The Heralding of the Green

Vintage Saint Patrick's Day Postcard

The Old Weir Bridge in Killarney

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While the original Saint Patrick's Day was scheduled so as not to interfere with the Easter Holidays, how appropriate it should be in the Early Spring when green buds and shoots are appearing for the first time of year in many parts of the world.

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It is not hard to see why the color "green" would come to represent the Irish, with Ireland so long known as "The Emerald Isle." An early Irish flag was all green with a golden harp in the center long before the green, orange and white tri-colored flag of today.

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"Everyone has some Irish in them on Saint Patrick's Day," I have been told time and again. Perhaps it is so, perhaps the prospect of green beer ~ and even a river which is dyed green in Chicago each year for the holiday ~ is too inspiring and alluring for anyone to admit they do not have at least a "smidgen of Irish" in their blood.

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Chicago River dyed green ~ 2008

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But no matter if they admit to being "even a little" Irish or not ~ or good-naturedly pretend to be for this happy holiday ~ it is very few people who can turn down an invitation to a good hearty Saint Patrick's Day meal. Corned Beef of course, being the choice of many.

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A Corned Beef dinner is a necessity in our home at this time of year. While we have tried many variations, we have found a favorite in Glazed Corn Beef Brisket, a hand-written recipe discovered years back in an old family recipe box.

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Served with boiled herbed new potatoes and steamed baby carrots, it brings dreamy visions of the Emerald Isle and a cozy stone cottage overlooking the Irish Sea. With a "secret ingredient" or two added by the "master chef in residence," we admittedly have it sometimes more than once a year, especially in the Spring.

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It should be started a day ahead of time, with the preparations on the actual day of serving being a generally easy endeavor. And if you didn't have your Corned Beef on the actual Saint Patrick's Day ~ well, it's never too late. May the road rise up to meet you ...

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Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

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Glazed Corn Beef Brisket (started a day before serving):

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• one Corned Beef Brisket, 8 t0 10 pounds
• 2 to 3 large sweet onions, quartered
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• whole cloves

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Mustard Glaze (made the day of serving):

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• 1 cup dark corn syrup or dark honey
• 2 tablespoons prepared mustard

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A Day Ahead of Serving:

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Place the Corned Beef Brisket in a large stove-top heavy kettle or pot (with lid) and add enough water to cover. Add the onion quarters, salt, pepper and garlic. Bring to a boil with pot uncovered. Reduce the heat and cover and simmer for about 4 to 5 hours or until the corned beef is tender.

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Remove the Corned Beef Brisket from cooking liquid, discard liquid. Stud the Corned Beef Brisket with whole cloves and wrap the Corned Beef Brisket well. Place in refrigerator and refrigerate until the next day.

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Day of Serving:

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Make the Mustard Glaze for the Corned Beef Brisket. In a small saucepan, combine the dark corn syrup or dark honey and mustard. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 8 minutes, stirring a few times to prevent sticking. Let cool.

Remove the Corned Beef Brisket from the refrigerator and unwrap. Trim any excess fat from the Corned Beef Brisket and place on rack in a broiler pan. Brush the Corned Beef Brisket liberally with the Mustard Glaze and broil about 5 inches from heat for 10 minutes, brushing the Corned Beef every 2 to 3 minutes with the Mustard Glaze.

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Serve with boiled new potatoes and steamed baby carrots, use any additional glaze as sauce for the vegetables, if desired. Recipe serves 8 to 12 and makes great left-overs.

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Warm Sunshine in a Cup

Day and night temperatures rollick upwards and downwards ~ a seasonal roller coaster of warmer and cooler weather ~ almost near 60-degrees at times and then back down into the 20s and teens seemingly quite suddenly, wind chill factors not considered.

It is one of the wonderful paradoxes of the beginning of Spring ~ too warm to be cold and too cold to be warm And never quite in the middle either.

Subsequently it is a time of year when multiple layers of clothing are quite practical ~ peeling off and putting on, depending on the fluctuating degrees, the wind and the amount of activity engaged in at any one time.

We are committed coffee drinkers, we must at least have that first freshly brewed cup of coffee in the morning. Yet there are occasions during this time of the year when I turn to tea first thing in the morning instead.

Tea seems "lighter" somehow, more Spring-like ~ perhaps it is all in my head ~ but there is something about a good hot cup of Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Green Tea with Raspberry and various other types and flavors that revive me in a way that coffee doesn't seem to be able to at times.

One Spring only a few years ago, I became nearly obsessed with Green Tea with Raspberry.

I had received several gorgeous large tins of the Green Tea with Raspberry as a gift the year before and the tins were so beautiful that I hesitated opening them ~ thinking to myself I would save them for some "special occasion" instead. And then one dreary chill March evening, I finally opened one. And the aroma of Raspberries which seemed almost to jump out at me was like a basket of fresh fruit just picked from the bush. Fragrant, wholly ripe Raspberries fit for an award-winning pie.

It was a Spring in which for various reasons, it seemed we were almost always "on the road" ~ on our way to or from somewhere ~ and I would always pack at least two large thermoses of the Green Tea with Raspberry to take with us.

A small dollop of pure Honey mixed in ~ and it was like carrying a welcoming ray of warm sunshine in a bottle.

It too was a Spring of widely varying temperatures and occasional surprising wind chills ~ a time of year when folks of yesteryear used to employ their "home-made" tonics to renew their energies and to keep from getting ill.

The Green Tea with Raspberry was like a tonic for us that year. While we have been fortunate in our health, it somehow gave us an extra boost and helped to keep us from feeling run-down with all the traveling we were doing.

I always have a good supply in the pantry ~ along with a variety of other kinds ~ tea can be wonderfully versatile and fortunately keeps nearly as long as the hills, if properly stored. We still drink the Green Tea with Raspberry, although I am more likely to intersperse it with other flavors and types.

I still pack thermoses of it when we are traveling this time of year however, a wonderful habit which stayed with me ~ and because it seems, no other type of beverage will just quite do.

And still in this time of year, we turn to our Hot Apple Cider, undoubtedly a "tonic" in its own right ~ and one which seems to get us through the cooler and colder months of Fall and Winter each year ~ and well into the chilly days and nights of Spring as well.

While it was a bit warmer today, the reminder of the cold Winter's passing still blew on the icy breeze ~ and an occasional and surprising chill ran over me at times.

So before noon, a crock pot full of Hot Apple Cider was brewing and somehow the day ~ both indoors and out ~ was more delightful and somehow brighter than before.

Although on the few warm days we have seen, we will drink our Apple Cider chilled now ~ there is also something renewing about Apples and the resulting Cider which seems to refresh and re-invigorate our energies no matter what the weather ~ but especially at those times of year when there is a chill in the air of one degree or another with the Apple Cider served hot.

And perhaps it is like that with the blissful aroma and taste of Green Tea with Raspberry beginning in the early Spring. A warm and fragrant ray of sunshine in a cup or thermos which seems to taste like Spring itself as well.

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