What's Cooking for St. Patrick's Day?

Are you Irish today? (smile) On March 17th, everyone's entitled to celebrate this grand holiday.

My family's a good part Irish, and when I was growing up, St. Patrick's Day was always a special holiday in our house.

The highlight of the day was gathering everyone together for our big dinner. Of course, you know what we ate. Corned beef. Cabbage. Carrots. And potatoes.

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

There are various recipes, but the simplest is this:


Put corned beef (3-4 pounds) in a pot, toss in a couple of bay leaves*, and cover all with water.

Bring water to a boil.

Cover pot and lower heat to a simmer for about 3 hours, or until corned beef is fork-tender.

Remove beef from pot and reserve on a platter, covering beef with foil for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, to the water in pot, add a head of cabbage, quartered; carrots and potatoes (about 5-6 medium of each), peeled and cut into pieces.

Cover and simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.

Slice the beef and dish up the vegetables.

* After cooking, discard bay leaves. Do not eat.


And you're done.

See? It's so easy, anyone—Irish or not—can enjoy this traditional dinner. I hope you will. (smile)

And I'd love to hear if your family celebrates with this or any other special foods or traditions.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

All my best to you,

Barbara

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Barbara White Daille
http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com/
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Doppelgangers

A little background. Soon after we married, my hubby agreed to take me and two of my girlfriends to a Neil Diamond concert. Personal quirk, I have to be early to those things. So we’re sitting in our lower balcony seats and he’s got the binoculars watching people, girls probably. Suddenly he stops and looks at me, hands me the binoculars and tells me to look on the tenth row back. Wouldn’t tell me what I was looking for, just that I’d know it when I saw it. I scanned and suddenly stopped breathing. There was a girl who looked so much like me, I couldn’t believe it. Auburn hair, same style cut. She was even dressed in emerald green, my favorite color at the time. Obviously, made an impression.

But over the holidays, I’ve been thinking about how certain actors resemble actors from earlier generations. It started when my mom was watching an old episode of Jag. She’s addicted to the star, David James Elliott. I never watched the show, but Mom was also a huge Rock Hudson fan and she pointed to the screen and said something along the lines of, “There hasn’t been an actor that good looking since Rock Hudson.

So I started thinking. Scary, I know.

The obvious - Brad Pitt. Anyone except me see the close resemblance to Redford?

And speaking of Redford, what about Newman? Matt McConoughey?

A Cover Story

Ah, firsts...They play an important role in our lives, don’t they? From the moment the stick turns (pink? blue?), the newly expectant wait anxiously for that first stir of life. We wonder if that first word will be “Ma-Ma” or “Da-Da.” Parents watch with camera in hand for their child’s first step. Grandparents fly in to watch their grandchildren head off for their first day of school, the first prom, the first graduation.

In Rodeo Daughter, my June Harlequin American Romance, four-year-old Hailey’s first horseback ride becomes a pivotal moment in the blossoming romance between former rodeo star, Amanda Markette and Mitch Goodwin, a stern prosecuting attorney who—thanks to a playground accident—struggles to regain custody of his daughter while earning Amanda’s love.

What child doesn’t love that first chance to ride a horse. I’m tipping my cowboy hat to Harlequin’s Art Department for capturing that excitement for the cover of Rodeo Daughter.

Recently, I ran across this picture of one of my firsts—my first horseback ride.

Yes, that’s me riding Biscuit. What a thrill! I just knew I was going to grow up to be a rodeo star like Amanda in Rodeo Daughter. I didn’t, but from that moment through my late teens, my sister and I spent most weekends at the local riding stables where we groomed horses in exchange for rides. And just a couple of years ago, when we wanted to celebrate a significant milestone, sis and I went on an all-day trail ride.

How about you? Have you ever been horseback riding? Was it a pivotal moment in your life?