There is something fun about Saint Patricks Day. To celebrate the yearly event, we decided to try some of the local cuisine. Last Christmas, Mark gave me a wonderful cookbook and music set called The Irish Isle by Sharon O'Connor. When I got it I quickly put in the CD, but it has taken a special occasion to pull out the fancy Irish recipies. The Irish and Celtic stories have always interested me. I have ready many a fantasy book about Celts of the past and the mysteries of Stonehenge. I also remember making Poridge from my "Celtic Folklore Cooking" by Asala and wondering how anyone could fill up on yummy but rather short-term satisfication.

This time, we went a bit fancy and started with "Millefeuille of Prawns and Wild Mushrooms" I think this was the first dish in which I had both shrimp and chicken and I like the combination. But I really picked it because of the mushrooms- it used both chanterelles and the delicate oysters. We enjoyed it without the filo dough (which just seemed an unnecessary buttery addition).

We modified the "Filo with Coooleeny Cheese and Cranberry Sauce" so that it was toast points served with brie and local wisconsin cranberry/strawberry jam. It was fun to serve the brie with Mark's new cheese knifes from my parents at christmas (the knifes worked well to serve the jam too) each handle is unique. We didn't find anything lacking by leaving out the butter and filo dough. The light brie went very well with the tart but sweet jam.

Two bits that didn't go over as well were the herb vinaigrette- a bit too tart (felt like we had sucked a lemon) and "Dauphinoise Potatoes"- try as I may, I think this is my third time to use scalloped potatoes, we just don't fancy creamy potatoes- the best we had was spiced potatoes with oregano, butter and salt and pepper layers. We also won't repeat "Cream of Parsnip Soup"- I never realized that parsnips taste like carrots- and since Mark doesn't overly enjoy the veggie relative, and I can only take carrots with some accompaniment, we might try parsnips in hearty beef stews :) Our last unrepeatable dish was "Roasted Chicken Breasts with Smoked Salmon and Avacado Sauce." We both thought the dish was good, but our stomachs did not. It may have been the overly rich combination, but neither of us enjoyed that dish for long.

To get in the Lamb craving we tried "Noisettes of Lamb with Sorrel-Mint Cream Sauce" leaving out the Sorrel - just couldn't find it. I have been reading novels by Modesitt and getting the repeated reference to mutton cooked in every way and form, I just had to try a cream-mint sauce. Fortunately, both our pallets and stomachs agree that this was a repeatable dish! We enjoyed it with a side of "Turmeric Rice" and greatly enjoyed the beautiful golden yellow side.

We also tried some Guinness and neither of us like the stronger, stay with you for a week, "put hair on your chest" (I don't really need any) types of beer, and so we both keep looking for that perfect beer you don't have to grimace too much when you drink it... but what would Irish week be without some beer?!

Another tradition we've started is the purchase of a new game on major holidays. We've become Spielfreaks lately, playing more and more new board games from Germany and Europe. This year, we picked up Attika, a combination tile-laying and building game themed with ancient Greece. Each player has 30 settlements they wish to build, some are free if played in the right order, with the goal to either connect two shrines or put all 30 settlements on the board first. This works really well as a two-player game, and should scale up to three and four. It's our current favorite.

To wind down, we got a boat load of movies to enjoy: Spellbound was a sought after recomendation of Mark's, it follows the preparation of several youngsters as they endeavor to win the National Spelling Bee. We both enjoyed it as an interesting documentary. Runaway Jury with John Cousack had a great twist that neither of us anticipated at the end- although we got hints throughout the movie that there was a deeper reasoning behind the motives. Matchstick Men was a rather sad movie about the life of a con-man, with a twist Mark caught right at the beginning. And Mona Lisa Smile was my pick and a good chick flick with the lovely and memorable Julia Roberts - there were good, strong morals and a touching ending.