Succotash

Because there was a lot of okra at the farmer's market and we were tasked with bringing a vegetarian offering to the birthday party of Dr. Virus, we picked SUCCOTASH. (with bacon on the side). Note that when we got to the party, we forgot to get the bacon out of its tupperware travel container, but miraculously, the bacon eaters sensed it was there and snarfed it down. Amazing bacon radar.

Shiso Smoked

That's right, the salmon is all gone now, over, kaput -- so we picked up a lovely fillet of arctic char instead. The Chef decided to grill it over shiso leaves he purchased at the farmer's market. This resulted in wafts of pungent reggae fest type aroma escaping from our grill. Along with giggling, there was discussion of how were going to explain our backyard BBQ to uniformed officers lest they knock on our door. No knocks and the fish was delicious -- all praises to Jah (not to mention the Chef, a walk to Avedanos (nice fish!), and the farmers selling Asian herbs at the Alemany market.)

Touch of Evil

Guess who is celebrating SF Cocktail Week?

baker's bourbon, rhubarb syrup, lemon, and a touch of...absinthe.

Touch of Evil (above) matched with "Green Eggs and Ham" (below) quite nicely.

A "Bourbon & Bacon" cocktail dinner pairing is fun. hic. stumble. thunk.

Corned Beef & Colcannon

Ms & Ms. Daffodil (from the garden) were so eager to join us for St. Patrick's Day dinner that they went ahead and bloomed. We were glad to have them over for the celebration because they made things seem all Spring-like. Note that I need to buy more green napkins.

We have this fantasy of drinking our next Guinness on Easter Sunday in Dublin, so today the Chef stuck with Murphy's stout. Not for me -- dark beer hurts my head (but not the Guinness in Dublin.)

Every year we make Helen Mirren's Colcannon recipe. It's delicious, and now the Queen's tradition is our tradition. Thanks to number one Helen Mirren fan CMG for tipping us off to it years ago.

We didn't have any Irish Whiskey so we had to make due with Kentucky. I'm sure that lots of whiskey drinkin' Irish people live in Kentucky.

Can't forget about the corned beef -- the brightest pinkest of all meats? The Chef adds a bit of ginger to it and it's very salty delicious. I just discovered that back in the day, large grains of salt were called "corns". Must invite corned beef, otherwise it doesn't seem worthy of honoring St. Patrick and the banishment of snakes. Begone snakes.

Thanks to Mrs. Virus for bringing her fabulous bourbon bread pudding to the snake-less party. She also took a good picture of me doing the jig, but you'll have to come over and say the secret word (JIG) in order to see that photo, because it shan't be posted here. Nope.