Leanne and Tom Felzien – Thank-You so very much for including us in your St Patrick’s Day Dinner. It was fun and delicious.
And as a note: If any one in the Boise area who reads this blog wants a spring lamb or side of beef for their freezer, just let me know and I will put you in contact with Tom and Leanne. For the past 6 years or so, we have been getting some awesome lamb from them. The lamb and beef are all 4-H raised.
Back to the celebration: The party was festive. Some great Whisky was tried, much like a wine tasting, but much smaller samples. There is a photo of some of the whiskys. (No! I didn’t misspell whisky.) Gail made the Corned Beef again this year and in my NSHO, it was better this year. She does a great job with the beef. Enjoy the photos of the party. Cheers!

Gail and Leanne discuss the kitchen proceedure.

Heather and some of the children at the party. It was great to see you again, Heather.

Ah! The Lagavulin Double Matured Whisky. This is awesome and thank-you Gail for sharing it. Look at that golden color and smell the peat smoke.

The party stash!

The food line. Hurry. We’re hungry!

The Irish Soda Bread is sliced and the Sally Lunn Bread is waiting to be sliced. Next year, if we are invited again, I will have to make two loaves of each.

The plated Corned Beef Dinner! It was great!

Wishfull thinking? It’s cabbage, too.

So there you have, “… The rest of the story.” It was a great evening that went on until almost 10:00pm. The meal was fantastic, as usual. Thank-You Gail. And again, a huge Thank-You to Leanne and Tom for opening their home to all of us. It was great to see the bubbly children, too. Cheers!
Here is some interesting facts about the Corned Beef, like, “Where did the name come from?”:

From About (dot) com –
Corned Beef Basics
The first corned beef was packed in salt, and sometimes spices, in order to cure it. It got its name from the corn kernel-sized grains of salt it was packed in. Today, corned beef is usually made by soaking a brisket roast in a brine of water, salt, and spices. While it’s not traditional in Ireland, corned beef is what most Americans prepare for St. Patrick’s Day feasts.

About the Beef
For centuries, corned beef was a food reserved for special occasions. Beef was considered to be a decadent indulgence up until the 20th century. It was only available to very wealthy people, because most cows were kept for their milk or for breeding.

About the Brisket
Brisket comes from the heavily exercised front limbs of the animal, and is consequently a tough cut of meat. When cooked properly–braised–this cut is tender, juicy and succulent. Corned beef and other forms of brisket need to be cooked for a long time with low heat and plenty of moisture in order to realize their full potential as the star of your dinner table.

And from Food History, we learn –

Why do they Call it “Corned” Beef?
The term “Corned” comes from putting meat in a large crock and covering
it with large rock-salt kernels of salt that were refered to as “corns of salt”
This preserved the meat. The term Corned has been in the Oxford English Dictionary as early as 888 AD.

Irish Were the First Exporters of Corned Beef
Irish were the biggest exporters of Corned Beef till 1825.
The English were serving corned beef but also the Irish. In this day and age
corned beef and cabbage is not very Irish, but corned beef is. The area of Cork, Ireland was a great producer of Corned Beef in the 1600’s until 1825. It was their chief export and sent all over the world, mostly in cans. The British army sustained on cans of Cork’s corned beef during the Napoleonic wars …

Origin of the Word “Corn”
The term Corn is modified from an Old Germanic (P.Gmc) Word
Kurnam which meant small seed of anything. Since a kernel of rock
salt look like a wheat or oat kernel size it became known as a corn of salt. Even the word Kernel comes from this word Kurnam. or Kurnilo which meant the root of the seed.

Corned Beef and Cabbage is basically an American tradition on St. Patrick’s

Day started by irish-Americans in the mid 1800’s. Some Irish people feel that corned beef and cabbage is about as Irish as spaghetti and meatballs. Since cows were used for milk rather than meat in poor times in Ireland, beef was a delicacy that was fed to kings. It was more common to celebrate a holiday meal with what they call a ham (Gammon) or bacon joint. ( a cured but unsmoked piece of pork) with their cabbage and potatoes. When many Irish Immigrants came over in the mid 1800’s they couldn’t find a bacon joint like they had in Ireland, so they found that Jewish corned beef was very similar in texture, and they used that for their holiday celebrations.

Great photos, Gail. Thanks!