Corned Beef Cabbage on St Joseph's Day??

Another long hiatus between posts which I apologize for.  My parents were in town the past week visiting for my 28th birthday.  Not only did we have a wonderful time with my parents, we also ate really well.  The first night they were here, I made flank steak fajitas and pepper, onion, tomato shish kebobs that my husband, Mike grilled perfectly.  Then it was my birthday, where we went to Clary's for an amazing breakfast (I had the Eggs Benedict Florentine- OMG is the only way to describe them) followed with a day at the beach and then Crab Shack for dinner.

Dinner would have been perfect if it wasn't for Savannah's resident bug - the sand gnat- feasting on us as we feasted on the fruits of the sea.  My parents treated us for the sea food feast where we started the face stuffing with crab stew and raw oysters.  My parents and I gobbled down the platter in no time flat and Mike, though decidedly grossed out, took pictures of me enjoying these delightful mollusks:

open wide

nom nom nom

ooh that's good

happy me :)

The feasting didn't stop after my birthday, so much so that I won't even look at my scale never mind weigh myself.  On Monday, Mike and I celebrated 5 years being married by going to Troy while my parents watched the kids, then Tuesday we ate at a cafe in City Market for lunch.  I convinced my parents to go to Troy that night for dinner sans us and they thoroughly enjoyed it.  Wednesday we had Screaming Mimi's for dinner after a long afternoon looking at properties for my parents to buy (they are considering moving to Georgia part-time to escape the brutal Pennsylvania winters) and then Thursday was St. Paddy's day.

Growing up, my mom always made corned beef and cabbage on St. Paddy's and this is one meal that I never learned how to prepare.  She happily made the corned beef for us to feast on and I am surprised how easy it was to prepare.  All you need is a large pot (or slow cooker) corned beef, water, some potatoes and a head of cabbage.  We bought horseradish sauce and rye bread as accompaniments and we feasted on this decidedly Irish dish (though corned beef is really a Jewish delicacy, how it became associated with the Irish is muddled in immigrant history).

my mom slicing the corned beef

boiled potatoes

corned beef, cabbage and potatoes

For dessert (and man did we have our share of desserts) we enjoyed Entenmann's festive St. Paddy's day cupcakes.  We can't get these in Georgia though they do sell some Entenmann's products. I learned this horrible truth when I was pregnant with my son and all I craved were these cupcakes, I drove to 4 different grocery stores to find they never heard of them, never mind carried them.  My mother, taking pity on me shipped me down two boxes.  This time, my mother bought two boxes which she freezed then drove 800 miles down for us to enjoy.  I think I did a happy dance in my kitchen when I saw she had brought me these little processed cakes of deliciousness.  Thanks Ma!