St Patrick's Day

Here is Baby Crumpet enjoying a Guiness.

Years ago when I lived in East Village I started a St Paddy's party tradition. Many memorable nights were had (Hector breaking 2 glasses; Rifkin building a Guiness can skyscraper; Cory biting - yes, biting open Guiness cans to study the mechanism)

Anyway we were very excited to be continuing the festivities in Seattle. We do the same thing every year - build an Irish playlist on iTunes, buy Guiness, wear my Guiness Oyster Festival tshirt and cook my famous sheppard's pie and corn beef & cabbage strudel.

First obstacle - finding good corn beef. You see, back in New York you'd just stride into Second Ave Deli or Stags or Katz or any number of Jewish delis and walk away with a heaping amount of hot, tender, butterly & intensley flavorful corn beef.

Big A took first crack and visited a neighborhood ''kosher'' deli called Leah's. Well, not only did they not have corn beef, most of their menu was vegetarian. Strike one. Next we asked her boss - Sheila Kamuda, who is Jewish and originally from New York, figure she'd know. Well, she didn't. Then I asked my butcher at Larry's Market and was met with a blank stare when I asked for ''New York style corn beef''.

Finally Google came to the rescue and revealed Roxy's Deli in Fremont, the reporter (who claim to be from upstate NY) gushes how it is BETTER THAN KATZ. The deli's website is a very promising www.pastramisandwich.com. Filled with hope I head to the deli, dodging a hail along the way, walked in & asked for corn beef. The man behind the counter doesn't blink and calmly asks ''how many pounds?''. Yes! The world is good again and I return home with heaps of corn beef........only to discover it is....well, not bad. It's hard to describe but it's just, well, hm, you know, how do I put it, just not as good :-(

The show must go on. The McQuinns came early to help us tend to the gardens. Then friends started showing up: Leah, who has been in Chicago for a 3 months project; Cathy & John from Bellevue (and recently returned from Australia & Thailand); Gary, Megan & her assist dog, Kip; Jim, Jenni & Nathan; Ben, Suzanne & Henry; Troy & Megan; Kathi & Chris; Gracie (who made soda breads); D'arcy, Nancy & Ruby. Lots of sheppards pie, corn beef & cabbage strudel & Guiness were consumed. It was super fun to see everyone. Baby Crumpet celebrated in grand style by throwing up milk all over herself & mom, forcing an emergency shower for baby & mom and eliciting much comments such as ''I'm glad it wasn't me this year to throw up''. Hmmmmm........

Da Mao's recipe for corn beef & cabbage strudel:

Layers of filo dough
Lay strips of corn beef
Spread cabbage mix (sauteed with bacon, shallots & spices)
Roll the filo dough into burrito-likeness, brush olive oil every surface
Baker at 350 for 2 0 - 30 minutes or until golden & crispy at the edges
Serve hot with mustard