Ron Olesko said:
>>>
What really gets me is the local bagel shop that dyes their bagels green. Usually I would toss a green bagel!!<<<

Bwahaha - I just railed against that in the other stereotypical St. Patrick's day thread.

In that thread I also mentioned how the observation of the holiday changed from generation to generation.

For my grandad in the 1920s it was a bitter, political day. He had uncles involved in the 1916 Easter Rebellion and his family's reason for coming here was to avoid arrest. My dad on the otherhand grew up in the 1950s when it wasn't a severe disadvantage to be Irish in NYC and so has fond memories of the Parade.   Me, I had a rought time growing up as a Catholic in an increasingly Protestant area and caught a lot of flack about my Catholocism and Irish bakground in Public School. The whole getting spit on coming back from Mass on Ash Wed was surreal.

As for whether I'm Irish or Irish-American, it's a perception thing as Ron stated. My In-laws certainly don't consider me to be Ã…merican and they let me know it..often, usually during Lent! My Husband's family fought in the American Revolution his Mom is DAR. From their point of view, my family are...oh...dare I say it..."Dirty Micks."

It's probabaly that more than anything that makes me something of a St. Patrick's day Scrooge. That and the fact that I known none of those people partying in the streets on St. Patricks Day!

I'll stay at home and make my husband some Lamb Stew and Apple Dumplings as stated above!

Now all-important FOOD talk:

PEACE: I use a beef suet pasty recipe. To my mind, no pasty is more tender than one made with beef suet. Here in Los Angeles you can also get Manteca, a type of meat lard which also makes a good pasty. if you don't eat pies and dumplings every day, it doesn't hurt to use the artery-clogging suet!

I'm also planning on making a Necatrine & Blueberry Fool because I got a box of Nectarines from my fruit of the month club this week. They'll be perfectly ripe in time for Friday. Fruit Fools aren't very common here in the US but I love them.

In case you care PEACE, I add some steel cut oatmeal(not american rolled oats) to my Lamb Stew to thicken it and for the vegatables I use Swede, marrow, parnsips, carrots, leeks and sweet onion. I also put some freshly grated ginger into the whole mess before baking it to add a nice bright taste. If you don't like nuggets of oats in your stew, you can leave them out and use pulverized rolled oats to thicken the gravy and get the same rich creamy flavor.


When I make my apple dumplings friday, I'll note what I use so I can message it to you (If I ever recall my password). I make it up as I go along.