Day 1172: St. Paddy's Day

I tried new ways to prepare both the traditional corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day's dinner.  Since I had class in Brocton in mid afternoon, I couldn't stay by the corned beef boiling away in a pot all afternoon. So, I boiled it for two hours and then when we returned home, I coated it with grainy mustard and honey.  Then I wrapped it in foil and baked it for a few hours.  So delicious!  Tender, juicy, and so flavorful!

The cabbage experiment was less successful.  I sautéed chopped cabbage with onion and garlic till it was tender crisp.  It needed more seasoning and a bit more cooking.  Good effort, but at this point, I won't be abandoning the boiled dinner.

I finished the landowner letters, the Board of Ed letters, updated the nature keynote presentation, prepared for class in Brocton and started arranging the cook groups.  Very productive day and I feel much less stressed.

My lily garden was under snow yesterday.  Now, tiny green sprouts are bursting through the mulch.  

Paddy's full name is Patrick Elliott.  He was born to my brother's momma kitty back in March 2003, just before Colin went into the army.  The day before Colin departed, we left for a school trip to Ireland so my sister-in-law had to deliver him to the recruiter.  I cried for days.  Finally, I began to think about what to name the little black, white and silver kitten who was waiting for his new home.  What better than an Irish name like Patrick?  

Paddy had a unique silver coat over the black that he shed in a few months.  Colin warned us before he left to never feed the kitten table scraps like we had with Molly.  She still begs for scraps and he never has.  Paddy was so frisky and curious that Molly hated him immediately.  She hissed, fussed and snarled at him constantly. She never did adjust to him, even twelve years later.