Top o' the morning to ya...

I love an excuse to get into the kitchen and whip something different up, and last night was no exception! OK, I did have a reason. Wait - I'll rephrase that. I FOUND a reason. Yesterday was our 'official' 7th anniversary (i.e. the day we actually first went out together), and also St. Patrick's Day. And while neither myself nor The Other Half have any Oirish ancestry or links whatsoever, I thought what the heck and decided to try my hand at some Celtic cuisine for the occasion. Here's what I cooked up a storm with:

Soda Bread
Ok, I ran out of time to actually make this myself but it looks simple enough! And the supermarket coughed up a pretty good alternative to homemade.

Beef and Guinness Stew
I adjusted the quantities for two people, and used a mixture of button and chestnut mushrooms as I didn't have shiitakes. Plus I chucked in some chunks of carrot to pad it out a bit.

Colcannon cakes
So simple to make and could go on the side of lots of meals. I used the bacon to top them - but if you were veggie you could always sprinkle with grated strong cheese instead.

Cheesecake with Irish whisky sauce
This was delicious (we had to wait a wee bit of time to actually attempt to eat it, however - we were soooo full up after the stew!) and I'm not a whisky fan, but this was absolutely divine.

Yum, yum and yum again. I don't think I'll be waiting until next year for St. Paddy's Day to come around before I make this little lot again.

All the small things...

Here's a little update on what's been cooking this week:

Being a Plan 'B'
The dating game is a minefield. Blind dates especially. Now, I'm not going to get all sanctimonious here - while I haven't been on one for a very long time, I do know that blind dates can be fun. They can, however, also be a showcase of the biggest rotters and weirdos known to man. This week I was my friend's get-out-of-jail free card, otherwise known as the Blind Date Plan B, should her date have been a psychiatric ward escapee or something. He wasn't - but we still had the code phrase phone call at a strategic time, just in case it went awry. All very Sex and the City, but necessary. He didn't make the cut in the end, though.

2-4-1 equals good times
In these times of economic hardship we're all looking for a few ways to save the pennies here and there. So, when a group of mates and I decided it was high time we met up and had a good old chin wag over dinner, we scoured handbag.com until we found a suitable restaurant voucher. Tight? Us? Never! We're just thrifty every now and then. And what we saved in food costs just went towards the wine bill. Oh yes.

There's nothing like a good bitching session
When you've had a bad work week, sometimes that last thing you need is to rake it over and talk. But sometimes you do. Especially if a few of you have had similar troubles. Anyway, an apres-work drink seemed in order on Wednesday where some coworkers and I put the office to rights. And caught up on the workplace shenanigans - all those juicy little tidbits that are meaningless to everyone else, but to colleagues - they're gossip gold. And all things I couldn't possibly repeat.

My crazy mother
Every time I visit my folks, I come away with random items from her loft. Tuesday was no exception. After a very strange meal that consisted of mashed potato, some oddly spiced carrots and not much else; gossip about people I still have no idea who they are (Mother dearest: "You know him over the road with the bad leg, well he left his wife - the second one, not the one with the bad perm. You know them - you used to go to birthday parties with their daughter." Me: "Who?!"); she produced a bag of bits she 'no longer has room for'. What am I going to do with a school project about the Amazon, a box of Forever Friends stationery and some clay pots I made in school ceramics classes?

Planning for next Saturday
My gal pals are coming over next weekend for eats and drinks. I'm thinking Chinese, since it'll be Chinese New Year. There will be lots of flicking through recipe books and practice sessions in the kitchen, no doubt. And I'm sure The Other Half will happily hoover up the results. Lead-lined stomach, that one.