Happy Saturday

 I hope all who read here have had a good week. It has been cooler here, often overcast or rainy. I snuck outside early morning a couple of times for some free vitamin D between raindrops because the sun popped out. I've not got a garden of my own so it is mostly just at the end of the parking lot while most of the neighbors are at work and I have the space to myself.

I wore green for St. Pat's on Friday. I do have a great grandmother with some Irish ancestry. She was born in Georgia and tracking her ancestry has been trying because her maiden name is so common. She was a sweet woman and the best thing to ever happen for her husband, my maternal great grandfather.

Several bloggers mentioned corned beef and cabbage as a commemoration of the day which is funny because that is strictly an American tradition and not something ever done in Ireland.

According to various food writers, this tradition began when Irish folk in New York, many of whom could not afford bacon or pork, adapted the curing methods of their eastern European neighbors and began brining or curing the much cheaper beef brisket available there. The "corn" in corned beef, rather than referencing actual corn, refers to the salt crystals used in the curing process.

As is often the case with things uniquely American, this widely held tradition actually reflects both our melting pot and adaptation that can arise from that.

Cheers from under mostly cloudy skies.