Wearin' of the Green

Welcome Everyone

to the second annual St. Patrick's Day Blog Crawl

hosted by my dear friend, Kathleen, at Cuisine Kathleen.
Join in the celebration commemorating the sainthood of Patrick,
the patron saint of Ireland.

Both my great-great-grandfather, William Ross Wallace, and my great-great-grandmother, Catherine Irwin, were born in Belfast, Ireland in 1834.  Their families were potato famine refugees who emigrated to the United States in the 1850's.  My great grandmother, Catherine Wallace, was born here in Portland, Oregon, in 1869, and the Willamette Valley
 has been our family home ever since.

I was raised in a family that was otherwise of German descent and I always identified myself as a maedchen instead of a cailin.

But every year, on March 17th, I become a very Irish great-great-granddaughter.

Won't you drop by for a cup of tea and a slice of Irish Soda Bread? 

This is Ina's recipe and one that I like very much. Currants and orange zest give it wonderful flavor.  I'll toast a slice for you if you prefer, and a little butter and jam would be nice.

My preparation of corned beef and cabbage is very simple.

I cover the meat with cold water in a large pot, add the spice packet and let it simmer,

not boil, for 2-1/2 to 3 hours. The addition of a couple of sliced onions, celery and carrots adds flavor to the meat, but it isn't essential.

Remove the meat when tender, strain the liquid, bring to a boil and add carrots, potatoes and cabbage wedges.  I recommend cooking the vegetables separately so each is cooked to the right stage of doneness. No mushy veggies allowed.

My mother always served a little pitcher of cider vinegar with the cabbage.  That, and a pat of butter, make a dish fit for royalty.

This holiday I'm also serving horseradish cream sauce with the platter of meat and veggies. I found this recipe at How to Cook a Wolf and thought it sounded fantastic, and indeed it is.   Make plenty because it's delicious on all the vegetables as well as the corned beef.  Thanks, Linda, for a sauce recipe that I'll be using over and over.  Do stop by to visit. 

 I know you will enjoy her blog as much as I do.

A little basket of shamrock sugar cookies is a lovely dessert, don't you think?

****

I knew the words to this song long before I was old enough to go to school.  My great-grandmother sang it all the time and when I was very young I could sing it along with her.  It is a somber ditty and describs the conditions in Ireland when my ancestors chose to leave their home and make a new life in America.  I can still hear my great-grandmother's sweet voice singing me this story.  All the celebrating on St. Patrick's Day is great fun, but there is more to the story than that.

Wearin' of the Green

by Dion Boucicault

"Oh Paddy dear and did you hear the news that's going 'round?

the shamrock is forbid by law to grow on Irish ground

No more St. Patrick's Day to keep his colours can't be seen

there is a cruel law against the wearing of the green"

I met with Napper Tandy and he took me by the hand

and he said, "How's dear old Ireland and how does she stand?"

"She's the most distressful country that you have ever seen

they're hangin' men and women there for wearing of the green"

Then if the colour we must wear is England's cruel red
let it remind us of the blood that Ireland has shed
so take the shamrock from your hat and throw it to the sod
and never fear will take root there though under foot it's trod
when the law can stop the blades of grass from growing as they grow
and when the leaves of summertime their verdue dare not show
well it's then I'll change the colour that I wear in my corbeen
but till that time praise God I'll keep to wearing of the green.