Our destination: Hag’s Head, Cliffs of Moher, Ireland

We grieve in different ways.  I have always known this.  When I lost my brother quite unexpectedly this summer, I was comforted by the knowledge that he was in a place free of worry and pain where he could breathe easily and that the leg that he had lost had been restored.  I also focused on all that he had been in his life and all that he had given and taught us.  Well, here it is months later and I am overwhelmed with the sadness that he is no longer with us.

Why today?  I know very well why.  The brother that died was my second oldest brother.  He was one year and a day younger than the eldest of our clan.  The two boys and then men, were as close as bothers and friends could be.  Tonight Brother #1 is coming over for dinner with his wife for us to start to anticipate and plan a trip to Ireland that we are taking together and is quickly coming upon us.

We said yes to this trip because we knew that we should celebrate our good health that we cannot take for granted.  The sights yet to be seen and the experiences yet to be lived, will not wait for some day.  D and I are doing our best to live our “golden” years right now and every day. Brother #2 would have loved to have traveled to this and many places if ill health had not struck him at the exact time of his retirement.

We will be staying in Adare in the vicinity of many of the most beautiful golf courses in the world and Brother #2 was a golfer.  He also loved his beer and food and ancient traditions.  I understand that Ireland is particularly rich in all these things.

So for tonight, here is my menu (from Irish Pub Cooking-loaned to me by the Frenchman, let me know if you would like any of these recipes posted):

Mussel and Beer Soup served with potato buns and Irish soda bread

Salad of Greens and Fresh Herbs

Beef in Stout with Suet Dumplings

Calcannon (potatoes with cabbage and scallions)

Honeyed Parsnips

Apple Cake with fresh cream

The menu is full of carbs and cream to warm us up on this snowy winter day, as I dream of an Irish spring.

Kath’s quote: “The ambition of every good cook must be to make something very good with the fewest possible ingredients.”-Urbain Dubois (1818-1901)

 

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