With the New Year in mind, Edythe Preet writes about Robert Burns: Scotland’s Immortal Bard. In case any reader has ever wondered how a gal named Preet could claim Irish ancestry, here’s my genealogy: my maiden name was Burns, my father was George Burns (mom heard many a “So are you Gracie?” wisecrack), and dad’s mom was a McCaffrey, born in County Fermanagh. Like thousands of … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Auld Lang Syne
Slainte: Irish Recipes
Sláinte!: New Wave Greens
The therapeutic benefits of seawater and seaweed baths, as well as seaweed as an important food source, is explored by Edythe Preet. I’ve got this thing about immersing myself in water. I like it body temperature or better. Thus, although Ireland has beaches aplenty, plunging into its frigid sea is out of the question, and I usually limit my adventuring to manor houses, … [Read more...] about Sláinte!: New Wave Greens
Sláinte! Music: The Food of Love
With Father’s Day in mind, our columnist writes about her own dad, “a true Irish bard.” I live with a disc jockey. No, not like one you’d find in a dance club, not at all. My jock lives in my head. His repertoire is wide and deep, it ranges through all music genres, and I never know what tune he’s going to spin next. Some days his pick is my first waking thought. Other times … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Music: The Food of Love
Sláinte! Calling All Fools, Fairies, and Leprechauns
The history of April Fools’ Day and tricksters of folk mythology. ℘℘℘ April is full of surprises. When spring sunshine starts warming the earth, night can fall on a brown leafless landscape and day break to green grass and golden flowers splashing the garden with color. A balmy day can suddenly turn cold, gray, and rainy. As the weather capriciously switches from sunshine to … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Calling All Fools, Fairies, and Leprechauns
Sláinte! Flipping Over Pancake Tuesday
Once the winter holiday feasting frenzy ends, hundreds of ads bombard us with ways to lose weight. There is certainly a time to count calories, but then there is Fat Tuesday. Dieters beware. The two will never go together any better than oil and water. As the final day before Lent, Fat Tuesday has for almost two-thousand years been cause to consume high-calorie, … [Read more...] about Sláinte! Flipping Over Pancake Tuesday