Category Archives: Recipes

Keltic Dreams, Corned Beef & Cabbage, And How To Catch A Leprechaun

Every year, when St. Patrick’s Day approaches, I think about cooking up some corned beef and cabbage. Nine times out of ten, I pull out a big pot and spend the rest of the day smelling the aroma of Ireland. The dish is easy to make, but oh so time-consuming.

I think what really put me in the mood this year was an email I received this past week about the popularity of Irish Dance at a school in the Bronx. The New York Times wrote about the music teacher and posted one of the most heartwarming videos I’ve seen in a long, long time. I’m so used to seeing bad news that the sight of these inner city kids kicking up their heels gave me goose bumps, it really did. Go here to see the video — Keltic Dreams.

Did you know that New York City has been hosting a St. Patrick’s Day Parade since 1762? Is that unbelievable, or what?! Incidentally, Patrick didn’t chase all of the snakes out of Ireland, either. Another myth totally shattered according to the National Geographic News.

And I suppose it wouldn’t be a proper St. Patrick’s Day without the mention of Leprechauns. I had no idea that if you catch a Leprechaun, he’ll lead you to his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but according to Sherri Osburn, that’s the case. So, it might be a good idea to get crackin’ on making a Leprechaun Trap. (A really good project to do with the grandkids.) Take a look at some Leprechaun Trap Photos.

Now for an easy recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage, but be prepared to hang around the house for several hours.

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Photo from

Corned Beef
5 or 6 potatoes, quartered
head of cabbage, cut into 6 wedges
carrots, as many as you would like.

Wash corned beef under running water to remove surface brine. Put in pot and cover with water. (Most corned beef roasts bought from a supermarket come with all the seasonings enclosed. Add them to the water.) Keep lid on pot. Once water comes to a boil, cook for 3 1/2 hours on low/medium heat.

During the last 30/45 minutes, add cabbage wedges, potatoes and carrots. Add more water to cover. Keep lid on pot throughout.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

First The Soapbox, Then Mom’s Italian Wedding Soup Recipe

Okay, I’m on my soapbox again, encouraging you to write something this week about yourself. If you do, I can almost guarantee one of your children or your grandchildren will thank you someday. You are living in their “good old days.”

I can’t tell you how many times I could kick myself for not asking my mother more questions about her life. Now it’s too late. The only things I have of hers, in her own handwriting, are a few recipes she gave me over the years. At least when I see her handwriting on the page, it helps me to remember other small things about her. I’m going to share one of her recipes with you at the end of this post.

But to get back to journaling, there’s so much to write about. Some suggestions:

  • any kind of travel would be good
  • all of your favorite recipes
  • right now, the campaign for the presidency furnishes a bushel full of options
  • what television shows won’t you miss
  • what movie did you see recently that you absolutely loved
  • if you are reading a book, try writing your own review

And remember, there’s no rule against being humorous. You can go in any direction, it’s your show. Someone mentioned to me a few weeks ago that she started writing stuff down occasionally and she does it in letter form, as if she is actually writing a letter to someone.

Or maybe something happens in the course of a normal day that seems worthy of preserving as a memory. Here’s one from Ireland.

I was driving home yesterday amidst a flood caused by a thaw of snow. We came to a big enough pool of water that stretch the entire width of the road. We watched as the car ahead of us passed safely through the water and then to my surprise the car stopped and waited. The driver waited to make sure we passed through the water safely.

Short, sweet and cute. That’s all it takes.

If you go somewhere…anywhere, write about it. Here’s a very short travelogue and a chuckle from Walking Around. She just returned from a trip to Wales.

So there you have it, one of my pep talks to get you writing and saving your memories. Now to the promised recipe from my mother.

Italian Wedding Soup

3 heads of escarole (found in the produce dept.)
1 lb. ground beef
2 eggs, scrambled
Chicken Broth, either homemade or 2 large cans Chicken Broth (my mother used College Inn)

First roll the ground beef into tiny balls about the size of your thumb nail. Set aside.

Wash the escarole leaf by leaf in a sink filled with cool water. Place leaves on a clean dish towel. There will be loads and loads of leafy greens, but they will shrink down when you drop them into a large pot of boiling water. Keep turning the escarole with a long wooden spoon until all of the greens have been submerged in the water. Cook until tender–about 20 to 25 minutes. To cool–transfer the entire pot to the sink and run cold water into it until the escarole is comfortable to handle. To remove most of the water from the escarole, squeeze the greens into fist-size balls. Cut through each ball, using a cutting board, about 6 times, slicing in two or three different directions.

Rinse out the same pot you used to cook down the escarole, and pour in the chicken broth. Most of the work is now done. Just drop the escarole and all of the tiny meatballs into the hot chicken broth. Cook on medium heat for about an hour.

Now for the scrambled eggs. Make sure the broth is boiling, then pour the eggs onto the surface of the soup. Use a tablespoon to swirl the egg around gently on the surface, creating little bits of cooked eggs. (This is reminiscent of confetti at a wedding–hence the name.) Once the eggs are cooked, the soup is ready to serve.

Optional: Some people like to sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of their soup, so make sure you have that on the table for those with that preference.

Enjoy.  And if you have a recipe from your mother that you’d like to share, feel free to send it as a comment.

December-The Perfect Month To Reminisce

cherry-pie.jpg

Because so many things occur in the month of December, dreaming up something to write about is as easy as 1-2-3. I’m here to spur you on with some writing ideas because I know how important your memories are, even if you don’t realize it yet yourself.

The obvious choices are Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. Maybe you remember one that remains a true highlight in your mind. It should be shared. Write it down now. Your family and friends will someday be thankful to relive it with you through your written words.

Speaking of words; maybe you’re thinking that you can’t write. The truth is, writers wouldn’t want you to know this, but journaling is simple because all you do is write the same way you talk. Write as if you were telling the story to your grandchild or to your next door neighbor. If you can talk, you can write.

Getting back to the holidays, maybe you can’t think of one that stands out as being special. Well, this year is another year. Write something about this year’s holiday.

Maybe you hate holidays. Some people do, you know. There are numerous other things you can write about this month.

  • On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks sat down in a bus and almost single-handedly started the Civil Rights Movement. Her day is commemorated each year on December 1st, Rosa Parks Day. What were you doing in 1955? Want to refresh your memory about the Rosa Parks. Go to her website http://rosaparks.org/index.html
  • What do you remember about the Women’s Movement? The First Susan B. Anthony Dollar appreared on December 6, 1978.
  • Where were you when Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941?
  • Maybe you’re more interested in science. Write about the Winter Solstice, when the earth moves closest to the sun. It happens this year on December 22nd. If you want to learn more, go to http://www.candlegrove.com/solstice.html
  • On a lighter note, write about the swell times you had looking at the Howdy Doody Show. It premiered on December 27, 1947. If you were lucky enough to have a television, you were probably watching Clarabelle and the rest of the gang. If you didn’t have a television, write about that–living without TV.

Trust me, writing about yourself is easy as pie. And if you still can’t bring yourself to share a memory, share a pie recipe.

Santa’s Secret Village

With Christmas right around the corner, you’ll want to go to this site and share some quality time with your child or grandchild. It’s an amazing place to play. These are just some of the things you will find at Santa’s Secret Village.

  1. The kids can write a letter to Santa and he’ll write back.
  2. Create a personalized Christmas story.
  3. See Disco Dancing Santa.
  4. Read a book.
  5. Do some coloring.
  6. Connect-the dots
  7. There are loads of recipes that you can prepare with the kids.
  8. Rhyme words.
  9. Watch movies and videos.
  10. Build a snowman.

 The list goes on and on. There are activities galore.

For home schooling, there’s even an Elf Pal Academy with lesson plans that combine learning with fun.

If you can dream it up, they probably already have it at this site.

Go here  http://www.northpole.com/Village.html. You’re going to be glad you did.

4 Kitchen Tips & A Recipe

Here are a few suggestions that will decrease your preparation time when cooking.

Kitchen Tip #1 – Green Pepper. I like to have green peppers on hand at all times. Depending on the recipe I am using, I sometimes use sliced peppers, while at other times I need them chopped. So first, you will need two peppers. Slice each pepper into quarters. Clean out the seeds, making sure you cut away the white part that is inside the pepper because that’s the part that gives the pepper a bitter taste. After you have cleaned both peppers, slice one and chop the other. Put each in their own separate Ziploc bag and store them in the freezer until you need them.

Kitchen Tip #2 – Onions. I use a lot of chopped onions when I cook, so I always have a large bag in the freezer. In the past, when I have purchased vegetables already chopped from the freezer section of the supermarket, the experience has been less than stellar. After a while they get soft and soggy. However, if you chop your vegetables fresh, they will stay crisp. I’ve never had a problem with any of the fresh vegetables that I’ve chopped myself. There is one thing to remember about storing onions in the freezer, though. You must double bag them. Put the chopped onions into a plastic bag and then seal that bag into another plastic bag. This ensures that the onion odor will not seep into the freezer or into the refrigerator. Be assured that in a double bag, the onion odor will stay where it’s supposed to stay and it won’t invade other foods.

Kitchen Tip #3 – Bread. I like nice, crispy hoagie rolls–crisp on the outside, soft and fresh on the inside. That’s the way I like French Bread and Sour French Bread, too. So, if you have a favorite bakery where you buy your bread, but you buy in small quantities because you know it will go stale before you eat all of it, here’s the secret to freezing bread. Buy it fresh, same day fresh if possible, and then take it home and freeze it immediately. If it goes in the freezer fresh, it will come out fresh. My family eats a lot of bread so it seldom is in the freezer longer than a month. The only type of bread I’ve noticed that becomes somewhat moist after a few weeks are hot dog buns and hamburger buns, but marble breads, white breads, bagels, French breads and kaiser rolls come out as fresh as the day you bought them.

Kitchen Tip #4 – Make it a habit to chop and freeze herbs that you use frequently, too. I always have frozen chopped garlic, parsley, chives, mint and dill. Freeze those you use the most. Your meals will taste so much better if you use fresh herbs instead of the dried.

Now here’s the recipe I promised. It uses some of the above ingredients from the freezer.

Moroccan Hamburgers

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 large egg
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients throughly; shape into 8 (4-inch) patties. Cover and chill at least 2 hours. (For investment cooking, freeze 5 to 6 months. Thaw before grilling.)
Grill, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat (350º to 400º) 6 to 8 minutes on each side or until beef is no longer pink.

Yield:
8 servings

This scrumptious recipe was posted at: http://airmiles.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/recipe-round-up-freeze-ahead-meals/

Oh, and just for fun, and only if you want to smile, go here:

http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html