St. Patrick's Day 2012

There was no escaping the fact.  Today is St. Patrick's Day, and in "the 518" there was a sea of green wherever my car took me.  My first trip out this morning was to The Country Corner for breakfast with Claire, Sandi, and Liz.  We sat for a while over our eggs and toast and spent the kind of time we love to, and then it was over too soon.  I went on to deliver a bridal shower cake to my friend Puddy, for her daughter Lindsay who's having a tropical destination wedding soon.  The cake was of a tropical theme, the design based on a cake Lindsay had fallen in love with for her wedding, but decided against because the price was outrageous! Puddy sent me a link to the wedding venue's website, with a route to a photo of the desired cake, asked me to use that as inspiration for the bridal shower cake, and if I do say so myself, it came out great!  I dropped that off around 11 a.m., and drove home to Middle Grove, taking Rt. 29 right through downtown Saratoga, where there were so many people out-and-about you'd have thought it was mid-August!  The crowds in and outside of The Parting Glass on Lake Avenue were spilling out onto the street.  It was about sixty degrees and bright sunshine, so I can't blame people, at all, for wanting to be outside with their friends and lively music on this very Irish holiday!

Lindsay's tropical-themed bridal shower cake...

After breakfast out and the cake delivery, I got home in time to put the finishing touches on a St. Patrick's Day cake for my friends Pat and Beth, who were throwing a huge party.  Pat told me he was figuring on 50 guests, but by the time I stopped by with the cake, around 3 p.m., the count was up to 100.  Warm weather combined with a friendly holiday is an irresistible combination to get out and socialize!

St. Patrick's Day cake, with a little surprise green streak inside!

This afternoon found me hanging out at Katie's while she prepared the traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner in her giant royal blue Le Creuset stock pot (coveted).  She had two corned beef briskets and also boiled cabbage, potatoes, and carrots.  I've never been that big a corned beef fan (hated it growing up) but this was completely different than anything I'd had as a kid.  My dad used to make it in a pressure cooker.  I think the taste of corned beef is too strong for young taste buds - I've grown to like it, and cabbage, as I've gotten older.  Anyway, it was a spectacular meal, and Katie topped it off with a little baking of her own - chocolate cupcakes with a Bailey's Irish Cream ganache and Bailey's buttercream.  I know -- I may have created a monster!  She's a good cook and a good baker.  God help all of us as we try to lose weight!  I've given myself the week off to accommodate birthday dinners and St. Patrick's Day.  After next Wednesday, I'm back to counting points and getting serious.  After all, I have two weddings and a vacation to fit into look forward to!

Despite the look on Pete's face, there's no Irish Cream
in that cupcake!