Irish Potato Soup...

Last Saturday my mom and I ended up sharing a beautiful afternoon of Irish tea!

I called this a God given treat... we got to sit down to a lunch together without the distractions of life... we chatted and shared an ordinary day that felt extraordinary to me.

I am blessed!

We visited one of our favorite Irish shops for a gift for my Aunt and ended up sitting down to a cup of soup ~ a delicious sandwich... and a pot of tea!

The owner of the shop, Jane Clarke,  shared this recipe for her potato soup!

This soup was so delicious!

Actually... it is now THE BEST potato soup I ever had!

There are no real instructions however... so you kind of have to a a pretty decent cook in order to make this.

I think what I liked the best about the soup is the diced potato... when I make my soup I don't dice... I usually just chunk so the diced texture reminded me of something my grandma used to make!

Jane Clarke's Potato Soup

What you’ll need:

• Butter (to taste)

• 1 medium carrot, diced

• 1/2 medium onion, diced

• 1 stalk celery, diced

• Flour (use judgment)

• Water

• Four to five russet or red potatoes, peeled and diced

• Heavy cream (to taste)

• Salt and pepper

Dice vegetables. Melt butter in medium saucepan, add vegetables and saute. Add flour to make a roux and stir for several minutes. Add water to cover and stir again. Stir in peeled, diced potatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until vegetables are tender. Stir in heavy cream to taste. Total cooking time is at least 20 minutes.

Let me know if you try it!

Oh and if you are wondering... we did get a gift for my Aunt and we are taking her for her very own birthday tea party next weekend!

Can I just show you...

the cake my mom made!

She is awesome!!

Come on Belleek...

Why oh why are you torturing me????

You go and make beautiful china goodies that I love for my home

and NOW you go and make...

 Dishwasher and Microwave safe basketweave plates!!!

Are you kidding me... I want these!!!

There goes the adoption fund ~ LOL (just kidding)

St Patricks Day Decorating!

 Joining 
Cuisine Kathleen... for her blog crawl!!

St Patrick's Day is my holiday! 

After all... my name is Patricia, I am Irish by lineage and married an Irish lad!!

We are all about Parade Day and Banquets and Shamrocks and ... fun!

I have Irish decor (belleek) in my home all year long ~ The day after Valentines Day however I break out all the other goodies!

This year I am lucky because Easter is in April so I do not have to compete with St Patrick's Day for space for Easter!

Here is my mantle!

DANNY BOY... Celtic Woman

The wreath and sign are from Etsy... the Celtic coasters are from the dollar tree

 

 St Patrick's Day Parade

  

 

Here is Annie... she was a gift from my mother in law, Annie, who is a huge collector of all things Irish!

HERE is a LINK to my Belleek collection

Too~ra~loo~ra~loo~ra
Irish Lullaby

Over in Killarney 
Many years ago, 
Me Mither sang a song to me 
In tones so sweet and low. 
Just a simple little ditty, 
In her good ould Irish way, 
And l'd give the world if she could sing 
That song to me this day. 

Chorus: 
"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li, 
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry! 
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li, 
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby." 

Here is my corner hutch

The angel is from my Aunt and it has the Irish Blessing on it

Sign is from the dollar tree, I aged it and added the ribbons and fun fur!

Here is my other hutch... all ready for the party!
I added the ribbon and the shamrock twirls
I hung the irish sparkle on a blank frame!

Here is a little doll my In~Laws brought back from Ireland
The claddagh doily was my grandmas!

In the kitchen I have a runner and a small sign and these awesome waffle weave towels... I am just thinking I should put one in the bathroom for a hand towel!

 

 

Thank you for stopping by!!

Patrick was a saint

... I aint!

My bothers name is Patrick...  (yes, Patrick and Patricia)

growing up he though that St Patricks Day was HIS feastday...

in fact... he STILL does, I think!

I made this frame in honor of him...

Taking a dollar store frame I measured out a piece of card stock for the base some 4 leaf clovers and another strip of plaid because well... I love plaid!

I cut the letters with my cricut

Here is my St Patrick's Day table

I am so looking forward to painting our kitchen table!

To  complete the Irish look I added a plaid shamrock runner that I purchased at CTS

I then added my grams Baileys Irish Cream Tin and filled it with forsythia  and tied a simple green bow!

I am linking up with

Pickle Jar to Candy Jar

I have a problem... I love to recycle jars!

I cannot stop cleaning out jars and making them into something else... functional

The hubby wants to recycle them in the big blue bin on the patio... but I know their beauty!

Take for instance this pickle jar

 

I etched some shamrocks on it and made it into a St Pattys Day Candy Jar... 

 

All I did was buy a pack of shamrock stickers... use the boarder of the sticker 

and

 

filled in with armour... waited 10mins and washed it off

in the meantime I decoupaged the lid with some plaid green paper

 

I filled the jar with peanut m&m's 

(the color of love from valentines day 1/2 price)

 

(Yes... there is a glare... )

I plan on maybe adding a ribbon to the neck of the jar... soon... maybe!

Linking up with 

A Wee Bit O' Irish Spring!

Here is my wee bit o' irish spring for this week

I added a shamrock nest that I made along with a picture of my hubby as a wee irish baby in my favorite  ... a belleek kylemore pattern frame that I bought for $7.00 a while back at a thrift shop!

 

 

~see the shamrocks in the nest and all the green goodies ~

I am joining up with Marty

Coastal Charm

Belleek

I collect Belleek China

My favorite pattern is the  Kylemore Pattern 

I love anything and everything basket weave... 
even my wedding gown bodice was basket weave!

Anyway...  

Here is a peek at my Belleek collection

I was blessed to receive many of these pieces as gifts

 

Here is the hubby as a baby in a Kylemore  Frame

Lamp from my inlaws for my 30th and a candy dish (cough drops this time of year)

 

Vintage Sleigh from my Sister in Law

 

Water Carafe from my Parents

 

Small toy spill vase with claddagh

 

Lamp and castle remote control holder 

I have more to show you... as the year goes on. 

I change the belleek as the seasons change

Crepe Paper Tag for St Patricks Day

I love making tags... I have been making tags for a few years and actually before I got so busy with our consignment shop I sold hundreds of them on Ebay

Now that the shop is closed I am making tags again... guess you always return to what you love!

WARNING... if you are a real crepe paper rosette maker 

STOP READING NOW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today I made a crepe paper tag... for St Patricks Day

To make a crepe paper tag you need 

• Crepe Paper
• A stapler
• A scissors
• A Tag
• An embellishment for the center
• Glue

I wanted a distressed look for my basket over my sink so I created mine this way 

 

First I took crepe paper from the dollar tree...  and tore off a piece about 10" long

I ripped mine but you can do either cut or rip

I then began folding the crepe paper in my hand accordion style

I then got to the end and the paper looked like this 

 

sorry for the blurry pic...

I fold this piece in half
 

like this  just to get a crease

I then unfold it and staple where the crease was 

 

Then carefully pull out the folds

Excuse my chubby hand!
 

  

So now all you do it attach the crepe paper rosette to the tag and the Happy St Patrick's Day  scallop to the center  with glue

 

Now go and make some crepe paper rosettes!

I am linking up with Linda for this and many more Irish crafts this month!

WHATEVER GOES WEDNESDAY