Corned Beef Cabbage in Guinness

I know that I am Scottish and I know that St. Patrick’s Day is more of a North American celebration in honour of a saint that I know nothing about because I am a heathen…. but I do love preparing a corned beef and cabbage dinner at this time of the year.

The Fella was working, but my ma came over on Saturday for dinner.  The Fella is lucky that we saved some for him – he is not so lucky that Saturday night concluded with an evening of beer consumption on top of the cabbage which made for some nasty Dutch ovens at his expense (nothin’ says lovin’ like a Dutch oven).

Corned Beef Cabbage in Guinness

1 package of corned beef brisket

1 can Guinness

3 onions – quartered

1 head of cabbage - quartered

1 dash of ground cloves

Salt & Pepper to taste

Water

Quarter onions & place in a large stock pot.  Open the package of corned beef and place on top of the onions.  The package directions on the corned beef instructs you to boil it in the bag - but then you miss out on the Guinnessy goodness.   Be a rebel and thumb your nose at those who tell you what to do.  

Pour in the can of Guinness  and then add enough water to cover the top of the corned beef.  Add cloves, salt and pepper. 

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for 50 min per pound.  Skim fat from the top of the stock every hour. 

Add the quartered cabbage during the last hour of cooking.   I put the corned beef on a cookie sheet and place in a 350 degree oven for the last twenty minutes of cooking.  Serve corned beef, cabbage and stock over mashed potatoes.

Forgo the usual green beer and try Well's Banana Bread Beer - it is not sweet tasting as it sounds - it is a full body beer with notes of banana and nut.

Boxing Day Fry Up

Hope that everyone had a great Christmas!

Thank crunchie for yoga pants - they are the perfect attire during the holiday season with marathon meal sessions.  I plan to pry myself away from the telly and my tin of Roses chocolates to make a Boxing Day Fry Up.

I love to cook, but my commute and ten hour days puts a damper on meal preparation.  When I come home during the week I want something FAST!  So when I get the opportunity to spend time making a meal, I like to make an event out of it (as you can see from some of my previous blog posts) complete with cocktails and music.

On Christmas Day, I pretty much make enough food to feed a small army.  Yesterday I cooked a turkey AND a ham, plus all of the trimmings and I loved every minute of it. 

However, if I'm totally honest, the meal that I really look forward to during the holiday season is the annual Boxing Day Fry Up.  I fry the left over ham and make a big, heaping batch of "Bubble and Squeak" out of left over mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts.

Every U.K. resident, descendant and ex-pat has their own take on Bubble and Squeak, but the main ingredients are always potato and cabbage.  The name is suppose to refer to the sound that the ingredients make when they are being fried - however, I think it suppose to refer to the sounds that you make after digestion.

The Lassie's Boxing Day Bubble and Squeak

Leftover mashed potatoes
Leftover brussel sprouts - chopped
Leftover stuffing (optional)
Leftover vegetables (this year I threw in roasted parsnips)
1/2 onion chopped
1 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp butter or margarine

Heat 1 tbsp of butter (or margarine) in a large frying pan or skillet.  Add chopped onion and brussel sprouts for one - two minutes.  Remove from pan and place in a large bowl.   Add the mashed potatoes, paprika and stuffing and misc. left over vegetables (if using) .  Mix until thoroughly combined.   Heat remaining tbsp of butter (or margarine) until very hot.   Add mixture turning occasionally. 

Serve with HP Sauce and fried ham.

To accompany our fry up, we had a lovely Kahlua Peppermint Mocha latte.

Now you have a good base in you to go out and hit the Boxing Day sales!  Myself, I plan to return to the telly and my Roses.

Joy to the Wor'd!

Joy to the Wor'd yo! Here's a wee top ten list of my favourite holiday tunes that are off the beaten track.










  

10. Little Drummer Boy - The Dandy Warhols

(This video deeply disturbs me - but I love the song)

9. Christmas Was Better in the 80's - The Futureheads
(well wasn't everything???)

8. Father Christmas - The Kinks

 

7. 2000 Miles - The Pretenders

6. Merry Christmas (I don't wanna fight tonight) - The Ramones

5. Christmas Wrapping - The Waitresses

4. I wish it was Christmas today - Julian Casablancas

(The Strokes front man looking like a total git on the album cover, but what a kick ass song!)

 

3. I wish it could be Christmas everyday - Wizzard

2. Merry Christmas Everybody - Slade

1. Fairytale of New York - The Pogues

(*sigh* poor Kirsty MacColl....)

Merry Christmas!  Hope that yours is happy & healthy.   Peace on Earth out.





"Yule" Shoot Your Eye Out

Oh fudge!  I wish that I had the time to visit NYC right now.   From now until December 30^th you can catch Broadway’s tribute to my ultimate favourite Christmas movie – “A Christmas Story – The Musical”.  It’s playing at the Lunt-Fontanne theatre on 46^th Street, which is an absolutely beautiful venue.  Ooh, I want to go so bad!! 

I am very curious about the music in the Broadway show.   What scenes do you think will be turned into musical numbers? *Sigh* Ah, well.  I will just have to content myself to watching the movie for the umpteenth time.  To ease my sorrows, I christened the following cocktail, “Yule" Shoot Your Eye Out!” 

The non-alcoholic recipe came from a former boss of mine.  Once when I had the flu, she recommended a drink that her mom would make for her when she was a little girl and feeling poorly.  She said that it would help ease my throat.  The drink was a combination of honey, lemon and ginger ale warmed in the microwave.  She was right!  However, I discovered that when you microwave ginger ale, it becomes like, twenty times more effervescent.  The bubbles literally pop out of your mug all over your face.  So, I thought, why not "Irish it up" a bit?  Hence the inspiration for the name.

"Yule" Shoot Your Eye Out!

½ can ginger ale

1 tbsp honey

1 wedge of lemon

1 oz. brandy

Place ginger ale, honey and brandy in a microwave safe mug.  Squeeze the juice out of the lemon wedge.  Microwave for 1 minute.  Put on eye protection and enjoy.  Try it tonight.  I triple dog dare you!

http://www.broadway.com/shows/christmas-story

Oh Christmas Tree (An Urban Tale)

Since moving from a house to a veal pen in the sky, I had to say goodbye to my Christmas tree. It was 6' tall and almost 5' wide and unless I wanted to put my sofa in storage for the holiday season, I would have to look for some sort of alternative.  So I began reading blog tips on selecting the perfect Christmas tree...

Select the correct size of tree for your home--
OK then, supermodel size--something tall and skinny that will not require feeding

Decide on the species of tree--
I am no tree botanist, but I think the pseudo-Latin species name for my perfect tree is "artificial pre-lit coniferous" and be indigenous to factories in China

Put lights on first --
Or select an indigenous species that already contains them (see note above)

Select a theme for your tree--
Since I am a drag queen trapped in a woman's body, nothing screams holiday more than "Liza"!  Complete with top hat and high heels and fishnet netting

If you choose an artificial tree, do not try to pass it off as a real tree --
I'm thinking that the fact it is champagne coloured & glittery pretty much indicates that the jig is up.

 

 

 

 

You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch

Bloody hell I hate November.

I hate that when I leave for work in the morning and when I come home from work in the early evening it feels like 2 o'clock in the morning. If I'm lucky, I can press my nose against my office window and soak in a wee ray of light during the day.  The lack of sunshine makes me feel a bit like a vampire.  Don't even get me started on the cold. Yes, I know, I live in Canada and I should be use to it. But I am a first generation Canadian-- so it's not like it's in my genes or anything so I didn't inherit a tolerance to the cold through natural selection. And it's not like I'm going to reproduce and pass on cold-hardy DNA to any offsprings.  The only genes that I will pass on are my DvB jeans (don't laugh Vivieen - hope that Ben is looking forward to inheriting a wardrobe full of handbags and the odd designer piece). Nope, I love the heat and sometimes (like in the month of November) I wish that I lived in the desert...well, an urban-centre desert, with trendy shoe shops and good restaurants.  

It's nights like these when I am walking home from the train that I get the urge to come home and do something daft to cheer me up. Towards the mid to end of November my thoughts turn to the upcoming holidays. The festivity of December sure gets me out of my dark, cold funk. So I usually begin the holiday festivities early...and it pisses me off when people make snarky comments like "oh, it's too early, blah, blah". So to those folks, buggar off--this stuff brightens my spirit. 

So, in honour of all the cheer dampening jerks, I look to pop culture's most famous wanna-be party pooper, The Grinch, for a bit of fun inspiration.  And what better way to lift your spirits than with funky seasonal spiritz!

                                                                      The Grinch Cocktail 

2 oz. Melon liqueur 

Squeeze lemon juice

1 tsp. simple syrup

Enjoying this fun libation is guaranteed to make your heart grow three sizes!

I have always though that Pablo looked like Max, no?

So if you feel the urge to chastize me for my early, week night celebration, may I just say, "You're a three-decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwhich...with arsenic sauce!"