Today Dishing: St. Patrick’s Day

March is here and with it comes continued snow, I guess, daylight savings time, March Madness, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter. In the coming days I will share ideas and recipes for each of these occasions but today we begin with St. Patrick’s Day.

  

In my house St. Pat’s is a high holy day.  Twenty-five or so years ago I thought it a good idea to don my kilt and fisherman sweater, fill my Waterford pitcher with green beer and visit each neighbor sharing with them my potable.

The following year it seemed easier to invite the neighbors to my house to share in the “green beer” experience. That marked the beginning of my St. Paddy’s tradition.

These parties were not intended to be china using, champagne sipping gatherings.  No, these were good food and lots of it, beer, Irish coffee and green-clad folks enjoying the company of others.

As the number of people grew so did the menu. In the early years it was simply corned beef sandwiches and potato salad. Over the years it grew into this menu:

Corned beef, boiled cabbage with carrots, coleslaw, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, potato salad, boiled red potatoes, three types of rye bread, deli dill pickles, Irish soda bread, baked beans, Honey Baked ham, bread pudding with whiskey sauce and Irish coffee.

If someone wanted the traditional boiled meal, they could have it.

If someone wanted a Rueben, they could have it.

If someone didn’t care for corned beef, they could have ham.

I tried to cover all options.

I supplied this food, but the desserts people brought were legend, literally enough cookies, cakes, cupcakes, brownies and pies to feed a pub full of hungry Irishmen. When St.Pat’s fell on a weekend the celebration continued well into the wee hours of the morning.

Several foods on the menu were favorites of my guests.  The food really was the star. The three most requested food were the bread pudding, the soda bread and the baked beans. The beans by far were the most favored.  The beans were my mom’s recipe. From where she got it, no one knows. But it is a good one. This is hearty enough to be a meal in itself.

These beans aren’t just for St. Patrick’s Day. Trust me, people go crazy for these.

Rosie’s Beans

INGREDIENTS

1 pound bacon

1 pound ground beef or ground chuck

1 large can pork and beans (15 ounces)

2 cans Northern beans

1 cup B-B-Q sauce

1 package dry onion soup mix

1cup dark brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350.

Brown beef until totally cooked then drain.

Cook bacon to crispy.

Combine B-B-Q sauce, beans, onion soup mix, brown sugar, beef and crumpled bacon in casserole or bean pot. Cook at 350 uncovered for 50 to 60 minutes.