Cead Mile Failte or One Thousand Welcomes!

Oh the land of Ireland, I so am ready to leave NOW and not wait till next summer.  The plan is for Katie and I to go to Ireland next summer to celebrate her graduation, but with all the pictures I so wish that I could afford to fly off this summer.  Have you seen the air fairs to Ireland??  Can you say outrageous!  It will take me a full year just to save the money for the flights not counting the car rental and vacation rentals.  So this year we have to settle for a culinary vacation and plans for next years trip.  Off to Ireland we go for Globe Trotting Bake Off and My Kitchen, My World then…

Isn’t it beautiful?  Even from space!  So where exactly is Ireland you ask?  Well, here is a map…

Ireland lies northwest of coastal Europe.  To the east of Ireland is Great Britain and the Irish Sea separates the two.  The Republic of Ireland takes up five sixths of the island while Northern Ireland the other sixth of the island is part of Great Britain.  Ireland has both coastal areas, low mountains, coastal cliffs, and abundantly lush surroundings.  Here are some amazing pictures to help you venture off to the land of Eire…

See how lush it is.  There are also wonderful town areas.

This is Ireland’s capital, Dublin.  Then there are the beautiful coastal areas…

Not to mention the small towns…

I so look forward to staying at places like this next summer…

Oh and then comes the food.  I found this amazing Irish food pyramid, looks good to me.

That brings me to our Irish dinner, prepared again by my amazing daughter Katie, Beef in Guinness and Guinness Bread!  Oh my daughter is so amazing in every way that she could possibly be and she can cook!

Here is the recipe, or how Katie made it…

1.5 lbs stew meat cut into small pieces

2 large onions

6 carrots

2 Tbs seasoned flour

1 Tbs butter

1/2 C Hard Cider

1 C Guinness

Peel and chop the onions and carrots.  Toss the beef in the flour and brown in a pan that you have melted the butter in.  Remove the beef and fry the onions until they are transparent.  Return the beef and add the carrots and liquids.  Bring just to a boil and then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover closely and cook for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Watch the pot to ensure that the dish does not dry out, adding more liquid as necessary.  We served it over our Guinness Bread.

The flavor of the meat was simply wonderful and the meat was tender.  Thanks Katie dinner was amazing and I cant wait to leave for Ireland!!