Ham and muenster cheese sandwich. I had to volunteer at my daughter's high school musical benefit performance. My older daughter cooked dinner for herself and her dad, but they didn't leave us mice any leftovers.

Er...whoops

Skipped the corned beef and cabbage and made a shepherd's pie instead. Ground lamb sauteed with onions, parsley, rosemary. carrots and peas, along with some chicken stock and tomato paste. Then spread it all in a pan topped with mashed potatoes. I sprinkled the potatoes with some seasoned salt and baked it until the potatoes browned. It was rather nice.

I got my corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's night. My wife and I attended a wedding reception earlier, and later dropped by our Knights of Columbus Club, which had the outdoor deck and bar open as it was like summer. It was jammed inside and out, but I got there just in time to get one of the last dinners at around 9:30pm. It was almost surreal having it outside with temps in the upper 60s. I wasn't hungry, but I couldn't pass it up.

For St. Patrick's Day, I decided not to make the Shepherd's Pie I had been contemplating, and instead made an Irish Stew. Quite delicious. Hadn't done one of these in several years. Just the other day, I stored the last of it in my freezer. Always good to have something like this on hand.

Unfortunately, behind nearly every silver lining lurks a cloud. In this case:

The Irish Soda Bread Disaster

I am groaning out loud right now, as the memories come flooding back to me.

Now, I am usually a pretty good cook, but when it comes to baking from scratch, I can be (and usually am) incredibly bad. It takes me several attempts at a recipe until it comes out of my oven in an edible form. My wife had a near-magic touch when she baked. My touch can be more like the kiss of death.

And, so, this past St. Patrick's Day, I decided to try my hand at making soda bread for the very first time. I've been saving various recipes for over thirty years, and found one for soda bread that appeared to have promise. Nothing too elaborate, just a basic traditional recipe that seemed appealing. I figured it would go well with the stew simmering on the stove top.

Wrong.

I followed the instructions just about to the letter, but ultimately ended up with a round loaf that was rock hard on the outside, quite undercooked on the inside, far too dense... as a matter of fact, if I had drilled a hole through the middle, it would have made an excellent barbell plate. But, as an edible item, it most certainly fell short. I actually broke my favorite steak knife on it. The drill bit probably would have broken, as well...

Since it was of no use - other than as a possible doorstop or lethal projectile (think OddJob from the movie "Goldfinger"), it was consigned to the trash.

But, since I absolutely hate to admit defeat in the kitchen, I will go back to the drawing board and, more than likely, make several trial runs between now and St. Patrick's Day 2013.

Live and learn.

Signor V.

Pizza - first course, Sports Night on WGN Radio - second course and hanging out in the BB tonight for dessert!

When in doubt, just refer to either Alton Brown or America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated...

The Barefoot Contessa has an excellent Irish Soda Bread recipe that I got from my SIL. However, I substitute raisins for her currants, only because I like raisins better.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/irish-soda-bread-recipe/index.html

A delicious dorrito taco from the bell

Tonight i am preparing a chicken in cider sauce, which may not sound appetising but actually is!! Lets be fair, you can pour cider on anything and make it nice......apart from breakfast cereal perhaps???

Mrs. Mark's favorite - BBQ grilled T-Bone steaks, sauteed onions, peppers and mushrooms, baked potatoes with butter & sour cream and a fresh tossed salad last night. Outback ain't got nothing on us! Yummy!

Sounds delicious! I am salivating.

We went out last night with my mom and brother and his wife. We went to a local family-style Italian place. We ordered some salads, a few appetizers, a penne vodka and one chicken francese. It fed seven of us with tons left over. We then ordered the family brownie sundae. It's three huge brownies topped with at least 10 scoops of ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. We couldn't get up out of our chairs.

Hand me a spoon!

My daughter has just made me some fusilli pasta with spicy sausage and a spicy arriabata sauce to go with it. Very tasty i have to say.......

Yogi, isn't it a wonderful treat when the kids start to cook for you?? Sounds like she's got talent, too!

Last night we had a rib roast. It was delightfully rare and juicy, a lovely brown gravy, baked potatoes and cauliflower with cheese sauce. I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it.

I am always hungry......and thirsty

Last night I had a delicious dinner at a wonderful, nearby Japanese restaurant with family and friends.

Love good Japanese. We frequent one of those Chinese buffets that for some reason also has sushi. Their sushi was always mediocre, but they must have gotten a new sushi chef and the last time we went it was outstanding, and it was unlimited. I definitely got my money's worth that night!

Don't ever order take-out food when you're hungry.

I had Chinese food delivered tonight. I'll be eating it for the next three days.

(I ordered too much food)

I LOVE having leftover Chinese in the fridge. That's the best! If you're afraid it would go to waste, give me a call. I'll even bring my own fork! LOL

Go to waste??? You gotta be kidding. KiKi and I are already squaring off over the General Tso's chicken.

Steak (Delmonico)
Baked Potato
Corn on the Cob

Tonight's dinner?

Comfort Food

That's it, plain and simple. Whatever it is, it had better be comfort food tonight.

It's after midnight, I'm nursing a bad knee, and I don't give a monkey's you-know-what about eating healthy, or "portion control" or any of that. I feel like channeling Mr. Creosote. But, whatever it is, if I can't finish it all, into the refrigerator it goes. Tomorrow is another day.

But, right now, it damn well better be comfort food.

Signor V.

Last night we grilled marinatedchicken, but the main course was a variety of pizzas my wife made: broccoli, buffalo chicken, and a regular cheese. We'll be having the leftovers after my son's baseball game.

Last night's dinner: In-N-Out.

I haven't gotten your overnight FedEx package yet...!

Geoff.... I tried your steamed hamburger recipe. Came out pretty good (even if I did forget to put cheese on it).

Of course they did. But the burgers aren't steamed, the onions beneath them are. Man, gotta hit White Rose again!

X, those look SOOOOOO good. Really delicious.

I dry-rubbed three racks of ribs yesterday, then my husband slow-cooked them with hickory chips. I also made macaroni and cheese, baked beans and I baked cornbread (adding half a can of creamed corn to the recipe, which eliminated the dryness you can get with cornbread). They were delicious. There were about six or eight ribs left, and I was looking forward to eating them today, but my daughter's friends dropped by around midnight and finished them off.

I actually cooked tonight!

Made a couple Cornish Game Hens w/ Garlic, Rosemary, and Lemon with a stock/white wine/butter pan sauce. Served with roasted fennel and potatoes (a la Lipton onion soup mix). Delish. Based on this recipe -- halved, except for the sauce. Don't halve the sauce!