Happy St. Patrick's Day

Since it be St. Patrick's Day I'll be lettin you know that I have a we bit o Irish in me.

We went to the St. Patrick's Day parade here in our town on Saturday. It was a balmy 25 degrees with a quite chilly wind from the north. No bother, though, because by the St. Paddy's Day parade pretty much everyone will do ANYTHING to get out of the house. Cabin fever has set in.

It was quite fun to see everyone out and about and the kids got all jazzed up on the candy thrown out by the parade floats. We collected lots green necklaces and other various things.

Today, St. Paddy's Day, I am fixing beer bread and an Irish Beef Stew for supper.

Irish Beef Stew

1/4 c olive oil
1 1/4 lb stew beef
6 garlic cloves, minced
6 c beef stock
1 c guinness Beer
1 c red wine
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 Bay leaves
1/4 stick butter
3 lbs potatoes
1 onion, chopped
2 c. carrots, diced

Heat olive oil and brown stew meat about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for a minute. Add beef stock, beer, wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Bring mixture to boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer around an hour. Stir occasionally.

While simmering the stew, melt the butter and add vegetables and saute until done and golden, about 20 minutes or so. Add veggies to stew and simmer uncovered about 40 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread.

This is a really tasty stew. Something about the beer gives the broth a wonderful taste. I do not like the taste of beer but it's good in here.

The beer bread recipe I use is from the Creme de Colorado cookbook circa 1987.

Quick and Easy Coors Beer Bread
1/3 c butter
3 c self rising flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 12 oz can Coors beer

Melt butter and pour enough into a 9x5 loaf pan to coat the bottom. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and beer. Spoon dough into loaf pan. Pour remaining butter over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until bread is light golden color. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting with a serrated knife.

Serve bread warm with butter and honey. Yum!

I have used regular flour in this because I never have self rising flour in the house. So, if you use regular flour, add 4 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 1/2 tsp salt. It turns out great each time!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

Olaf

We got a new dog today. His name was Oliver but the kids want to name him Olaf  (like the snowman in Frozen). We drove to meet Jill, Dan's sister, in St. Cloud to get him. 

He's about Samson's height but a bit trimmer. He's only ten months old and we think he will grow some more. 

He's a Great Pyrenees and Mareema cross. Never heard of the breed Mareema so we googled it. They look very similar to Pyrenees. Both are livestock guardian dogs. Their cousins are Newfoundlands and St. Bernards. 

He has a great, thick, white coat of fur. He seems to be gentle and loving. 

The kids and Dan are outside with him right now getting to know him. 

Still missing Samson but needing another dog in our lives!