Happy St. Patricks Day!

Well, seeing that my husband is Irish, and I have doubts about my pure Dutch heritage (come on, I have red hair!) I will be making an Irish feast today. Corned Beef and Cabbage, Soda Bread, and Irish Coffee. Strike that. Mike = no coffee.  Darn, Guinness will have to do.

We have a crazy day with lots of things going on so I am going to cheat and use my slow cooker. Here is what I am going to do...

First I rinse off the corned beef. Then I put it in the bottom of the slow cooker. . Rub some brown sugar on the corned beef to coat entire beef, including the bottom. I didn't measure the amount, but I would estimate anywhere between a half cup and three quarters of a cup. Add the seasoning packet that comes with the beef. If there is not a seasoning packet in your package, do not rinse the beef in the beginning. Pour a bottle or two of Guinness beer around the beef. Then add water to cover the beef. (I have heard that if you don't cover the meat, it will get bitter. I don't know if this is true but I'm not taking any chances) Let this cook on high for 6 hours or so. With two hours left in the cooking time, add the carrots, onion and potatoes. Don't add the cabbage until you are about 45 or 30 minutes out, unless you like mushy cabbage. I like my cabbage to still look like cabbage, so I wait till the last 30 minutes.

Just before you are ready to serve, take the beef out and let it sit a few minutes before you cut it across the grain. Enjoy!