware of), I've gone too far. (Seriously. They did that. It was weird.)

Fortunately, I haven't gotten so bored with my unemployment as to decorate my house for the occasions. I only cook. And, it's actually been fun as I've learned some delicious new recipes that I've made again since their first appearance at my theme dinners.

For the Chinese New Year, I made Pork and Ginger Pot Stickers. They're time consuming, but completely delicious. You can make them a little easier by not making the hot water dough and using pre-made wonton-wrappers that you can buy at the store - but making your own dough, which is thicker and a different texture than the wonton wrappers, makes the pot stickers even better.

But, back to St. Patrick's Day. One of my favorite restaurants sent me their special menu for St. Patrick's, which includes a Bailey's-flavored, bittersweet-ganache-drizzled, oatmeal-crusted cheesecake. And I'm not one of those women who goes absolutely insane for cheesecake, but that sounds like something I'd want to eat every day for a week. (And I'm thinking of making it in my muffin pan, so that they're little individual cheese cakes. With some fresh berries on the top. Yum, right?)

So, now that I've decided to make that, I've got the rest of the meal to make. And, I love all sorts of Irish food, so it's really hard for me to decide what to make - I've come down to 3 options: a Lamb Stew, Corned Beef, or one of the other traditional dinners, such as shepard's pie. So, which do you think? I want to do something fun. And I'm not afraid of a) searcing out rare food or b) spending a few hours in the kitchen.

And. I promise to take pictures. As long as you promise to leave a comment telling me what to make.

9 comments:

Princess in Galoshes said...

Personally, I like Shepherds Pie....

And next time you are in CO, strawberry cake is on me, whether or not it's in season. :-)

Jsto said...

But circus day was cool because they had ice cream sandwiches and other ice cream novelty items which were yummy.

Irish meal joke for you...What's an Irish 7 course meal?

A six pack and a potato. Ha

Anonymous said...

I think if you're going to bother making an Irish themed meal, you should go really stereotypical and just do corn beef and cabbage... oh, and green beer, for the authenticity. =)

apricoco said...

I have been to ireland (amazing place go if you ever have the chance) and corned beef isn't a typical menu item. I would go with the lamb stew or shepard's pie which is a much more traditional meal! Also, you should make chips (fat french fries homemade) with your meal since they are served with damn near everything... Good Luck!

Anonymous said...

That's sounds yummy. Will you be wearing pink shoes or green shoes on st. paddy's day? Have a good one!

Jay said...

I'm not really a fan of the irish options, so I'll probably stick to green-tinted booze.

Anonymous said...

Corned Beef get Grandma's recipe. Don't do cabbage boiled cabbage it is gross.

Baily's anything is good for dessert.

No comments about the shower?

Jay said...

No way blogger just ate my comment.

Fuckers.

To summarize, I voted for the CB & C, w/a bit of GB and some YFUTPSICPY.

Andrea Frazer said...

I got nothing to say as I haven't read a thing. But I WILL say I found you through Princess in Galoshes based on your pink shoe profile photo. Your inside pics do not disappoint and I can't wait to read more. But it has to be when my pink freak daughter is gone, or I'll end up with a two year old licking the screen.