Luck of the Irish

So this morning I was planning on deep cleaning my entire upstairs . . .it's gotten really bad . . but decided instead to do some fun activities with the kids for St. Patrick's day. The laundry, bedrooms, and bathrooms will have to wait until tomorrow. Sometimes you just have to put everyday life aside and just have fun! A friend from playgroup was telling me how easy it is to make corned beef, so I gave it a try. We headed to the grocery store and the kids were extraordinarily well behaved. We picked up ingredients for corned beef & cabbage, soda bread, and our special rainbow & pot o' gold dessert for just $15.00. I put the beef in the crock pot, baked up some soda bread, and had the most fun making rainbows out of licorice and jello jiggler gold coins for our pot o' gold. The kids had so much fun. Little leperchauns even turned their milk green this morning.

Recipes are as follows:

Corned Beef and Cabbage

INGREDIENTS:
3lbs. corned beef brisket w/ spice packet
10 small red potatoes
5 carrots, peeled and julienned
1 lg head cabbage, cut into small wedges

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place corned beef in large pot or dutch oven and cover with water. Add spice packet. Cover pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer approx. 50min. per pound or until tender.
2. Add whole potatoes and carrots, and cook until the vegetables are almost tender. Add cabbage and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove meat and let rest 15 min.
3. Place vegetables in a bowl and cover. Add as much broth as wanted. Slice meat across the grain.

Irish Soda Bread
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 T. white sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk, brush loaf with this mixture. Use a knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. You may continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.

Rainbow & Pot O' Gold Dessert This was so easy and so fun! I just put together some rainbow colored licorice with toothpicks and did lemon jello jigglers for the 'gold coins'. The kids helped me tape the black paper around the bowl and cut out shamrocks. I thought it turned out super cute!

Hope you all had a great St. Patties Day and didn't get pinched too much. ;)