On Thursday, March 15th, the Guests of the Home celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a full course “Irish” meal. Call it colcannon, call it corned beef and cabbage, call it not really ‘quite’ Irish — Guests of the Home, staff and the Home’s decidedly Irish Board President, Karen Hibey, unanimously called it good!
Our Administrator, Erin Marovelli — who claims about 1/6th Irish ancestry, and, an Irish first name — at 10 a.m. placed the corned beef in a large pot, covered it with water and set the water to a high boil. Once boiling, the water temperature was reduced to a simmer and a plethora of spices were added including allspice, cloves, peppercorns, a bay leaf — and most importantly, states the half-Italian chef, a large head of garlic. The beef, which was simmered and occasionally turned over several hours, filled the halls with a delicious smell — and guests stopped by to share their renditions of how to perfectly cook corned beef.
We all began to feel a bit Irish as the day went on, though we hail from many places. With about an hour left of cooking — potatoes, cabbage, carrots and onions were added to the beef.
The meal was served with traditional Irish Soda Bread — delicious with a slice of Irish white cheddar cheese.
The Administrator set out a bowl of grapes, not because they are Irish, but because they are green. Several guests were lucky enough to win prizes for guessing Irish trivia questions correctly, although nobody answered correctly without big clues: What did St. Patrick chase out of Ireland and what is another name for a 4-leaf clover?
Our Weekend Administrator made a delicious homemade pumpkin pie soufflé which, piled high with whip cream, finished off our celebration in perfect Irish-style to the delight of everyone.