st. patty's day

Here's the Guinness Chocolate Cake. It popped right out of the pan but then I had a little trouble with the ganache. It got good reviews, though, and I took slabs of it to the neighbors in my shamrock apron.

Here we are at the parade. I'm going to write a separate review of the parade which I did not enjoy very much this year and I don't want to cast a pall over a normally cheerful holiday post by being cranky.

Ella and Elliot trying to keep the sand out of their eyes.

The guy in the green top hat had one of the best costumes...green jacket and knee pants, boots, and the giant top hat. It was too windy and too crowded to bother with a better photo. That's Mary's Flowers van in the background. Mary...where fun and flowers meet.

I put corned beef and carrots and onions in the crock pot in the morning, added cabbage about noon and when I came home from the parade, we had this delicious dinner with a nice chunk of soda bread.

On second thought, here is my list of grievances regarding the parade. Please remember that this is not a scientific study and most of this information is presented as exaggeration for effect.

1. First of all, it was very windy and humid. This is a problem for several reasons one of which is my costume. I have green and white striped tights and green and white arm warmers, a red wig, and a felt derby. It was too hot for most of that and a partial costume is just...a partical costume.
2. The heat and the wind made for little gusts of sand blowing down the street. You might expect this if you are at a parade in Saudi Arabia but generally not here and not in March. It was weird.
3. The weather (must mean lack of snow) meant that there were record crowds. Third Street is not made for record crowds so it was nuts to butts making the next few items even more annoying.
4. Of the estimated ten thousand people lining the four block stretch of Third Street, eight thousand were either drunk or had a dog or a bicycle or both. Do dogs really enjoy parades? Really, all they get to see are the butt cracks of the people sitting in front of them and they don't get the marching bands. In my world, the rule is that the dog stays home unless the dog is in the parade.
5. Same with bicycles. If you are riding a bicycle to the parade, chain it to a tree a block away and walk over. Do not attempt to ride a bicycle through a street crowded with drunks, small children, and dogs.
6. Unruly and over-sized children. I'm not sure the age of these children...they were more like teens and pre-teens but they were excited about the smashed tootsie rolls and left-over from the last parade candy being strewn in the street. Ella and Elliot figured out pretty fast that there was a code of conduct: stay in your area, don't get too far out into the street, share with the kids smaller than you. Not these big oafs. They had a grocery bag full and were still cruising the small kids area like land sharks.
7. People who try to drive and park a car as close to the parade route as possible and then try to leave when the streets are still full of dogs, bicycles, drunks, and small children. I'll be amazed if nobody got run over.
8. Drunk college kids who play football on crowded streets. I love dodging a football as I try to make my way home with two small children. (No bicycle or dog.)
9. Gigantic tractors. Somebody drove a tractor the size of our house to town and down a crowded street. It had giant wheels that went practically from curb to curb and were as high as an adult person. Really? You have to drive something this big to a parade? It looked like this:

I have been in a bit of a funk. Funk is not the right word...neurotic, anxious, fearful, blue, agitated. An unpleasant combination of symptoms. There is hope in that I think it's interesting when that happens that all of a sudden, other things start happening that you the way out, maybe a book review, a person you meet, or even a movie. Just now, I read an article and two book reviews that will be helpful. Moving on...always moving on.

Enjoy the day. I'm really not as cranky as I seem. Ha!