Merciful God, You are great in compassion and Your tenderness for us is without measure. We ask You to give us today our daily bread, and also provide for the needs of all of Your hungry children around the world. Through Christ Your Son and Our Lord. Amen.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Irish Shepherd Pie

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No awards for presentation here, but what can you do when the kids don't like their foods to touch?

For future reference I am posting here what I did on St. Patrick's Day --it's a good idea to keep in mind for other Irish saint feast days. I used this Shepherd Pie recipe (sans peas because I was preparing peas on the side) but because I was a little short on time, I put the prepared meat and vegetables in ramekins and topped them with little individual mounds of potatoes. I think the children enjoyed having their own little serving, and those few members of my clan who have "issues" with casserole type meals really liked it. I think they must have a problem with the visual effect of a casserole -- all the food all mixed together, and using the ramekins resolved that problem. The food cooked very quickly too, so I'll keep this method in mind for future pot pies and other casseroles that might lend themselves to individual portions.

I also used Deborah's recipe for Peas and Bacon (sans onion), which is very yummy -- Peach ate several servings, but then she's a veggie girl (she pushed the bacon to the side -- crazy kid!). The Irish Soda Bread is my own recipe (and is apparently not really soda bread at all, but soda cake). The green beverage is lemonade with food coloring.


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4 comments:

Charlotte (WaltzingM) said...

Hey, I won't tell if you won't! I don't think they have formed a task force... yet!

Barbara said...

Eventually I'm going to try the real deal but for now I'll serve cake with dinner!

Sara said...

We've made several batches of your soda "cake" and love it! I lost my fil's recipe somehow, so I used yours and it's wonderful. Except we don't use caraway seeds. Fil's didn't have them, but (one of) our (many) Irish pastor(s) told us they were not authentic. Maybe it just depends on the the part of Ireland you're from.

Barbara said...

Sara,
According to Charlotte's discovery, caraway seeds are not authentic in the bread (so your fil was right!), and neither are raisins and sugar, probably butter and baking powder. I like it though and I'm gonna keep eating it! ;o)