My heritage is pretty scattered but I do know I have at least 1/8th Irish blood through my grandmother and her father. It's all I can cling to because the rest of my heritage (other than 1/8th French through the same grandmother) is unknown. It's enough for me to feel quite Irish.
We're having a St. Patrick's Day dinner at the clubhouse today with corned beef and cabbage...this reminds me so strongly of my youth.
I lived with my grandmother, grandfather, mother, and sister in the 1940's and 1950's. My grandmother had been a bootlegger for as long as I could remember but it wasn't a sleazy operation because her customers were mainly old Irish widowers who just wanted an nice place to spend a Sunday afternoon drinking beer and singing Irish songs.
My grandfather was a true Irishman (not my blood relative, though) so the combination of him and my 50% Irish grandmother was the reason we celebrated St. Patrick's Day to the fullest. Nan would somehow make the beer green and always cooked a fantastic meal of corned beef and cabbage. Delicious! She was an excellent cook who taught me nothing about cooking. Too bad.
Nan always put a henna rinse in her grey hair to make it a nasty orange color but she liked it. On St. Patrick's Day, she also dressed in green and put a green bow in her hair. At the time I thought it looked hideous but I'd give up a year of my life to see it all again. You often don't appreciate the treasures in your life until you lose them. My Nan was a character and a treasure.
I mentioned before how I loved to sit quietly in a corner and listen to these old Irishmen sing the Irish songs. On St. Patrick's Day, they were sung with more fervor but maybe that's because they drank a little bit more beer in celebration of their day. I cherish those memories.
I haven't had corned beef and cabbage since she passed away so I'm hoping today's meal with be authentic but, even if it isn't, I'll be sharing it with good friends. Life is good.
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