#42 Corned Beef & Cabbage77
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I don’t expect this to be my most popular AmperArt edition, certainly not one that will be framed & hung on many living room walls. (Although it might look nifty in a retro-styled kitchen.)
But I just had to take that phrase of one of my favorite culinary pairs & stick an ampersand in it. In this case, the ampersand itself is corned beef with lots of cracked pepper (those are NOT ants).
St. Patrick’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. It always meant meeting a pretty Irish lass (or one pretending to be Irish) for whom I would buy rounds of Irish whiskey – till her jealous boyfriend showed up. Oops. It meant free-flowing green beer which is an insult to a true Irishman (I’m Italian & German so it’s okay). It meant lilting, tear-jerking Irish ballads, the more heartfelt the better, & the more beer consumed the more tear-jerking the ballads.
& it always meant one of my favorite dishes, corned beef & cabbage. With lots of horseradish & mustard. I don’t drink anymore, but I still love my Irish music & corned beef & cabbage every St. Patrick’s Day.
& the beautiful women? Everyday! (Till their boyfriends show up.)
Another thing I love about the Irish is their beautiful prose & poetry, such as this Irish blessing:
May there always be work for your hands to do
May your purse always hold a coin or two;
May the sun always shine on your windowpane;
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend always be near you;
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.
& their wit:
Never iron a four-leaf clover, because you don’t want to press your luck.
As I wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day, I’ll leave you with yet one more Irish saying, which I truly believe:
A best friend is like a four leaf clover: hard to find & lucky to have.
Señor Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day for me is all about Irish Music, Irish Food & Irish Beer. I don’t drink anymore, so 2 out of 3 ain’t bad. I really must have my annual corned beef & cabbage, & I’ll go to any length to get the real, authentic stuff. (Okay, I’ll settle for Denny’s in a pinch.)
Several years ago I went to an Irish pub for live Irish music & real Irish corned beef & cabbage. After a few ballads & a few cups of coffee I got kicked out – sober. Lots of drunks get kicked out of a bar on St. Patricks for their infamous brawls. But me? For not getting drunk! “We don’t like your type in here,” they said.
So I went from Irish bar to Irish bar & Irish restaurant to Irish restaurant (well, one — they’re not on every street corner in Santa Monica) to get my fix of corned beef & cabbage. Either everyone had run out or they didn’t even serve it on its most famous day.
Then I remembered seeing a hand-written sign in the window of my favorite coffee shop, Callahan’s Restaurant. “Irish Dinner & Live Music” it said. Why didn’t I remember that sooner? I rushed over there & got in before they closed. I asked Maria, the hostess/waitress, if they had any corned beef & cabbage left. “Si, Señor Chaz.” (It’s a small place run by a wonderful Mexican family, & they kept the menu, décor & name exactly the same as the original owner, who was obviously Irish. They all knew me, since I went there everyday for breakfast.) I asked if the live music was over with, & she said it hadn’t begun yet. Wow! They were staying open late just for St. Patrick’s Day. (Just for me is more like it — the place was practically empty. I wasn’t the only one who forgot about the little sign in the window.)
I ordered my traditional corned beef & cabbage, & it was fabulously traditional — absolutely delicious! They even had real blow-your-head-off horseradish which I love. I was so engrossed in my dinner I didn’t even notice the much-anticipated band setting up.
Until they played their very first note. Incredible. I’ll never forget that St. Patrick’s Day experience with that live band. I love traditional Irish music, especially the ballads that bring me to tears. There’s something special about Irish music that just gets to me. Is it the instruments? The lyrics? The beautiful tenor voice & charming accent of an Irish balladeer? Probably a combination of all those wonderful qualities. But not that night.
It was a live mariachi band.
I enjoyed the art work as well as all the prose. Happy St Paddy’s Day to you!!!!!
from Michael (via email):
Chaz !!!
You’ve picked the absolutely PERFECT typeface for this one. I can’t recall the name of it, but I love it.
Very nice.
Michael, I chose that style immediately just because it looks like cabbage. But I also went through my entire repertoire of fonts to find a good Irish uncial for some of the lettering, to give it some authenticity. (This font, Arnold Boecklin, does not sound Irish.) But I couldn’t find anything suitable, so decided to leave the entire text this style. It looks a bit like uncial if you drink enough green beer.
I so love this AmperArt, Chaz! It made my mouth water!
Since my daughter was born on St. Patrick’s Day and is a “wee bit” Irish — from her Dad’s side — I developed an affection for this date. After finding out who St. Patrick was ~ and his dedication to spreading the love of Christ to the very people who enslaved him as a lad ~ my affinity for the holiday grew even more!
I thoroughly enjoyed your tale about your traditional St. Paddy’s Day dinner several years ago, accompanied by a mariachi band, of all things! An excellent L.A. story!
Lisa, my mouth was watering too until I realized the “pepper” looked like little black ants on my monitor. And I was so tired finishing this one they were starting to move!
I am so glad to know the Princess Leprechauness has some Irish in her. I had no idea. I mean, how can you be born on March 17 and only wish you were Irish?
Happy Birthday to April and Happy St. Patrick’s to all of you.
I’m reminded of an old Irish saying that my Doctor (Dennis O’Brian) used to say:
May the wind always be at your back,
May the sun always be on your face,
May there always be a song on your lips
And may you be in Heaven ten days before the Devil knows your dead!
Joe Rinaudo
Joe, that’s the one I was trying to find. Thanks.
Cute AmperArt. It totally looks like the ampersand has pepper and spices on it. Great job.
So since I’m married to a full-Irish guy, I can share this joke.
Alright, so an Irish guy walks out of a bar and … yes, it’s possible.
I’m trying to reply to the pepper and spices, but still laughing at your joke. Very witty.
So far no one has asked why there are ants crawling all over the ampersand. I was afraid that might happen…some people just don’t see every black speck as pepper such as us pepper-lovers do.
But I was ready with a quick answer – it’s an antpersand. (Not very witty? I’m not very Irish.)
Happy St. Patty’s Day early!
Judging from your blog, I bet you party hearty on St. Patrick’s Day. In fact, judging from your blog, you party hearty everyday, don’t you, Susie?