hearty

We've been talking about doing an Irish cooking day for a couple of years now, but with St. Patrick's day coming in the middle of tax season, it was hard to figure a way to accomplish this task. It came together this year because of a guest cook (and hostess--she was nice enough to let us mess up her kitchen and clutter her dining room with guests). Chip joined us later in the afternoon.

The menu consisted of oatcakes and Irish cheeses (for nibbling while all the guests arrived), a salmon and leek tart (a formal appetizer), Guinness beef stew, soda bread and Champ rounding out the main meal. We had two kinds of Irish beer available and Bailey's Irish cream for after dinner/before dessert, which was Sticky Toffee Pudding Cakes and Guinness ice cream.

Everyone was stuffed and almost didn't do dessert justice, so it's a lesson to watch portion control when dishing things up in a full course meal. All-in-all, though, people had a relaxing evening with good conversation, tasty eats and a warm house.

We had an Irishman serve the stew.

Book recommendation: Top of the Order by John Coy
Recipe recommendation: Champ
Movie recommendation: Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland