Birthdays, pubs, and corned beef

 

Jordan and Christian on their pub crawl

Ever since she was a little girl, Jordan has known exactly how and when she wanted to celebrate her St. Patrick’s Day birthday. She is, as I posted earlier, my St. Paddy’s leprechaun without an ounce of Irish in her. But oh can she wear the green!

Some years her birthday lasted two weeks or more. This year it’s down to a modest half-week, beginning with a lovely lunch Subie Green hosted at the Fort Worth Club for the two of us. But it was today that Jordan really looked forward to—another friend has a birthday today and suggested they go on a pub crawl. Jordan told everyone, “I’ve never done that,” in a tone that made it sound like all the rest of us have done countless crawls and she alone has been left out. Truth is I’ve never thought about going on a pub crawl, let alone missed it. But we all know Jordan loves a good party.

They started with lunch at Trinity College, a pub near downtown Fort Worth. She sent me a menu, and I admit I drooled a bit: fish and chips, bangers and mash, shepherd’s pie. And of course green beer. I’m not sure where else they went, though I said they should go to Gilligaskins for the famous Irish nachos. They ended on Hulen  but I’m not sure at what restaurant.

Tomorrow night the fun continues with a diverse group for dinner—David (who is her brother from another mother) and his wife, Kelly, Gary, Christian’s college friend from Dallas who has become my good friend because he likes me retro cooking, Jay and Sarah, to whom Jordan has many ties, and my friend Jean who has become one of Jordan’s favorites. Originally, I was to cook chicken divan for Gary—next on his wish list after the tuna casserole I fixed some months back. I am a little overwhelmed by chicken divan for that many people, but tomorrow will be devoted to cooking three pounds of chicken breast, three bags of broccoli, and a double recipe of the cream sauce. Cross your fingers for me. I have already made the smoky salmon spread she wanted as an appetizer.

My St. Patrick's dinner

And today I cooked a good, old-fashioned Irish dinner—corned beef and cabbage, with potatoes, onion (which sort of disappeared), and carrots. I followed a recipe for doing it in a slow cooker, but I used my old-fashioned soup pot. I have no room in my tiny kitchen for a slow cooker or an InstaPot and the latter has too steep a learning curve for me. I just get along the old way. I did use pickling spices (which made me cough a lot) and a lot of ale, plus a bit of vinegar and a tsp of sugar. I checked a couple of recipes for the old way to cook an almost-three-pound corned beef, and then cooked it longer.

Jean came to eat with me, and we both voted that the meat was tender and flavorful. There were leftovers, and I’m already savoring a home-made Reuben with some really good sauerkraut I have in the fridge. Kudos to Mary Dulle for finding the corned beef at a more-than-reasonable price and for turning me on to Sauvern kraut. I had considered sauteeing the cabbage separately because it’s so good that way but was deterred mostly by the idea of one more pan to wash. As it turned out, the cabbage—cooked for the last forty-five minutes in the pot likker—was flavorful and delicious. I’m a bit proud of myself—or my cooking—tonight.

I even started the day well, with a doctor’s appointment. A couple of issues had me concerned, but I was told they were nothing, and the doctor was pleased with my overall state, from Afib to swollen legs, which he said are not unusual. When I moaned I used to have pretty legs, he said, “Well, now you’re just going to have to get by on your sparkling personality.” It’s a good day when a doctor’s appointment makes you feel better about yourself!