Irish America

Irish America

Slainte Archives

Slainté! New Year – A Time of Big Portions

Edythe Preet, Irish America columnist, Jan 2012

by 1 Comment

Who needs Hocus Pocus when we have global positioning satellite systems, cell phones, iPods, and full-body airport scanners? No one believes in magic anymore. Well, if that's the case why do you suppose we stay out of a black cat's path, avoid walking under a ladder and put a penny in a new bride's shoe? Because we are superstitious creatures, that's why. Since the beginning … [Read more...] about Slainté! New Year – A Time of Big Portions

Sláinte! The Night of Cakes

By Edythe Preet, Columnist.

November/December 1996. Republished in Winter 2022.

by 2 Comments

No Christma-a-as! No Christma-a-as!” Such was the town crier’s chant in the streets of 17th-century Dublin when Ireland felt the hammer blow of Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan iron fist. Garlands of greenery were pulled down and publicly burned. Revelry was forbidden. Priests were imprisoned. But the Irish people found ways to celebrate their most loved holiday despite the … [Read more...] about Sláinte! The Night of Cakes

Sláinte! Feile Na Marbh – the origins of Halloween

By Edythe Preet

by 4 Comments

Slainte! Columnist Edythe Preet explore how "Feile Na Marbh "or "Feast of the Dead" became Halloween and includes a recipe for Irish Barm Brack, which is traditionally served in Ireland on this day. That which we know as All Hallows Eve actually began as a harvest festival several millennia ago in Ireland. Though the evening’s popular colors are black and orange, they might as … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Feile Na Marbh – the origins of Halloween

Sláinte: Oysters Galore

By Edythe Preet, Columnist
August / September 2011

by 4 Comments

Edythe Preet explores the history of Ireland's favorite bivalve, from Mesolithic times to today's Galways Oyster Festival. Opening an oyster can be a daunting task. Those little critters clamp their shells shut tight as a bank vault and don’t take kindly to being pried open with a sharp blade. Not only that, but wielding an oyster knife is an easy way to slice off a thumb, … [Read more...] about Sláinte: Oysters Galore

Sláinte: Dublin, City of Literature

By Edythe Preet, Columnist

by Leave a Comment

Edythe Preet on the history and influence of Dublin, and James Joyce-centric recipes. When I was young, my father’s oft-repeated favorite riddle was: What is the richest country in the world? The first time he quizzed me, I wracked my brain and offered a few feeble guesses. When he could contain his mirth no longer, with a grin, a twinkle, and a nudge to my ribs he chuckled: … [Read more...] about Sláinte: Dublin, City of Literature