Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I hope you wore enough green today to escape being pinched.
Mr. Cactus and I were lucky enough to be invited over to enjoy an authentic Irish dinner hosted by my good friend Pat and her husband Bert.

Pat is of Irish descent and has been to Ireland at least 9 or 10 times.


Pat and Bert's house was decorated with Shamrock's and St. Patrick's Day decor.

Yum, Yum.
Pat worked very hard cooking all day to serve us the traditional Corn Beef and Cabbage meal. I did not know this: you cannot buy Corn Beef and Cabbage meal in Ireland. Pat said this is actually an American version of Irish food. I asked her what types of food are most traditional for Ireland and she said "Irish Stew" often made with lamb.

Ricci brought Irish Soda Bread made with currents and raisins.

Irish trivets

Pat is an amazing quilter. This one was hanging in her kitchen.


I snuck into Pat's sewing room to see the latest hanging on her design wall. Notice how many ribbons she has received for her work. These are just a few from the many she has been awarded.
I love this quilt hanging in her guest bedroom. I liked the stitchery below because it looked St. Patrick's Dayish to me.

While we were visiting a neighbor brought over some new born kittens she was trying to find a home for.

These two little girls have taken such good care of the kittens for the last 10 weeks. In fact, at first sight Jan and Jerry adopted both of the kittens, and will be taking them home!
Jerry has been wanting a cat for some time, and Jan is now wondering if he set her up. (Would he do that?) She looked pretty happy after a few minutes of seeing how content the kittens were snuggled in their arms. They will be given a wonderful home with Jerry and Jan.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks like you had a wonderful day! Those kittens are the cutest.

Eileen said...

What a wonderful St Paddy's Day post. I particularly was drawn to those Irish trivets. I have a set of those with the same style of writing on them, only with Pennsyvania Dutch sayings. They were my mother's given to her by my grandma..(her MIL). It was really neat to see them in your blog!
And wow.. what a quilter! Love how you sneak into rooms to get pictures for us. :-)

Kim Walus said...

My husband would have loved going to dinner with you. He LOVES authentic Irish food. Everything looked sooo good. I loved all the quilts and the quilts are adorable.

I'm so glad you tried the mint brownies. I have to do the same thing when I make them but, I know the neighbors appreciate it when I do.

I'm sorry I couldn't get down to Bryce. It's just a little too far with my youngest still being a bit needy. Distance makes her anxiety worse. She handled my being in Provo for 3 days really well. Her dad even got her to school each of those days. The quilt retreat in Provo was wonderful. We all got to sew together in one big room and we each had our own 6 foot table to sew on. We had six trunk shows, classes, 6 meals, and soft comfortable beds. It was a lot of fun and we're doing it again next year.

Material Mary said...

What a fun day!! Glad that you could spend it with friends.
Mary

Anonymous said...

My Irish eyes are shining...because of those beautiful kittens. Jan and I have never had such a happy and smiling morning as today (3/18/09). They are a joy to behold. ps. Jan was setup....the Irish in me made me do it....
Jerry of Jan Jamriska

Cathie in UT said...

Hi Nedra...Your friend is a girl after my own heart with her St Pat's dinner and celebration.

I was just telling the grandkids that although the food isn't "authentic" Irish it represents what life was for the early emmigrants having to eat the most inexpensive foods and although there wasn't much beef in Ireland their new country the USA had plenty and that corning was an old way to preserve meat. LOL
It works
Wish I could visit Ireland and Scotland soon...who knows?

Nanette Merrill said...

It is always wonderful when a pet finds a good home. How sweet. Wow. That quilt of Pat's is something. I love it. She deserves ribbons. The meal looks great. It was so nice of them to have you there. You have the greatest people Nedra. I think that is because you are such a wonderful person - people are drawn to you.