Holiday Sales

One of the best couponing secrets it to watch grocery store sales during holiday and special event weekends.  Usually items for that holiday hit a deep discounted price.  One example, is Superbowl weekend, you will find hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and sodas on sale.  This next week it's time to start looking at St. Patrick's day meals, so you are likely to find corned beef and cabbage on sale {I saw cabbage for .39/lb in the Smiths ad this coming week}.

Well, the Mahoney in me has come out in full swing this year - hence all the green on this site ;-).  And I have done some digging for a few recipes on what to do with corned beef and cabbage.  Here one that we might have to test out this year.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage

• 3 lb Corned Beef
• 1 onion
• a few lbs of potatoes
• carrots
• head of cabbage
• peppercorn
• bay leaves
• 1 bottle Guiness 

Check out this video for a great tutorial on how to put this dish together.  The best part is that it uses the crock pot which is my new favorite kitchen tool! 

You might also want to try Boxty with those potatoes that are likely to be on sale too.  It is an Irish pancake of sorts made with some cooked and some shredded raw potato.  It really is pretty yummy.  I made some for a church activity where my daughter had to share a dish from her heritage.  This is what I brought and it was a big hit - even when I served it plain.

Best-ever Boxty Recipe

• 2 medium potatoes, boiled in salted water and mashed
• 2 medium potatoes, grated
• 1 cup flour, self-rising or all-purpose
• 1 cup buttermilk, approximate (can substitute regular milk)
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• Black pepper, to taste
• Butter OR canola oil OR a mixture of the two, for frying
• Chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)

Finely grate the raw potatoes using a box grater or food processor grating disk. Do not just chop them up in the food processor: the resulting mush will not make good boxty.
Drain grated potatoes in a mesh sieve or colander over a bowl to catch the liquid; they may turn a little brown, but you will not be able to tell in the finished dish. After 15 minutes or so, you will see a white sediment– potato starch– in the bottom of the bowl and a clear liquid on the top. Drain off the liquid (you don't need to be fussy about it) and add the potato starch to the potatoes, flour and enough buttermilk to make a batter that is just spoon-able and a little bit looser than standard mashed potatoes. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste. If you use self raising flour, the boxty will be fluffier, but all purpose flour works perfectly well.
Heat a couple of tablespoons butter and/or oil over medium to medium-high heat. Drop boxty batter by spoonfuls into the hot oil and cook until golden brown, flipping once– about 2 minutes per side for small potato cakes, although you can make your boxty whatever size you please.
Serve hot.

There is an old Irish poem 

Boxty on the griddle, boxty in the pan, if you can't make boxty, you'll never get a man.

Have fun & don't forget to 'K-i-S-s' your fellow Irishmen.