Is there any better weekend of the year than the one that comes closest to the Ides of March? If the calendar dates fall into place, St. Patrick's Day coincides with the beginning of the NCAA Basketball Tournaments. This year was a trifecta as the second round of games and the Irish-American holiday fell on a Saturday. Bliss, sheer bliss.
I spent part of my free time on Thursday and Friday prepping for our somewhat annual St. Patrick's Day dinner by prepping the menu and watching 1st round games. Work was a virtual wash on Thursday as I kept an eye on the scores and listened to a few games on the radio. I managed to pick 22 of 32 winners in the 1st Round. I'm 8 for 11 on the second round so far. The best I can do is 11 out of 16. It was nice seeing Duke get dropped on Thursday night.
On the commercial front, am I to believe that Kevin Bacon and Michael Jordan are roommates? What does Kyra Sedgwick feel about this? I'm so confused. I think I'll go to the Dollar General and buy some underwear.
I picked up extra groceries for dinner on Friday night (in the midst of some nasty snow) and grabbed take-out from the best fried fish place in town. Then I peeled potatos while watching Kentucky beat Villanova. Relief, at least until 7pm tonight when the world will know if the Wildcats have tournament legs.
Saturday couldn't have been more perfect. I only had to make one trip to the grocery for last minute ingredients and we managed to clean the house (mostly PGirl) and cook the food (mostly me) while keeping the kiddoes occupied. Not one moment of stress or yelling or anything of that sort.
Our menu:
Corned Beef Brisket
Shepherd's Pie (with and without cheddar cheese)
Potatos
Potato and Turnip Au Gratin with Pecorino Romano cheese
Soda Bread
Beer Bread
Scones (the last 3 made by Saint Eileen)
Dublin Cheddar
Some other funky Irish Cheese that kind of tasted smoked
Brie
Cracker Assortment
At The Bar:
Guinness in the can (served in a pint glass)
Guinness in a bottle
Harp Lager
Southern Tier Beer
Cask and Cream Irish Liquor
Irish Whiskey
Fun was had by all! The guests were a mix of co-workers, friends, family and acquaintances. The shepherd's pie was popular as was the corned beef. PGirl brought a space heater from work, so we warmed up our porch room and threw some darts as well. We finished off the Irish cream (I had a bit too much of it) and wound up with gift bottles of Carolan's (another fine substitute for Bailey's) and a red wine from my boss. I'm certain PGirl will do a write up on the evening as well, but I figured I'd put out my take!
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3 comments:
Both my teams lost on Thursday. I was sad. I am glad UK played well, and they put up a good fight against Kansas. I was disappointed that Ohio State managed to come back and beat Xavier.
But anyway, sounds like you had a great St Patricks Day!
I want to come to your house for St. Patrick's Day!
So far, we've spent the bulk of March Madness and all of St. Patrick's Day packing, moving and unpacking.
Oh, and Steve's blog is http://metac.blogspot.com, but he usually only blogs when I beg him to. He goes through hot and cold spells. Perhaps if more people start bothering him, he'll post more...
Wish we could have been there to join in on that great Irish spread you put out and to watch some BBall together! Slainte
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