Big city "sophistication"?

Seen on a t-shirt outside Kroger today: Mess with me and you mess with the whole trailer park. When I moved to Atlanta, I thought I left all that in South Georgia. LOL, apparently not!

My Saturday

It has been a totally weird day. I didn’t start out that way but it turned strange pretty rapidly when I went to the local Verizon store to return a broken telephone holster.

First of all, they had no customers in the front of the store but plenty of help standing around. I was directed to customer service where there were several customers but only one person helping. Typical I suppose.

After standing there for what seemed forever, someone finally came back and started listing customers so we could be called in the order we had gotten in line. This was after one other person finally came back to help and called someone forward who had not been there as long as some others. To say that annoyed me (and the others) is a gross understatement.

To make matters even worse (if they could be) some old guy wearing Nikes, white socks, a velour top, and way-too-short baggy knit shorts with extremely wide legs was sitting on an office chair waiting his turn in line. He kept turning and every time he swiveled his chair, his shorts rode up even higher. Every time I averted my eyes, he seemed to move into my line of sight again. Boy, some things do not get better with age and what I saw today affirmed that in spades!

I finally went up front and asked why they couldn’t just change the broken holster out and let me go. It was after 2 p.m., I had not had breakfast or lunch, so was not only crabby, but hungry and crabby, a deadly combination! I was informed I had to go through customer service but I think the muttering I did moved me up a little.

The supervisor-type I was grumbling to called me forward in a few minutes. With Murphy’s Law in full force, I got the new person who had no clue how to do anything. Instead of asking for help, she stood there with the broken holster, looking around as though she had never been in the store before. Since she made no effort to, I had to aggravate the supervisor again to ask if they even had the item in stock. Of course they didn’t!

Okay, now a simple refund. Not! She gazed at the cash register as if it was a strange creature that was about to take her hand off at the wrist. By the time she figured out which buttons to push, the telephone rang. She couldn’t let someone else answer it. No, it had to be her and she promptly engaged in a conversation with an unseen customer. I tried politely to get her attention and she was so wrapped up in the conversation and staring at the register that she didn’t seem to hear me.

It was at that point I probably won “Bitchy Customer of the Month” title. I spoke loudly enough she could not ignore me and said, “Miss, put your call on hold and finish processing my transaction!” She mumbled something I could not hear but put the phone down and finished quickly.

Moral: Do not mess with old women. Especially, tired hungry old women who are already p***ed off. It won't be pretty!

Out of sync

A sinus infection has kept me out of sync for several days, actually for the past 3-4 weeks. After it moved into my ears, I decided to give in and go get some antibiotics this afternoon so here's hoping I will be my usually witty self soon. That may be a good change, lol.

PKA Candidate

It’s official. My green thumb really is as brown as I thought. I swore off anything even remotely horticulture-related, especially inside plants, when I managed to kill some cacti many years ago; but the bamboo was so pretty and tempting that I couldn’t resist buying a few pieces to “green-up” my apartment. After all, it only required water and no direct sunlight ~ no potting, no fertilizing, nothing I could mess up on. Apparently I did.

The once beautiful dark green plant in my kitchen window (still in water) is now a sickly shade of yellow in its death throes. I surrender! Wonder if there’s a chapter of Plant Killers Anonymous near me? I'm desperately in need of a sponsor.

Wearing of the Green coming up soon

Colcannon, a traditional Irish potato-leek dish, usually includes prizes of small coins and other trinkets much as a British Christmas pudding.

Fadge, a type of griddle bread, is basically a classic potato farl (derived from the Gaelic fardel, literally meaning 'four part), referring to the way it is typically cut into quarters for serving). One version is filled with sliced apples and served at Halloween.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake drizzled with chocolate is a delicious way to top a St. Patrick’s Day meal.

If St. Patrick’s Day is here, can spring be far behind?

“When after the Winter alarmin',

The Spring steps in so charmin',

So fresh and arch

In the middle of March,

Wid her hand St. Patrick's arm on...”

~Alfred Percival Graves (Irish poet)

When Graves penned that verse, he may well have been experiencing a winter much like this one that has roamed ferociously over parts of the United States. In any event, he sounds as pleased about the arrival of spring as most of us probably feel about it now. As he so eloquently expressed it, St. Patrick’s Day heralds the arrival of Spring and after the unusual cold we’ve had here in the not-so-sunny South, I’m sure many of us are prayng his predictions hold true this year!

Along with Spring and St. Patrick’s Day comes parades, festivals, images of leprechauns, pots of gold, shamrocks and green. Lots and lots of green. Green beer, green food, green clothes. Chicagoans even dye their river bright green every year.

Green has been associated with St. Patrick's day and Ireland for many years, but the truth of the matter is that it was once considered the color most treasured by the faerie folk; and parents wouldn't dare dress their children in green on St. Patty's day, for fear of having them stolen by these supernatural creatures. Today, it is one of the three colors of the Irish flag, and is worn with great pride.

St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a religious occasion in Ireland and Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17 until the 1970s. In 1995, the government there began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. The multi-day St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin, featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions and fireworks shows, attracted nearly 1,000,000 celebrants last year.

Irish food is not usually lauded as special but it has been an integral part of American cuisine for many years. In fact, Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration dinner menu included Corned Beef served with cabbage and parsley potatoes as the main entrée while the traditional Saint Patrick's Day meal is corned beef, boiled potatoes, and mashed cabbage served with Guiness of course. Lincoln’s dinner differed in that it opened with Mock Turtle Soup and ended with Blackberry Cobbler. No Guiness for this repast though. Just coffee.

Today, there are new additions to Irish menus as well as modern versions of most old recipes but many prefer the more traditional methods. A mixture of both is included here for your St. Patrick’s Day celebration. NOTE: I’ve tried to leave Irish spellings and terminology intact as much as possible and inserted some clarifications and conversions for convenience sake.

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Irish Lamb Stew

2 lbs. cubed, boneless leg of lamb

2 medium onions, chopped

2 T. flour

1 t. salt

1/4 t. rosemary

1 lb. potatoes, cut into pieces

2 small rutabagas, cubed

1/4 c. frozen onions

3 T.oil

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 c. beef stock

Black pepper to taste

1 bay leaf

6 carrots sliced

1 lb. frozen peas

Cut lamb into cubes. Heat oil in a heavy saucepan, add lamb and cook until lightly browned, remove from pan. Add onion and garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add flour and stir, heat until mixture browns. Gradually add stock while stirring.

Return meat to saucepan. Add salt, pepper, rosemary and bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 1 hour or until meat is almost tender. Add potatoes, carrots and turnips. Cook 30 minutes longer. Add peas and onions and continue cooking until peas are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Fadge

2 lb. unpeeled "old" potatoes (cured)

1 egg, beaten

1/2 stick (4 T.) butter

3 T. flour

1-1/2 T. chopped parsley

1-1/2 T. chopped chives

1-1/2 T. chopped lemon thyme (these three herbs mixed, opt)

Creamy milk

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Seasoned flour

Bacon fat or butter for frying

Boil the potatoes in their jackets, pull off the skins and mash straight away. Add the egg, butter, flour and herbs (if using) and mix well. Season with plenty of salt and pepper, adding a few drops of creamy milk (whole milk) if the mixture is too stiff.

Shape into a 1" round and then cut into eight pieces. Dip in seasoned flour. Bake on a griddle over an open fire or fry in bacon fat or melted butter on a gentle heat. Cook the fadge until crusty and golden on one side, then flip over and cook on the other side (about 4-5 minutes on each side). Serve on its own on hot plates with a blob of butter melting on top

Colcannon

4 cups mashed potatoes (Real Irish spuds only please)

1-1/2 cups cabbage, cooked and chopped fine

1/2 cup butter (real butter is best)

1/2 c. evaporated milk or cream

3/4 cup leeks or onion, chopped very fine

Few strips bacon/or bacon grease

1/4 teaspoons salt

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

A thimble

A button

A ring

A coin

In large cooking pan, fry bacon; add onion and sauté. Discard bacon and grease. Add all of the above ingredients, except the cabbage and play pretties, and cook over low heat while blending together. Turn the heat to medium and add the chopped cabbage. The mixture will have a pale green cast. Stir occasionally until the mixture is warm enough to eat. Put in the pretties and eat very cautiously. Serves about 6 healthy eaters.

Baileys Irish Cream Cheesecake

250g (8-3/4 oz.) choc-chip biscuits (cookies)

75g (2-2/3 oz.) butter, melted

3 t. (1 T.) gelatine (gelatin)

1/4 c. (60ml) water

2 x 250g (2 8-oz. pkg.) packets cream cheese

3/4 c. (165g) caster sugar

300ml (10-1/2 oz.) thickened cream

1/3 cup (80ml) Baileys Irish Cream liqueur

2 egg whites

Blend or process biscuits until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Transfer to a large bowl; add butter, stir to combine. Press biscuit mixture evenly over the base of a 24cm springform tin (inside top measurement 23cm); refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

Sprinkle gelatine over the water in a small heatproof jug; stand the jug in small saucepan of simmering water. Stir until the gelatine dissolves; cool for 5 minutes.

Beat cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the cream; beat until thick. Stir in gelatine mixture and liqueur. Beat egg whites in a clean small bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form; fold into cheese mixture. Pour mixture over base in the prepared tin. Cover, refrigerate for about 4 hours or until set. Serve cheesecake with chocolate sauce.

Chocolate Sauce

200g (7 oz.) dark chocolate, chopped

1 cup (250ml) thickened cream

2 T. Irish Cream liqueur

Combine the chocolate and cream in a small heavy-based saucepan; stir over low heat until smooth. Stir in the liqueur.

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A little Irish trivia for your amusement:

Questions:

1. Where is it claimed that leprechauns bury their pots of gold?

2. Where did the faeries keep kidnapped brides and babies?

3. In St. Patrick’s time, who ranked as high as kings?

4. What was St. Patrick rumored to have removed from Ireland?

5. St. Patrick’s Day was first celebrated in what American city?

6. What two rivers are dyed green every year on St. Patrick’s Day in the United States?

7. A popular Irish dish of shredded cabbage, minced onions and melted butter is known as?

8. What is an Irish shillegah?

9. What was the birth name of St. Patrick?

10. How long did St. Patrick serve as a missionary?

11. Who began the custom of pinching those who don’t wear green on St. Patrick’s Day?

12. Is it true or false that all lent restrictions are dropped on St. Patrick’s Day?

13. How did St. Patrick drive all the snakes out of Ireland?

14. Was it really snakes that St. Patrick drove from Ireland?

15. Where was St. Patrick born?

16. Which city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade garners the largest viewing audience?

17. What did St. Patrick consider himself to be at the age of 16?

18. St. Patrick was canonized by which pope?

19. Which group established the St. Patrick’s Festival?

20. Which service for fairies are leprechauns said to perform?

21. What was St. Patrick’s Latin name?

22. What was St. Patrick’s father’s occupation?

23. Why is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated on March 17th?

24. In what year did St. Patrick’s Day become a public holiday in Ireland?

25. What color, other than green, was once associated with St. Patrick’s Day?

26. The longest-running Saint Patrick's Day parade in Canada occurs in which city each year?

27. The largest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the UK is held in which city?

28. In what year did New York City celebrate its first St. Patrick’s Day parade?

29. What symbol is most commonly associated with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations?

30. The circle in the middle of a Celtic Cross represents what?

Answers:

1. At the end of the rainbow

2. In fairy mounds for up to 100 years. Some farmers still will not disturb small lumpy hills on their land because they believe spirits are in them.

3. Poets. St. Patrick was so taken with Irish poet Caoilte that he declared all Irish tales be told “where every third word have melody.”

4. Snakes

5. Boston in 1737

6. The Chicago River and the San Antonio River

7. Colcannon

8. A big walking stick.

9. Maewyn Succat

10. 30 years

11. Children

12. True

13. By pounding on drums

14. Snakes are not indigenous to Ireland and it is commonly believed that serpents were likely a metaphor for druidic religions which steadily disappeared from Ireland in the centuries after St. Patrick planted the seeds of Christianity on the island.

15. Wales

16. New York

17. A pagan

18. None. He was never formally canonized

19. The Irish Government

20. Making their shoes

21. Patricius

22. He was an alderman

23. It is the day St. Patrick was said to have died

24. 1903

25. Blue

26. Montreal

27. Birmingham, England

28. 1762. The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762. In 1848, several Irish Aid societies united to form one gigantic NYC St. Paddy’s parade. With 150,000 participants, it holds the distinction of being the largest civilian parade in the USA. Nearly 3,000,000 watchers line a 1.5-mile route to watch the procession that takes more than five hours to pass by.

29. Shamrocks

30. The sun

Time flying...

If you want see time physically passing in front of your eyes, trying going out at the same time early each morning. On my recent forays to watch Little Bit the past few weeks, I could literally see the changes happening.

Week before last, it was dark as pitch when I left at 6:30 a.m. and still dark when I reached my destination 45-50 minutes later. Last week, I could see soft pink and purple tendrils of light barely creeping over the horizon when I headed out to my car.

Two days later, vibrant electric pink clouds were already piercing the entire lower part of the sky as I headed east. In less than ten minutes, the sun was peeking over the treetops and in five more minutes, I was lowering the visor and reaching for my sunglasses.

Time is fleeting…

My opinion

Saying the recent exit of several politicians from Washington is a “brain drain” assumes there have actually been brains at work there in the past decade or so. It’s more like rats deserting a ship that they’ve helped sink!