Totally Paddy and YWML

In the last few days I have been exposed....in the purely culinary sense....to two great Irish favourites.The first I had in BMM's house for tea on Thursday, boiled bacon, cabbage, spuds and parsley sauce. It was fantastic. The cabbage was from our garden, which added to the excitement. This favourite of our family was always lunch on Saturdays and is demanded in advance of their return home by the Fit One and the Ambassadrice. I think the Fit One had it as her "last supper", the night before she got married. The parsley sauce is optional but adds luxury and I particularly like it on top of the new Queeens potatoes with a knob of butter...unctuous !In our house we used to "make a boat" out of this dinner, which meant chopping everything up, mashing it all together and shaping it into a boat shape before devouring it with relish.( eccentric but not mad !)On Thursday night I got to share the dinner not only with BMM but also YWML. This particular "handle" came about when the ,conversation turned to the fact that one of my mothers clients had asked her at one time if she would "like his lifestyle". "How arrogant" we declared before YWML asked me "Would you like my lifestyle Lara ?" I thought for a few moments of the snippets of information I had gleaned from the pre dinner conversation and advised him that yes I would based on the facts that he had a)holiday home in the Caribbean he was flying out to on Thursday, b)had an adorable and very funny wife c) a fabulous house next door to BMM and d) had been out for dinner and beers the night before with an old friend....not bad hey !I think for a moment he suddenly saw his life as others do and the view wasn't bad at all.We could all do with looking at our lives as others see it occasionally...you might just have more than you realise.YWML therefore stands for You Want my Lifestyle...how he will be known from now on not ( young women's male legend !)
Totally Irish favourite number 2 was Salad...yes Salad ! I know you're thinking that Salad is not a traditional Irish dish but cast your mind back to the salads you got in your Granny's.The actual salad comprised butterhead lettuce, slices of cucumber ( skin on), triangles of tomato , scallions ( spring onions)and maybe slices (round) of boiled egg. This mainstay was served with rolled up ham slices, corned beef, potato salad made from yesterdays mash with mayonnaise and scallions or onion, and coleslaw ( mass produced shop bought). Fat Freddies mother, my Nana also served tinned "Russian " Salad which was cold peas and carrot in a type of salad cream. Oh yes Salad Cream...I hated it being a Hellmans Mayo girl myself, but I was in the minority in Ireland for many years. Those ingredients just listed formed the Irish salad. No couscous, pasta salad, Warldorf, Rice salad....these all came later. Bulgar Wheat....don't be ridiculous !I had an Irish salad for tea this evening and my childhood came flooding back....lovely !