March: A Month Of Holidays

So... I don't know about you but, March is a long month of birthdays, holidays, and "Spring" (even though the temperatures don't feel like it). You know the old saying  "March goes in like a lion and out like a lamb"? I don't think that is true now a days in New England. The temperatures don't really get going until middle of May. But anyways there are lots of holidays so it is a good trade off. 

One holiday that my whole family celebrates is St. Patrick's Day. We all get together at my Nana and Papa's house. It has sort of become a family tradition. One food that we enjoy every year is the Irish Bread that my Nana makes. In fact, my great-grandmother also made this very same Irish Bread. She came over from Ireland on a boat so this was a traditional recipe for us. She also used a great sifter with a nice, fine, sift. She used this sifter for about 80 years. My Nana has used it for about 40 years. The brand of the sifter is Bromwell. These sifters are still avalible today and you can find them at this website. 

Depending upon who we make this recipe for we use currents and caraway seeds although they are optional. These are traditional Irish ingredients and they taste delicious. 

This is a picture of the sifter that my Nana has from my great-grandmother 

This is the recipe in my Nana's recipe book. 

In case you can not see the writing in the  picture, here is the recipe: 

Winter Soup

So, did you have a big "Nor'easter"? Well, I did. When I look at the big pile of snow in front of my house or better yet the sheet of ice on my sidewalk, it just plain old makes me shiver! I decided to do something about this. At my 4th cooking lesson, I made Spiced Squash, Pear, and Fennel Soup. This soup was extraordinary. It was so good that it and the lentil soup are my favorite soups. You know, the Lentil soup that I begged you to try.  Yes, now I am making you try this! This is this good. I let my aunt try some of this soup, and she said "Wow! The flavors are so complex!" I am sure you are saying "What does that mean?" But after you taste the squash and pear flavors, the last flavor in your mouth is a citrus flavor thanks to the orange peel (!) in this soup. In fact, this soup is so good that I am eating it while I am posting. That never happens. One thing I did in advance was while the squash was roasting, I cut all the vegetables (and trust me, there are a lot!). After, I just had to put the vegetables in in the soup. One way I ate this soup was with crusty bread. It was really good and I used the bread like a spoon, scooping up the soup with the bread. Make sure, you roast the squash before cooking it because it boosts the vegetable's flavor. It also makes it easier to peel. 

These are the vegetables after I chopped them all while my squash was roasting

So...here is the recipe that I am insisting that you try. Please, just try the soup. I am sure that it will become one of your favorite soups too!