A Perfect StP... Almost!!

So... my soda bread and corned beef were AWESOME.  And, I was shocked, but I've had a lot of emails asking for how to make corned beef & cabbage!  Here's my homage to dear mom, as I prepare it much the way she did when we were growing up: in the crock pot!

Corned Beef & Cabbage
Put your piece of corned beef (weight/size depends on you) in the bottom of your empty crock pot.  Cut up a small onion into large pieces and toss those on top.  Core a small cabbage and chunk it (like your onion, a little bigger is fine); toss it in.  Cube 6-8 small Irish/white potatoes, skin on; toss those in.  Dice 6 or so (peeled) carrots; toss those in.  By now, your crock pot is pretty full.  Pour on a bottle of Guinness, followed by 8-16 ounces of water (just enough so you can see it under everything but DO NOT cover the food!!!!).  Cook on high for 4 hours, then on low/warm (my CP goes to warm immediately after) until you are ready to serve.  I serve the veggies and then cut the meat and serve that, drizzled with the Guinness au jus, with my soda bread (recipe here), of course!  So, enjoy!

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Sarah and I ate a light dinner then walked down to the local pub, a little less than a mile away, where we ran the 1 mile "Get Lucky 2011" run.  My time was my personal record: 9:15!!!!!!!  I could have done it, I think, is 8:50-9:00, but there were a lot of potholes on the opening road, and since I'm accident prone, I was NOT planning on a twisted ankle.  On top of that, my thighs were KILLING me (and Rob, the PT, was right- my thighs hurt terribly yesterday but today is the real fun:  my thighs, abs, and arms hurt!  And today I'm supposed to do round two, on my own! EEK!)

But, here we are, second Guinness pints in hand, and all ran out!!

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Maya update:  Well, my sweet baby girl has parvovirus 19, aka Fifth Disease.  That was the cause of the high fever and now, she is spotted Maya!  Thank goodness, she seems to feel okay, but last night sucked.  She was constipated (not anymore- this morning took 2 diapers to clean up!!!) and her tummy hurt plus she felt miserable and she cried from 10pm-2am, before she fell asleep and slept fitfully, waking every 15 minutes or so to cry.  In the last 48 hours, I've slept about 3-4.  I couldnt sleep well due to the smoke issue and being paranoid about the kids, and then with last night.  I'm wiped out.  Peter made me a strong cup of coffee this morning and I'd love to get a shower, but as of right now, I'm rocking my PJs and feeling pretty  sore.  But, Maya is doing better.  She's playing and, although she looks splotchy, she's still beautiful.

Bobby is currently eating the cordless phone and deleting numbers from it... Fun times...  He's freaking adorable and I'm too sore to bend down and stop him!

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We canceled our annual Equinox Egg Hunt for this weekend, since we dont know if Bobby is contagious or will be within the next few days.  No music class today... No tumbling tomorrow...  But, it's a gorgeous day today and I have the windows open (I think the crock pot plus the windows yesterday took care of the smoke smell for the most part).  We're going to go for a walk after their nap.  I figure I'll do lunch in half an hour or so and then my dad will be here for his weekly visit.  The kids can nap and then I can do some laundry and change clothes.  (Is it bad I'm STILL wearing my size 8 jeans- I have one pair and I cant seem to toss them in the laundry.  I keep telling myself I've only worn them about 8 hours over the last 2 days (since I've had PJs or my running gear on) so, they aren't dirty... But really... I need to toss them in the wash!)

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Well. my kitchen is in need of a clean and the kids are happily playing, so now may be my best chance...