St. Patty's Day

Well, today is St. Patty's Day.  This is a holiday that most FFs and their families celebrate wholeheartedly!  Many FFs you will meet have some Irish background.  I know this holds true for mine!  My FF is Scott-Irish and German.  Basically, this means he could drink a man three times his size under the table and not bat and eyelash one!  LOL  But it is a deep pride that is carried by the Irish FFs.  So, today, I'm going to post recipes that are used here in our house on this special day!

Colcannon

• 2 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 4 slices bacon
• 1/2 small head cabbage, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Place potatoes in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until tender.
2. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, reserving drippings, crumble and set aside. In the reserved drippings, saute the cabbage and onion until soft and translucent. Putting a lid on the pan helps the vegetables cook faster.
3. Drain the cooked potatoes, mash with sour cream and season with salt and pepper. 
4. Fold in the bacon, cabbage, and onions, then transfer the mixture to a large serving bowl. 
5. Make a well in the center, and pour in the melted butter. 
6. Serve immediately. 

Irish Soda Bread 

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 pint sour cream
• 1 cup raisins 

Directions  

 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans.
2. Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, sour cream and raisins and mix until just combined. Distribute batter evenly between the two pans.
3. Bake loaves at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 1 hour.

Corned Beef and Cabbage 

• 3 pounds corned beef brisket with spice packet
• 10 small red potatoes 
• 5 carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces
• 1 large head cabbage, cut into small wedges

Directions 

 

1. Place corned beef in large pot or Dutch oven and cover with water. Add the spice packet that came with the corned beef. Cover pot and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer approximately 50 minutes per pound or until tender.
2. Add whole potatoes and carrots, and cook until the vegetables are almost tender. Add cabbage and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove meat and let rest 15 minutes.
3. Place vegetables in a bowl and cover. Add as much broth (cooking liquid reserved in the Dutch oven or large pot) as you want. Slice meat across the grain.

I hope you all enjoy these recipes!  Make sure to add some Guinness Beer, Green Beer, or your favorite beverage to complete the meal!  Now I shall leave you with an Irish Blessing:

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand!

~Sparkles
 

Radio Silence

     I'm so sorry for the long radio silence!  I've been so busy with politics (I manage campaigns as well as consult on campaigns).  I was working with 28 campaigns which left little time for anything else.  I have also been dealing with a death in my family.  My grandmother, whom I loved dearly and was very close to, passed away on February 27th.  Needless to say, that has been a difficult issue to deal with in the past couple of weeks.

     So, to catch you up on the fire wife life, my FF was not allowed to return to duty...even light duty.  This did not make us very happy.  So, he has been trying to go back to the doctor to get his shoulder re-evaluated, but his doctor no longer works at the clinic, they don't take worker's comp anymore, and the one place in our area that does take worker's comp denied his case.  Is that even possible????  So, we are trying to figure out who will see him.  Oh the joys!
    
     There have been several incidences in our fire community here lately.  We had one of our own firefighters and a neighboring department's fire fighter that were burned in a structure fire.  The garage collapsed and the FF from our neighboring department was trapped.  Our guy was one of the RIT guys that was trying to pull him out, but he ended up being pulled out, too.  The guy from our fire department received 2nd and 3rd degree burns on both wrists and forearms.  The guy from our neighboring department received massive 3rd degree burns over 50% of his body.  He was life flighted to Parkland Hospital's burn unit and will remain there for sometime.  He has a wife and daughter that are practically living up at the hospital, now.  Thank you to the Dallas FD for putting them up in a hotel and looking after them!  Also, a special thank you to my wonderful online group of fire wives (Wife Behind The Fire)!  They got together and sent a basket of much needed things to this FF's family!  I must say that I am BURSTING with pride at the sense of sisterhood/brotherhood and community that we share!

The second incident was one in which we never want to deal.  Dallas FD had a FF killed in the line of duty.  He was working the scene of an accident on one of our icy nights when he was struck by a vehicle, knocking him off the bridge he was on and onto the interstate below.  As it turns out, this FF was the cousin to one of my best childhood friends.  This death hit so close to home.  As with any FF LODD, you become overly aware of what a dangerous job our guys and some of our gals have.  It makes you re-evaluate the stupid arguments, the little things that normally irritate you, the time you spend in the same room, but not WITH each other because of our great little electronic devices.  Our time on this Earth is so short...even if you live to be 100+!  I don't ever want to look back and say, "I wish I had spent more quality time with him." or "I wish I hadn't argued about this or that." or "I wish I had thought about how much I'd miss that little annoying habit if it was gone..."  I don't want to ever have any regrets with my FF.  I want him to ALWAYS know how much I love him and how much I appreciate all that he does...not just for me, but for everyone!  Things like this almost make you afraid to let them go out and work another call, but then you remember that this is WHO they are.  It would make them miserable to not be able to do the job they were born to do. 

     That brings this back, full circle, to my FF and how utterly unhappy he has been while not being able to run calls.  It's be 9 months, now...that's much too long for a FF to go without doing what he LOVES to do.  So, he has found another job to occupy his time.  He is currently building websites for fire departments, working with another company that outfits the trucks and police cars with their lights, sirens, and decals.  He is helping them to manufacture LED lights for those vehicles and a few other things.  At least it's making him happy...for now.

     That about brings you up to speed.  I hope you all have stayed busy enough, but relaxed enough, as well!  Keep those guys safe and give them extra hugs, love, kisses, and praise! 

~Sparkles