Saturday, March 17, 2012

ST. PATRICK'S DAY


I'm Linking today to Beverly's PINK SATURDAY, so there's a little garnish of PINK amongst the GREEN.



The above picture is the lovely gift which greeted us first thing this St. Patrick’s Day morning.   The bread’s from Caro’s bakery and it’s called Irish Breakfast Bread.

The note’s in GREEN, probably written when she arrived at home about three, and all left on the counter for us:

Top O’ the Morning to you!   A Little Something Irish to start your day!  And a smiley-face.


I couldn’t resist setting the table to befit such a serendipitous, apt feast, and so the green Melmac squares, the pink napkins and creamer, the apple-green teapot filled with Earl Grey.


I thought at first it might be a loaf of Soda Bread (that IS one of the ingredients, however) encrusted with salt, but when I opened the package and tasted the crystals on my fingers, it was that crumbly large-grained sugar which makes such a lovely soft crunch between your teeth.

The crust is nice and chewy, and the texture is rich and smoothly heavy, slightly sweet, and reminiscent of a wonderful Pannettone, without all the dried fruit---just soft raisins.



Chris ran out to take a few snaps in the sunshine while I put on the kettle, and came back with one of our FOUR JONQUILS which have been nodding merrily in this wonderful sunny weather.
  
We enjoyed bread and butter and cheese and tea---an echo of the thousands of mornings of my Irish ancestors, but probably on a much more sumptuous note.   I remarked that the beautiful little loaf was just perfect, and that I would imagine the women of those long-ago households might have had to supply a loaf EACH for the morning meal for her hard-working, off-to-field-and-flock-and-mine menfolk.    And bread and cheese was probably the entire content of many a lunch-pail as well, and “glad to get it,” as my Mammaw used to say.

I’m off now to cut a twist of cheesecloth for the spices and herbs to go into the Corned Beef Pot---we somehow have THREE sturdy cabbages in the fridge and a basket of little potatoes, and I think a bit more of this Irish bread and cheese might round the day off nicely.

I wish you all a sweet, sunny St. Patrick’s Day!!




14 comments:

  1. what a lovely gift to wake up to, looks yummy. Hope you enjoy your St. Patrick's Day breakfast, have a wonderful weekend!

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  2. A very nice way to start any day.

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  3. Hello Rachel:
    And...'top o' the mornin' to ya' too!!

    You really have embraced the party spirit on St Patrick's Day, and corned beef yet to come, such a treat!!

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  4. What a lovely morning surprise! It looks super scrumptious!

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  5. The bread sounds wonderful. A belated Happy St. Patrick's Day! & Happy Spring well almost.
    Pat

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  6. Hi Rachel~
    my mouth is watering. I bet that bread was divine! Hope your St. Patrick's Day was filled with many blessings!
    xo
    Holly

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  7. What a beautiful post to celebrate St.Patrick's Day!

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  8. Oh Racheld..how did I miss your St. Patricks Day post? I fall SO behind. There is more to blogging than just getting a post done..and I fall so very short sometimes. A lot, actually!
    The bread looks delicious! What a sweet thing to wake up and find on your kitchen counter! :)
    I am off to try and catch up on some of your other posts..please do forgive me for not getting over here much more often!
    Hugs,
    Mona

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  9. Hello
    LAWN TEA
    Many thanks, fairly refreshing, I enjoyed reading your article, You are wonderful!
    Thank you!

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  10. Good morning Rachel, We just said goodbye to my cousin Marilyn and her hubs. They are heading to Fl. after a three week stay. Since the first of the year we have had two months of company. I need advice. HA! I love these visitors but I haven't had any time for myself. I think I have to figure a way to shorten these visits. Sigh!!! OK, no more whining.

    Your pink Sat. Irish post is charming. I am sorry it has taken me so long to come and visit. I am sure the bread was delicious and the little tea party was so much pleasure. I am longing for a bit of time just for us. We too enjoy each others company. Coffee together right now is just perfect. Smile.

    Thus, a short comment. Thank you for your sweet comments that I so enjoy.

    Love, Jeanne

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  11. Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Pink Saturday, Rachel. I know it is belated, but the wishes are sincere.

    Your Caro is such a sweetheart. What a wonderful day to begin a special day.

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  12. Well, you know me – the first thing that I did upon reading this post was to Google ‘Irish Breakfast Bread’ – no luck :-(. Think Caro could scale down that recipe for me? – heehee! She is just the loveliest thing! What a nice surprise to wake up to. And I am heavily coveting that gorgeous green teapot!

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  13. Hello
    LAWN TEA
    Brilliant post, I went through the post ,I found it very informative
    Thank you!

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  14. Hello there, simply become alert to your weblog thru Google, and fosbobetund that it’s really informative. I’m gonna watch out for brussels

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