St. Paddy's Day and Corned Beef Leftovers

I love St. Patrick's Day.  My mom's dad was born in Ireland, so the holiday has always been a big deal for my family.  I think the day has gotten  reputation for getting rowdy at the bars, which is all good and fun - but for me, St. Patrick's Day is more about family, culture and remembering your roots.  

This was my first March in San Francisco, and this city knows how to celebrate.  Sorry LA, but you didn't do this Irish day justice the last two years.  SF came complete with a parade, bagpipers, bands, dancers, and the finest food & drink offerings from the Emerald Isle.  

Lucky for me, SPD landed on a Sunday, which meant an entire weekend of celebration!  Okay, I know the East celebrates for the month of March, but I'm in California and I'll take what I can get.

Saturday started with a  few friends over for a breakfast of bacon, Shamrock pancakes, muffins, oranges and Irish coffees.  YUM :)

Then, we boarded a bus downtown to the Civic Center.  We caught the last bit of the parade and enjoyed music and drinks in the glorious sunny weather!  

I may or may not have sung along and tried to get my crew to learn every other word.  They're lucky I didn't try to teach a jig!

Bag pipes and drum lines! Be still my heart.

After a rest and regroup at our friends Ben and Shestin's, we headed out to the sunny Marina district to check out a few other spots before calling it a day and heading home. We were so lucky the day was so beautiful, because we did a TON of walking. What a great way to see such a beautiful city.

Sunday morning, the official holiday, Webb and I gathered up some ingredients and headed down to Los Gatos for dinner with his family.  I was reminded what REALLY good weather is like (aka not windy or foggy) and fell back in love with that adorable town.  Webb's mom and I whipped up a great Irish feast of corned beef (I brined it myself all week, thankyaverymuch) cabbage, roasted potatoes and carrots, spinach salad and Irish soda bread!  Aw man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

I love how festive the Knudsens are!  The table was decorated to the nines, and Andie definitely won the costume contest with green pants, shirt AND sweater. 

Even Ernie matched with his orange spots!

Dinner was a great time, and we ended by reading the famous Irish blessing which I love so much:

May the road rise up to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face

And the rains fall soft upon your fields

And until we meet again

May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Since my Grandma's soda bread recipe makes 2 loaves (of course!), we brought the extra loaf over to our good friends Jason and Krista, who just found out they are expecting!  I'm so excited and if that baby is anything like their parents, he/she will be the funniest most well dressed kid around.

I hope you had a fantastic St. Patrick's Day, and if you did - you probably have a good amount of corned beef leftovers.  What to do with all those chunks of salty meat you eat just once a year?  

1) Corned Beef and Cabbage Chowder

I've never tried this, but I do love me some soup and looks soup-er (ha!) easy.

2) Corned Beef Hash

If I didn't sleep in to the last possible minute this morning, I would have for sure made this.  Tomorrow!

3) Reuben Sandwich

Not that you need a recipe for a Reuben Sandwich, but check the link for some reub-spriation.

4) St. Paddy's Pizza

My two cultures colliding!  I deem this corned beef pizza St. Paddy's Pizza, and thinking I should copyright that.  

5) CB&C Turnovers

Pastry dough and corned beef?  I am so there.

May the luck of the Irish be with you all ;) Erin go bragh!  Till next year, St Patrick.

Bye Bye Mazda!

Goodbyes are never fun.  They're often one or more of the following things: sad, awkward, too long, unwanted.  Today I had to say goodbye to my first big girl car, and let me tell you, I was not expecting the emotional wave I felt when the trucker drove off with .  Sure I joked to Webb that I was going to cry, but I honestly did get misty!  I mean let's be real, it's a bunch of metal and glass which I leased (i.e.: didn't own) for 29 months.  I wasn't expecting to have grown so attached.  

Maybe it's because of all the memories, or maybe it was because it symbolized my first "grown up" purchase.  I remember so vividly in early October when the dealership dude rolled my brand new car into our driveway.  She was all shiny, and new, and MINE.  She was also my ticket to the big ol' west, and 2 weeks later I packed that puppy up and drove her across the country with my dad.  Two years after that, I packed her up again (albeit with a little more stuff) and moved up to NorCal.  Today, the Mazdarati makes her journey back across America to where she started, the same driveway in New Jersey.  

She'll have a good home with my family.  I'm not sure she liked being parked alongside the urban campers of Haight Street.  Still, no Zip Car, BART, or Muni will ever replace my mobile closet.  See you in Waldwick!

Oct. 2010 - ready to leave NJ for CA

Saying my goodbye! You've been good to me!

Boarding it's second cross country trip :(