Ireland……………..Beautiful Ireland.
As I sit here sipping my hot apple cider, I’m reminded of the recent trip I took to Ireland a couple summers ago with Jen, brother Craig and Kay. We had a splendid bit of time road tripping the southern loop of that beautiful countryside during the month of July. The emerald isle is perfectly named. The people are oh, so friendly. The castles, the ruins, the sea……well, as you can imagine, I’d go again if I had the chance.
This time I would stay longer, smell the roses and other flowers :),
take more tours and go north to the upper loop. If you get the chance, please go.
St. Patrick, our brother in Christ.
How wonderful it is for the country of Ireland to celebrate an Englishman who brought the gospel to them—–the Good News, to the people of Ireland. And, of course we know this meaningful and fun holiday is celebrated across the United States (and other places, too) because we have so many Irish descendants here. This Irish holiday is also dear to my heart because I, too, have an Irish heritage.
We crossed the River Shannon by ferry while there and were reminded that our Great great grandma was a Shannon. We had to wonder where, exactly, she was from. One day when life slows down a bit, that will be an adventurous study for me to delve into.
Marmalade Pudding kept popping up as I was searching for an Irish dessert to try out and share with you. After skimming over the recipe, I quickly found that the Irish definition of “pudding” is quite a bit different from ours. This recipe is more like a dense pineapple upside-down cake. Well, I had all the ingredients on hand and I gave it a try. And now we’re giving this yummy pudding a “shout out”!!
Celebrate this Holiday!
If you’ve been a Gingham Apron follower for awhile, it’s pretty obvious that we absolutely love holidays! So….we want to encourage you to wear some green, have some fun, give hugs, pinch somebody (if it’s not too hard) and enjoy the upcoming holiday! Do a search on St. Patrick. It’s a pretty fascinating story. He endured a lot of persecution for his faith in Christ.
Irish Stew
I know for certain I will be having Irish Stew with the biscuits on top. Why? Because that’s part of my upbringing. My mama served it every year as long as I can remember. What a fun and rich tradition she shared with us. We pinched, too! (I was always safe with my green eyes! 🙂 )
Irish Marmalade Pudding
Ingredients
- 5 T butter softened
- 1 C flour
- 1 1/2 t baking powder
- 1/2 t cinnamon optional
- 1/4 t salt
- 2/3 C sugar
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1/4 C milk
- 1/4 C water
- 1-2 t finely grated orange peel
- 1 t vanilla extract
- 1 t orange extract or flavoring
- 1 C orange marmalade
Instructions
- Preheat over to 350 degrees.
- Grease bottom and side of loaf pan or 8 inch cake pan with 1 T butter.
- Melt marmalade over low heat in a small pan; Pour it into loaf pan.
- Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, cream remaining butter and sugar together. Add eggs and mix well. Add the flour mixture, orange peel, vanilla, orange flavoring, milk and water and stir until batter is smooth. Pour into loaf pan on top of marmalade. Bake 40 to 50 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Cool pudding in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the outside edge of the pan and invert onto a serving platter. Serve warm. DELICIOUS!
The Shamrock
Hope your St. Patrick’s Day brings joy to your heart as you remember St. Patrick who traveled around using the shamrock to describe our God, Three in One: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. His life was forever changed 
of his surrender to Christ. Is yours?
