Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! What’s not to love, there are parades, sparkly shamrocks and yummy food. It’s one of my favorite holidays and one that we always made a big deal about when I was a kid. 
Being from a large family with Irish roots, some of my favorite memories are walking with my cousins in Chicago’s South Side Irish Parade. Afterwards we’d go to my grandparent’s church basement or over to their house for a corned beef and cabbage dinner. I loved piling the corned beef high on rye bread and then covering it with swiss cheese and horseradish mustard. And then I’d fill the rest of my plate with potatoes, carrots, cabbage and Irish soda bread.
When I first moved to Wichita, I found that most of my friends had never tried corned beef and cabbage. So the tradition started and I’ve been making it for a crowd every year since. Irish or not, everyone who tries it enjoys this easy home-cooked meal.
If you want to take your St. Patrick’s Day celebration up a notch this year, throw a corned beef in the crock pot as you head to the parade in Delano. Pair it with Irish soda bread and Guinness brownies for dessert and you’re golden!
Recipe: Crock Pot Corned Beef and Cabbage
Ingredients:
Packaged corned beef (they will shrink, so the bigger the piece of meat the better)
Bag of baby carrots
10-15 baby red potatoes, cut in half
Head of cabbage, chopped
Bottle of beer
Rye bread, Swiss Cheese, Horseradish mustard- if you want to make sandwiches
Cooking:
Place the carrots and potatoes in the crock pot, put the corned beef (fat side up) on top of vegetables. Sprinkle the spice packet that’s included over the top. Pour over the beer and then cover the rest of the meat with water. Cook on low for 8 hours. When there’s about 30 minutes left, throw the chopped cabbage in the crock pot. This cooks quickly. You can also throw it in while the meat rests before cutting.
**If you’re having a crowd, I would suggest cooking two to three corned beefs. The meat does shrink. Besides the crock pot, you can do the exact same thing on the stove, simmering it 50 minutes per pound until tender. Here’s an recipe for Instant Pot lovers too.
Recipe: Irish Soda Bread
3 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 & 3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 tbsp. caraway seeds (I use about half a bottle)
pinch, cream of tartar
1 & 1/2 cups raisins
Mix all of the ingredients, adding the raisins to the mixture last. Bake in loaf pan at 350 for an hour and ten minutes. Serve with butter.
**To appease picky eaters I always make one loaf with raisins and one without. I also load up on the caraway seeds.
Recipe: Guinness Brownies
It calls for a box mix– you’re welcome!
