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Apparently, my poem “February Again,” which appeared at the beginning of last month’s blog, created a false sense of hope among our readers who live in the northern United States and Canada that spring flowers were on their way. Well, now it’s March, and surely there must be at least a few buds, blossoms and new leaves, even in the northern climes.

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And since March is one of the long months, there is ample time ahead for the apple blossoms, daffodils, flowering dogwood and primroses to brighten our days and for the songbirds to return.
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There is plenty of activity all around us as the entire hemisphere makes the massive shift from winter to spring and all the natural world seems engaged in creating beauty everywhere.
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Amid all this beauty, the human world will be busy celebrating Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day and all the March birthdays as well as springtime Tea Parties and perhaps the first outdoor picnics of the year.
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​In my family, we would never dream of skipping St. Patrick’s Day. Please remember that no ​matter what your heritage might be, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, and Irish culture is all about hospitality and inclusion. Irish food is healthy, delicious and fun. Even if you don’t have time to plan an elegant Irish Afternoon Tea, you might want to include one Irish dish in your family meal on this special day. Irish Stew, made with beef, chicken or lamb is hugely popular in Ireland, as is Seafood Chowder. Let’s remember that Ireland is a large island with a huge coastline and a damp, cool and temperate climate that is hospitable to raising livestock, producing dairy products, river and ocean fishing and growing grains, vegetables and herbs. I pointed out in a previous blog that Irish cuisine includes more vegetables and herbs than any other culinary tradition.Ireland also exports many famous products that are popular world-wide. These include alcoholic beverages such as Jameson Irish Whiskey, Guinness Stout and Baileys Irish Cream, often used to make the ever-popular Irish Coffee, a mixture of strong, black coffee, whiskey or Baileys, sugar and whipped cream. Irish Breakfast Tea, one of my favorites, is a blend of several different black teas, including Assam and Ceylon, creating a strong and deeply flavorful hot beverage for breakfast and teatime. Dairy products, especially cheese and butter, are essential components of Irish cuisine and among the biggest exports. While there are 500 different types of Irish cheese, Cashel Blue Farmhouse Cheese is the favorite cheese in Ireland, and a vast variety of Irish cheeses including many types of cheddar and brie, can be ordered online or purchased at American grocery stores such as Whole Foods.

Both Irish cheese and Irish butter, such as Kerrygold, are highly regarded world-wide because of the optimal grazing conditions for cows in Ireland whose milk is used to produce these rich, flavorful products. Ireland is truly the Emerald Isle, and the deep green grass which the cows eat is high in beta-carotene, giving the milk a rich deep golden color and adding to the pleasing taste and texture of the butter and cheeses.At the end of this blog, I am happy to share with you two cookie recipes using Irish butter
From the Kerrygoldusa.com website: Chocolate Lacy Oat Cookies and Kerrygold Shortbread. Both would be perfect additions to an Irish Afternoon Tea or any St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
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Our website and my blogs and Kathleen’s will also help you get started on your plans for your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. A good place to begin is our March St. Patrick’s Day Irish Tea in the Calendar section of the Tea Book. This elegant and tasty Irish menu includes an easy and reliable recipe for the foundational bread of Ireland, Irish Soda Bread, shared with us by Kathleen’s mother, my late sister, Margaret Murdock Pedulla. We make it every year in her memory. Bread and grains are important elements in Irish cuisine, and my March 2021 blog contains the recipes for Irish Brown Bread and a delicious Irish Vegetable Soup. For dessert, my March 2022 blog offers the recipe for Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cake for St. Patrick’s Day, as oatmeal in Ireland is a daily staple. Kathleen’s innovative March blogs contain some wonderful Irish-inspired dessert recipes for St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Her March 2021 blog has the recipe for Buttermilk Irish Whiskey Apple Pie and her March 2019 Blog is filled with special Scone recipes. And Kathleen’s March 2020 blog, charmingly entitled “A Wee St. Patrick’s Day Tea,” features the recipe for a spectacular Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake.We hope these suggestions have provided some inspiration for festive times this year for you and your family and friends on St Patrick’s Day, a time for fellowship and good old Irish fun. I hope you will enjoy the Kerrygold Cookies. They are simple and quick to make and baked with the best butter money can buy. Both of these authentic Irish cookies would be wonderful additions to an Irish-style Afternoon Tea or served with ice cream and Irish Coffee for an after-dinner dessert. Of course, the children would love them any time of the day or night. The Kerrygoldusa.com website also offers easy recipes for savory finger food such as Bacon Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes including Kerrygold Aged Cheddar Cheese to add to the Afternoon Tea menu or just enjoy as snacks.

CHOCOLATE LACEY OAT COOKIES
Adapted from Kerrygoldusa.com

 

• 8 tablespoons (1 cube) Kerrygold salted butter
• ½ cup dark brown sugar
• ¼ cup almond flour or all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2/3 cup sliced almonds, lightly crushed
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 4-5 ounces melted semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate (I used 2/3 cup chocolate chips)
• Flaky sea salt for sprinkling

​​Special equipment: medium sized skillet, 2 parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets, large heat-proof mixing bowl, rubber spatula, 2-cup glass measuring cup, table knife, decorative plate or tiered server for serving, covered cookie tin or plastic container for storage.Makes: 29 cookies. The Kerrygold recipe says it makes 20 cookies, but the batter I made produced 29, perhaps because I added 2/3 cup of sliced almonds to the recipe.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F

 

1. Pre-heat the oven and line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment. Set aside. (You will probably need to make a third batch.) Place the butter and dark brown sugar in a medium sized skillet and turn the heat to medium.
2. Heat the butter and sugar until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, stirring with a heat-proof rubber spatula. Cook for 1 additional minute until the mixture bubbles up. Remove from the heat.
3. Pour the butter mixture into a large, heat-proof bowl. Add the flour, oats, sliced almonds, vanilla, honey and salt. Stir with the rubber spatula until well incorporated. Set aside to cool and rest for 15 minutes.
4. Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls on the parchment- lined baking sheets, 9 cookies per sheet, spaced 2-3 inches apart. The cookies will spread as they bake and will probably run into each other. I had to bake a third sheet.
5. Bake the sheets of cookies 6-8 minutes until golden brown and spread thin. They will be irregularly shaped. I used a table knife to separate the hot cookies and to push them into more-or-less round or oval shapes. Cool completely on the cookie sheets.
6. Break the chocolate into pieces into a glass measuring cup (or use chocolate chips) and microwave at 30-second intervals, stirring until all the chocolate is melted and smooth. Drizzle the chocolate over the tops of the cooled cookies and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Let the chocolate set, then place the cookies on a decorative plate or tiered server and serve immediately. Store unused cookies in a tightly covered cookie tin or covered plastic containers.

KERRYGOLD SHORTBREAD
Adapted from Kerrygoldusa.com
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​In our family, Kathleen is the expert at baking Shortbread, and her Scottish Shortbread is truly superb, as those of you who ordered it from our Boutique during the holidays can attest. I am sharing this recipe for Kerrygold Shortbread to give our readers the opportunity to try this classic cookie made with butter from Ireland.

• 8 tablespoons (1 cube) unsalted Kerrygold butter, at room temperature
• Additional butter or cooking spray for greasing the pan
•  ½ cup powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Green sugar sprinkles for decoration

 

​Special Equipment: 8-inch square baking pan, large mixing bowl, hand-held electric mixer, rubber spatula, table fork, wire cooling rack, kitchen knife or off-set spatula, decorative serving plate, tightly covered metal or plastic containers for leftovers.

Makes: 12 Shortbread Cookies

Preheat Oven to 300 degrees F.

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1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Lightly grease the 8-inch baking pan with butter or cooking spray.
2. Place the cube of softened butter, powdered sugar, and salt into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy and well combined. Add the flour and beat just until incorporated into the batter.
3. Press the dough evenly into the baking pan, smoothing the surface with a spatula or with your hands. Insert the tines of a fork into the dough at intervals, covering the surface evenly.  Sprinkle decorative green sugar over the surface of the dough if making the shortbread for St. Patrick’s Day.
4. Bake for approximately 35 minutes until light golden brown on the top and a deeper golden brown around the edges.
5. Remove from the oven and place the shortbread on a wire cooling rack. While still warm, carefully cut the shortbread into 4 equal squares with a kitchen knife or off-set spatula. Slice each quarter into 3 equal strips to create 12 cookies. When cooled, carefully remove from the pan with the spatula.
6. Transfer to a decorative plate for serving. Shortbread ages well and can be kept at room temperature for several days in tightly covered containers. Shortbread also freezes well.