My son Steve celebrates his birthday along with the Irish—on St. Patrick’s Day. Here is recipe from my files; one I used to serve at his family party when he was a wee lad. You can make the dish a day ahead and refrigerate overnight.
Because daughter Laura adores pigs and won’t eat any pork products, I no longer make this recipe. I respect her passion, but admit, I’m craving a bite. I hope you make this casserole and enjoy.
Continue reading A Cabbage Casserole for St. Patrick’s Day
Mimi didn’t plan to enter the Jacksonville Gate River Run–a 15K race that winds across 2 bridges, the downtown business district, Sports complex and residential neighborhoods.
I thought I was done competing and certainly wasn’t training. Currently my exercise consists of walking and attending yoga class.
But Judy, my former marathon buddy, was in town and asked me to join her. Seems her training ran amuck; so we agreed to take our time and simply finish the event.
Race morning surfaced foggy and overcast, perfect conditions to prevent overheating, something I struggled with in the past. Judy and I jogged across the starting line (to look good on the live broadcast) but then walked as fast as possible.
We astounded ourselves, keeping under a 15-minute-mile pace the entire 9.3 mile course. We talked our way through the route, amongst a crowd of 13,000 participants and honestly had fun. We still finished with a decent time. And we gloated.
The next morning, I groaned. I was struck down, not so much from sore muscles, but with the flu bug, the one that’s hitting everyone. I spent the day in bed, which other than feeling crummy, wasn’t too bad.
Today I’m starting an experiment. I’m attempting to learn some basic French through listening to musical earworms. Earworms are a new technique designed to help one recall basic words and phrases. As I listen, they are supposed to burn the language into my longer-term memory. An impressive goal.
I play a CD containing specially composed melodies with rhythmic repetitions. The instructions say, “You don’t have to concentrate too hard, in fact you shouldn’t try to actively concentrate, just sit back, relax and listen and let your brain do the learning.”
A booklet of the 200 essential words and phrases is included, which I’m told to review. Links to a website (http://www.earwormslearning.com/) provide me with memory hooks. These are word associations that assist in memorization and understanding.
I’m giving Volume 1 a try and will report back on my progress. So far the music sounds like the elevator type, but I have already mastered asking for a cup of coffee and a bottle of wine. Heck-that may be all I need for my trip to France in June.