Irish Recipe Roundup

So, next week is St. Patty's Day? I kind of totally forgot about it until a friend reminded me that Saturday was the annual Seaside St. Patrick's Day parade. Which on the one hand made me kind of sad because I used to love St. Patty's; we would go out with a huge group of friends all dressed in green, starting the festivities about 10 am and going all day on the boardwalk. But on the other hand, at the ripe age of 32 I really can't even imagine going out at 10 am and just the thought of the hangover that would surely follow (I can't hang for more than 2 glasses of wine these days) is enough to make me break out in a cold sweat. So, I guess I'm not really all that sad.

Matt was actually away snowboarding this weekend at a bachelor party, so my St. Patty's weekend consisted of baby & bridal shower planning, taking my little guy to see his first play (Puss In Boots, which he loved) and out to dinner, some backyard snow playing, and generally just hanging out with my babies and the family. Low key is all good with me.

BUT. Just because we don't do the all-day parade parties anymore doesn't mean we can't enjoy a Guinness or glass of good whiskey and a solid Irish meal. Clearly I myself won't be partaking in any corned beef & cabbage rituals, but Matt always picks some up at the butcher for him and Riker, and I usually whip up something green along with an Irish soda bread. Baked fish & chips also sometimes makes an appearance, since it's one of the things we ate the most when we went to Ireland a few years back and I love it.

If you're looking for a few ideas for your St. Patty's Day/week, here are a few of my favorites. I will say that my food philosophy has changed quite a bit in recent years as I learn more about food additives, pesticides, refining processes and the like, so these days I don't do much baking with refined ingredients - but you could always substitute coconut sugar for white sugar (it's a 1:1 ratio) and whole wheat flour for white flour. Use the recipes as-is or tweak to fit your life!

In order of courses:

Old Fashioned (Fluffy) Irish Soda Bread

Orange Bourbon Marmalade

Spaghetti with Caramelized Onions, Kale and Garlic 

(totally not Irish, but it's green so I sometimes make it anyway on St. Patty's)

Guinness Brownies with Irish Buttercream Frosting

If you have any good St. Patty's recipes, especially vegetarian ones, leave 'em in the comments!