St. Patricks' Day Preparations



Yay, one of my favorite holidays is just around the corner! The green day! 

C and I have been excited about it for a while, especially when the mailman brought those cool sweaters:


The lady to my right is my Grandma :-)
Should have gotten her a sweater, too!


Of course our friends got a save the date for our party on Saturday a while ago, and I have tried several recipes.

Irish Soda Bread

4 cups = 500g all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda  bi-carbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 cups = 350ml buttermilk

Oven temperature: 200'C / 400'F

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes



Even though it was quick and easy to make, and it turned out the way it was supposed to, (I think!) I will probably not make it again… I have to say I prefer yeast bread.



Shepherd's Pie

Against Chef John's stern advice I didn't want to strain my family's goodwill by using lamb, so I went for the cowboy version of the shepherd's pie and used ground beef ;-) 

Also I was lucky enough to find actual cheddar here in Switzerland (big hooray!). 

It was yummy, and I will definitely make it again!







Shamrock Cookies


Ingredients

1.5 sticks (0.75 cups) or 175 g butter
0.6 cups or 75g confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 lemon, grated zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 pinch salt
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour

green food coloring


Directions

Cream together butter, sugar and everything except the flour and the dye.
Add the flour gradually
You will get a crumbly mass 
Divide it into two equal portions
Add a couple of drops of green food coloring into one half
knead both doughs into smooth balls
Flatten them a bit, warp in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour. I left mine in the fridge over night



Roll out about 0.15 inches (4mm) thick


Cut out circles and shamrocks


Using a metal spatula transfer them onto the cookie sheet that you've lined with parchment paper. Place half finished trays in the fridge. 


Do this with the white and the green dough. 

 Carefully place shamrocks into circles.




It went fairly well thanks to the half finished cookies having firmed up in the fridge. 

Still I was glad that I decided against using the cookie cutter below, I think the stem would have given me a hard time!


Bake in the preheated oven (400°F / 200°C) for about 10 minutes. 

Remove as soon as the edges start to become brownish.

Let them cool on a wire rack.






Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Can't wait to catch a leprechaun! Oh wait, we don't have a trap yet…!

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