Failte!

I'm excited to share my adventures with all of you! I want your first taste of my life in Ireland to be this poem that I wrote very late one night when I was a Junior in College. Its meaning seems eerily prophetic now. More than anything, I've created this blog to make the actualization of this life-long dream of mine visible to those I love: my friends who are my foundation, my endlessly supportive family, my mentors and co-workers who inspire me, and my former students who have given me enough satisfaction and fulfillment to last two lifetimes... Have the courage to believe that your wildest dreams can come true.

Is fhearr fheuchainn na bhith san duil, (It is better to try than to hope)

e
Mourn (A Seaside Peak in Southern Ireland)

The dark, earthen sod saturates her fair feet,
but briefly since she frolics fast in knee high
blades of greenest grass that blow dizzily in the Celtic-sea air.

Her wool skirt, stiffened by ware of evenings past
is splashed by cresting waves that break
against a beach blacker than her hair.
Those once stiffer fibers were loosed by nights upon nights
of hanging perfectly on his line before being wildly blown dry
by the crisp Hibernian salt air.

The pair sits to rest a while instead of dodging
breakers or skipping paler stones.

"Indian summer's here," he says softly,
but all of summer here feels like the edge
of autumn to her, even though she grins in agreement
as she dangles her pale, soft feet off Achilles' peak,
where Erin's vermillion-gold sky meets
an ocean that is grey with years.

She sleeps with her eyes closed tight most nights.
He asks her if she believes in Tier-Nan-Og,
and she asks him if he believes in anything eternal.
Outside the tide is rising, or it's receding—
She never can tell but for the strengthened smell of
salty freshness strained through his light, lace curtains.
She thinks to herself that he is like trying to hold the sea 
and she imagines the water running between her fingers--
clenched so tight.

And so, the night calls her out of her sleeping,
like daytime chides her into dreaming.
She slips her white fingers through the holes of an old loose scarf
that affords her more company than warmth
on these newborn autumn evenings. She is off-- 
Night clouds reflect emerald from land to sea,
And the tara that she never eyes from long hours of
staring too far into star blanketed skies,
feels cool against the thickening pads of her pallid feet.

Elisabeth Lewis (2005)

04 September 2011

Why I Love Stew: A Recipe and More Proof that I'm Made for Cold Climates

Listening to: When will I see you again?

Stew is a great way to keep warm when it's cold and thus, Candace and I decided to make one stew a week while we live in Dublin. I can't promise to post every recipe, but the stew we made last night is one of my favorites, so I decided to share for a change of pace! I made this stew in Boston a couple of times, and the flavors really jump out and tickle your taste-buds. I go heavy handed on the cilantro in this one (did you know cilantro is called coriander in Europe?) I also (apparently) decided to go heavy handed on the red pepper flakes--or maybe Irish red pepper flakes are especially strong??--either way, be careful that you just add a pinch because this stew can get spicy FAST!

This recipe is from the Food Network, courtesy of Paula Deen. Though you are meant to sautee the onions, garlic, and green chilis in a stick of butter (and garnish your chili with mayonaisse. jk) we substituted that with 3 tablespoons of EVOO and hope you will too. There may be a month or two left before it's stew weather in your town (unless you're reading this from Boston, in which case let me know when it starts to snow), but file it away and bust it out for a Football Sunday...or Saturday or whenever they play football in America :) Cheers/ Hope y'all enjoy!

White Bean and Chicken Chili
2 Cans White Beans (like Cannelloni)
5 cups chicken stock (we used veggie b/c that's what we had!)
3 Tbsps. EVOO
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
3/4 a cup diced yellow onion
1 1/2 cups green chilis (canned or fresh. We used fresh!)
1 pound chicken breast
1 pound collard greens (we used spinach in Ireland)
1 Tbsp. Cumin
1 Tbsp. Oregano
1/2 tsp. white pepper
Salt and black pepper to taste
a PINCH Red Pepper flakes
a half to whole bunch cilantro
sour cream to garnish (if you like)
In my experience, this makes 8-10 servings. Each serving is 245 calories...without the sour cream ;)

Dice chilis, onion, and garlic
In your largest saucepan, you want to heat your olive oil over MEDIUM heat and cook chilis, garlic and onion for 2-3 minutes, careful not to burn.
While that's cooking, go ahead and cut your raw chicken breast into bite size pieces.
Add the chicken along with the cumin, oregano, white pepper, black pepper, salt, and red pepper flakes.
Cook until chicken is browned and not going to kill you
Add the collard greens little by little until they are all slightly wilted (sad looking)
Now add your chicken broth! Looks like soup now, huh? Bring this to a rolling BOIL
Then cover it and simmer for 20-30 minutes on LOW heat, stirring occasionally
Add the 2 cans of white beans to really thicken this stew
After it seems thickened, throw in your cilantro! (my favorite touch)
Ta-da! Garnish and serve HOT!

The first FOLLOWER to make this stew and post a picture of it (with dated newspaper) will get a present from Ireland! My best friend, and avid blog follower, Magan Overcash, won last time by knowing that the main characters from The Gift of the Magi and The Script video are James (Jim) And Della.  

Actually, NOW I'm listening to: Ryan Adams, "Two"





Whiskey is key to warmth. Dilute it with as much or little coke as you like




Other great tips for keeping warm in the chilly autumn air...  

My new leather jacket adds style to <60 degree weather 

Posted by at
Labels: ,

1 comment:

  1. Elizabeth06 September, 2011 02:32

    I made it tonight! It was delicious and the perfect fall dish. I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream (the market had limited options) and loved it! Felt like I was right there with you guys making din.

    I don't know how to post a picture here. So I will email it to you! xoxo

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)