Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today marks the cultural and religious celebration of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.  My family has roots in Ireland, so this was observed in our home with my Mom making soda bread and of course, cooking Corned Beef, cabbage, and potatoes.  The feast of St. Patrick on March 17th, marks his death; he was born in Roman Britain during the 4th century.  According to his history, much written by him, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Gaelic Ireland, where he spent six years working as a shepherd. During that time, he found God.  That's why his symbol of a three-leaved shamrock is for the Holy Trinity.

I will make Cheddar Cheese Irish Soda Bread this afternoon, but I also made a few Irish desserts for after dinner.  Tea Brack, also known as Irish Freckle Bread, resembles a fruit cake often served for breakfast.

The recipe came in an email from King Arthur for Tea Brack this past Sunday.  I used hot Irish Breakfast Tea, poured over dried fruits; the recipe called for raisins, currants, pitted prunes, and chopped dates, but I didn't have prunes, so I used a cup of dried cranberries, which I liked very much.

Filled with all those dried fruits, the cake was moist and full of flavor.

This morning, I made another recipe from that email--Pistachio Shortbread.

Perfect for the "green theme" of the day, this shortbread would be a wonderful ending to the dinner you have planned.

Hope you have a lovely day celebrating St. Patrick...I must go and bake my soda bread. Enjoy!