So a nurse I work with suggested a way to make Corned Beef taste better, “not like a salt lick”.  This was from her mother who boiled it for 2 hours and took it out of the water to let it cool.  Then you cook the carrots and potatoes in the corned beef water but bake the beef in the oven with BBQ sauce.  So I thought I would try it.

I purchased a corned beef this year from the grocery store rather than making it from scratch from saltpeter like I did last year (much easier).  Most store-bought BBQ sauce has ingredients in it that I would prefer not to eat so I found a recipe for Smoky Hot BBQ Sauce with ingredients I liked.  I boiled the beef in the morning and then let everything cool.  In the evening Tom made the sauce and cooked the beef with it and boiled the cabbage and carrots in the beef water.  The potatoes were boiled separately.  He did this while I sipped my ceo maiden cocktail (above).  I had worked the night before so was tired.

The food came out quite tasty (with some Irish butter on the veggies).  Tom even liked most of it.  He will not eat cabbage though.  The BBQ sauce was a hit, although he did add some honey to it.  All and all a successful St. Patrick’s dinner I think.