Another Freakin Holiday Food Post...

but seriously, can you blame me?

It's St. Patty's Day, a day of beer and leprechauns and Lucky Charms cereal and Bushmills and...well I could go on, but I have a life to lead cha-cha.

Suffice to say ( I always wanted to write that) I am very busy earning a pot'-o- gold or two and  I wanted this meal to be as easy as finding a four-leaf clover. (Trust me, I have found 100's in my time.) But the thought of boiling a piece of meat that has already been brined in water did not really excite this Scottish/Polish/English/Chickasaw gal. So I mixed things up a little. Like Ireland and England.
Enjoy!

So I opened the bag-o-beef and threw it in the crock-o-pot. I added some leftover wine---a rare commodity---and ignored it for a few hours.

Sometime after Happy Hour I rescued the corn (corned?) beef and slathered it with a soy sauce/mustard/apricot jam glaze and threw it in the oven at 400 degrees.

Then I tentatively approached the chou-chou.

I tossed it in boiling water for a couple o' minutes... (are you catching on to the theme?)

I boiled some Yukon Golds and mashed them with sour cream, half & half  and butter. Lot's o' lots o' butter. (I'm out of control.)

Here is the brilliant part; I tossed the warm, buttery cabbage into the mashed potatoes. Oh sweet Jeezuz!

Sliced the baked corned beef...

Mixed it all up on my English China....and ...Ifreann na Fola! Delicious! 
I'm as surprised as you are!

And for dessert- Irish coffee and molasses cookies...I actually had some left from this afternoon. Ahem.

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, May good luck pursue you each morning and night. ~Irish Blessing

No One Can Resist My Schweddy Balls.

They're made from a secret Schweddy Family recipe....
Actually, I'll give you MY recipe, but I had mucho fun writing that line!

So this morning- after a day spent in the mountains- 20 degrees and snow everywhere- and watching The Husband climb and top a Christmas tree- I wondered what I might cook up today.

The Husband was doing the 'Word Jumble," - damn I hate the Word Jumble-and he must of had to un-jumble the word 'rum,' or 'cookie,' or hell, I don't know, maybe he just wanted a Pina Colada for breakfast. Anyhoo, he said, "Why don't you make some rum balls?" And I thought, well, he did drag his Social Security ass up a huge fir tree and drag the tree half a mile back to the car for me. The least I could do was mix some rum and some chocolate together for him and make it into little balls. You know, throw him a bone.
And so I did.
Unfortunately since we are headed to California for Christmas and will be putting on bathing suits at in various Jacuzzis of skinny friends- we are cutting back the calories.

First thing in the morning...after putting two balls in my mouth...I will be packing them up very carefully and mailing them out. Because... I do know that you all love yourselves... a Sack of Schweddy Balls.

Oh my that was fun!


"Wow! My mouth's watering just thinking about those Balls!" Margeret Jo McCullen:

 So the recipe calls for Vanilla Wafers, but I didn't have any Vanilla Wafers and I wasn't going to drive 40 miles round trip for Vanilla Wafers. So I made them. Here is that recipe:

Vanilla Wafer Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (no substitutes), softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
•  2tablespoon vanilla extract, plus if you have a vanilla bean toss some seeds in.
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls 2 in onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12-15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.And BTW- The house will so smell yummy you can stash the bathroom spray!

Now you can move on and make the Schweddy Balls. (Adapted from Emeril, not Pete Schweddy. His balls are a secret!)

Schweddy Rum and/or Irish Cream Balls 

Ingredients

• 2 cups-plus confectioners' sugar
• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup dark rum and 1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream
• 4 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 31/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers- you can use a food processor to do this, but I like to smash things. To bits. I mean, really smash it to pieces.
• 2 cups finely chopped, toasted walnuts or pecans- nuts is nuts.

Directions

 

Into a large bowl, sift together 2 cup of the confectioners' sugar, the cocoa powder and allspice. place half of the mix in another bowl. Stir in the rum and corn syrup in one bowl and the Baileys and corn syrup in another bowl. Stir in the vanilla wafers and nuts, and mix well. Place in the refrigerator to firm up slightly, about 30 minutes. (The mixture may appear crumbly and dry; this is O.K.)
Place the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar in a shallow bowl or dish.

Using a tablespoon, scoop out portions of the chocolate mixture and press into 1-inch balls. Using your hands, roll the balls in the confectioners' sugar, coating evenly. 

Place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, placing waxed paper between the layers to prevent sticking.Or you can just mail your balls to your friends in San Diego.(This is NOT the photo of my balls. My computer would not download the photo I took of my balls...kind of like Wal-Mart.)