So, on Saint Patrick’s Day, I had an all-day class in Seattle (and it took 2 hours to drive there!).  But I packed a corned beef sandwich for lunch.  When I got home in the evening I made Irish Blonde cocktails.  I thought it was appropriate as it has Irish Whiskey but is orange.  My paternal grandmother once told me that I need to wear orange on this day.  My favorite orange and green sweater needs repairing so I am drinking my orange instead (plus I am wearing an orange and green Ben & Jerry’s T-shirt this evening which was not appropriate for the class).  So here are our cocktails (which were yummy).

I had read recently read that Bangers and Mash is not just a British meal but also Irish.  And I am finally finishing Keith Richard’s book Life which has his Bangers and Mash recipe.  I first had to find Bangers which I did.

And then Tom had to interpret Keith’s recipe which is quite vague (and has swear words).  And here is his progress.

And here is our dinner.  Note it is clearly British, but there are odes to Ireland (green and orange in the mash!).  And it was really tasty!

So this may be our new St. Patty’s traditions.  Tom is not a fan of cabbage.

BTW, I recently found this site of images of the Irish Famine which are fascinating.  And I read this post about the Irish Famine Pots.  I also found this interesting book about the famine which I have not had a chance to read yet.

Another longer BTW, my father’s side is of Scotch-Irish decent (hence the orange).  So that side of the family was in the Scottish Borders and later in Northern Ireland.  They were Covenanters.  I have an ancestor David Farrie (my 8th generation grandfather) who was imprisoned and then martyred in Edinburgh, Scotland on April 16, 1681 for his religious beliefs.  Here are photos we took in 2009 related to these events.

On the same trip we visited Northern Ireland.  First we went to the church that my 4th generation grandfather Robert McCrory attended before immigrating to the USA.

And then we visited Belfast, which felt like a powder keg about to go off.

Thankfully it has not.  But peace in Ireland and elsewhere is important to me.  I believe if we understand history and its mistakes, it will help us not to repeat them.  It does not seem like this is happening in the world today, however.  What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?