Since I am currently working my way through Gulliver's Travels, it seems fitting to share this famous Irish author's bio today.  (Had you caught on to the theme yet?  If not, I just gave it away - Happy Irish month!  I figure what better time than this to learn a bit more about the great men and women who have truly lived with Irish blood flowing through their veins.)

Jonathan Swift was born on November 30, 1667 in Dublin, Ireland. He attended, Kilkenny School, and Trinity College, received an M.A. from Oxford, and became the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral. He was very politically involved, writing for both the Whigs and the Tories. "Gulliver's Travels," his best known work, was published in 1726 without Swift's name.

Actor. Born Pierce Brendan Brosnan on May 16, 1953, in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. After an unsettled childhood, he moved to London, where he joined an experimental theater group and studied at the Drama Centre. After several stage roles in London, he moved to Los Angeles, where he was offered the lead in the detective series Remington Steele, which debuted in 1982. He won over American television audiences with his good looks and charm. They tuned in to catch the show??s latest mystery and watch the sparks fly between the two lead characters played by Brosnan and his co-star Stephanie Zimbalist. Offered the role of the famous fictional British spy, James Bond, in 1986, Brosnan tried to get out of his contract for the show, but failed. The series ended the next year.

After Remington Steele, Brosnan acted in several television and film projects, including the television miniseries Around the World in 80 Days (1989), and the hit comedy film Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). In 1995, Brosnan finally took on the legendary film role of James Bond in Goldeneye, following in the footsteps of such actors as Sean Connery and Roger Moore. He played Bond three more times: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002). In 2006, Daniel Craig took over the part for the remake of the first Bond picture, Casino Royale.
Besides playing the smooth, but deadly superspy, Brosnan has tackled numerous dramatic and comedic roles, including The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) with Rene Russo, Laws of Attraction (2004) with Julianne Moore, and The Matador (2005) with Greg Kinnear. He is also reportedly slated to appear in a sequel to the comedy smash Mrs. Doubtfire.

Brosnan has been married twice. His first marriage to actress Cassandra Harris lasted from 1980 until her death in 1991. Brosnan adopted her two children Charlotte and Christopher and the couple had a son, Sean. In 2001, he married Keely Shaye. They have two children together, Paris and Dylan.
...

© 2012 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.
Source: Bio.



I woke up this morning, was brushing my teeth and suddenly realized I was humming The Galway Girl. : /


Interesting.

On that note, I'm already excited for St. Patricks Day!  A little over a month away.  As soon as Valentines Day passes, I'm breaking out The Pogues playlist on my itunes.  : )   (Deal with it, Unger.)   A friend just gave me some good information on some great beer bread recipes.  I just learned a few great bourbon spirit-forward recipes. ; )  And let the search for a more tasty traditional Irish meal begin... hopefully this time it doesn't require me up to my elbows in 7 pounds of raw lamb for a meal most people agreed was bland.  It had more aroma than taste. :( 

Please feel free to pass along dinner, bread, hors d'oeuvres, and drink recipes.  :)



.

MC girls, cover your ears.


One of the women in our office walked up to my desk this morning with a pretty green bag. She wished me an early St. Patrick's Day and set it on my desk. I knew immediately what it was. Whiskey. More acurately, Kentucky Bourbon. The smile spread wide across my face. Sorry if this confuses the image you've had of me thus far. But, I find whiskey delightful. And when one of the attorney's in our office invited Kristin and I to share a bit of his Kentucky Bourbon last week I was amazed by how smooth and sweet it was. The paralegal who had bought it for him as a gift is Karen, the woman who just hand-delivered a green gift to the little Irish girl at the front desk.



(okay girls, you can uncover your ears now.)

I decided I am going to try my hand at another Irish dish. Last night, after a bit of research, and a lot of grocery shopping, I started a traditional Irish Lamb Stew. Goodness. It should not be this hard. In fact, I know it wouldn't be this hard for a more experienced cook. After two hours of my hands in raw lamb (and my mom even doing half of it!), I started to feel sick. I don't dislike meat. But sometimes... I dislike meat. I've gone years of my life as an understated vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, I will crave a good burger and my mouth will water over a great steak. But sometimes, the thought of meat is less than appealing to me. It is more the texture of tough meat, and of fat. :(

Oh well, the smell that I swear had managed to work it's way all the way to the far bottom corner of the house by this morning was enough to make all of my work worthwhile. The stew cooked in the crockpot for 10 hours over night. Now, it's off to the fridge for the next day (all the reviews said it is far better after a couple days of sitting in the fridge), and the veggies will be added Thursday... just in time for a delicious St. Patrick's Day meal.

I then turned my hand to some Green Velvet Cupcakes ;)


And I found a traditional Irish Soda Bread recipe that I will try Thursday with the stew. I must say though, Irish food remains one of my lesser-favorites. So much meat, so many potatoes, so much time---- and so little flavor. :/ However, Irish beverages... much more flavor. ;)

...Getting closer...

Practicing for St. Patrick's Day.

Shepherd's Pie. I am not the biggest fan of beef or of potatoes. So it should come as no surprise to you that Shepherd's Pie has never been my go-to at a restaurant. However, my sister Kristin, the far more accepting one of her Irish-roots when it comes to food (as opposed to other Irish things that I fully support), has ordered it for us a few times to share. With St. Patty's Day just around the corner, I decided to give cooking it a try tonight. As mentioned above, I used beef instead of the traditional lamb. And I definitely just followed a recipe I found online that had a lot of good reviews. I think it turned out alright - and my cousins were thrilled to find me cooking something with meat in it, moreover, beef. Besides burgers (which I love), tonight may have been the first thing I've ever cooked with beef. I think even spaghetti I always make a point to make vegetarian. :/

Kristin has tried arguing that my nearly life-long stomach problems are connected to me rejecting my Irish heritage when it comes to meat and potatoes. While I find that ridiculous, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf. So here it is. Not the prettiest meal, but pretty tasty nonetheless.