Please, oh please, tell me if anyone out there can relate! So you may know that Sunday we enjoyed company for Sunday Dinner. Well, allow me to rephrase that…we didn’t enjoy THEM as our Sunday dinner, we enjoyed Sunday Dinner WITH them! There, that’s better! As you may or may not know, I decided to make a good old Irish meal (could you hear my attempt at an Irish accent just then?) I enjoyed getting my home ready for company and cooking all of my favorite Irish comfort foods. I made Spotted Dog, an Irish bread similar to Irish Soda Bread, but added lemon zest and dried currants (not called Irish Soda bread-Spotted Dog…got it…thanks, Danny, for the clarification…smile), a large pot of Corned Beef and Cabbage complete with a Portuguese twist, a smoked sausage called Chourico, which flavored the broth so nicely, and of course some Shortbread served with authentic Irish Tea, generously given to me by my dear friend Brid, a true Irish bombshell!

We thoroughly enjoyed the company of our friends, our dinner and the games we played. After saying goodnight, I thanked God for our dear friends, the food and another wonderful day and then headed off for a good night’s rest. Monday morning came around. I spent the morning with a cup of tea and enjoyed a piece of homemade pumpkin pie made with real roasted pumpkin that our dear friend, Danae, made! I sat relaxing in my pajamas when I heard the doorbell.

Oh no, it’s Monday! Alex’s geography class is here! My youngest son, Alexander, teaches a geography class every Monday. How could I forget? As Alex welcomed his students I ran into my bathroom! After a very quick shower, I threw on my comfy jeans, a black sweatshirt and my sneakers which now contain custom orthotics…oh brother…really? yes, really! I better get used to these! Hair barely combed and still soaking wet, my face, completely naturelle, lacking even a touch of makeup, but I was washed and dressed! Okay, so that wasn’t so bad? I sat and enjoyed a cup of tea and some leftover Irish bread with the moms. Who needs to be primped and perfected anyway? Not me! I’m good just in jeans and a sweatshirt! Aaahhh, that felt good! (My attempt at consolation!)

Around 11:45, fifteen minutes before Alex’s class would conclude, I was on the telephone with my sponsors asking a question. Garner TV and Appliance are the sponsors of the Cooking with Elise segment seen on the My Carolina Today show on NBC 17. Rita asked, “Elise, I’m surprised you chose to call me with this question, do you not know that I am on my way to home right now with the head of the Garner Education Board? You could have just spoken to me about this after our lunch.” I replied, “Excuse me, you guys are headed HERE…NOW?” she replied, “Oh no, you didn’t forget, did you, Elise?” God bless, Rita, who tried to console me and offered to bring lunch or meet me somewhere! How could I turn these ladies away-no way! My grandmother and parents did not raise me that way! Oh dear! I said, “No worries, Rita, just come!” I quickly hung up and asked God for help! : – )

How could I have forgotten about this lunch? These nice ladies were on their way to MY HOME for a special lunch meeting to discuss a future Battle of the Chefs fundraiser! Oh dear! Did you happen to see the episode where I Love Lucy prepares for unexpected company? Well, you should have seen me move into action. Within ten minutes I turned my leftover Corned Beef and Cabbage into a soup (my grandmother and mother always told me NEVER to throw the broth away…had this happened to them once? LOL) , made some dough, rolled out my scones and threw them in the oven! Irish scones together in five minutes? Surprisingly enough…it’s doable! Amazing what one can do under pressure!

The doorbell rang and there before me stood lovely ladies nicely dressed, with beautiful faces, jewelry… and there I was, completely unkempt in my old, comfy jeans, no makeup at all, hair barely combed, and oh yes, the black sweatshirt which was now covered in well, flour!

I felt sweaty as I walked to the door…must have been the running around! I welcomed my guests, we sat and enjoyed lunch, had our meeting, fellowshipped a bit, walked them to the door, waved goodbye like I always do, and then closed the door, took a deep breath and thanked God for the food from the night before, the ability and grace only He could have provided, the lovely ladies who truly understood and the opportunities to serve Him! God bless my sponsors for putting up with me!

Recipe for my Corned Beef and Cabbage http://cookingwithelise.net/recipes/corned-beef-and-cabbage/

To make the soup, simply drain the broth. Chop up any leftovers from the pot and add to the broth. Add a little pasta if you’d like, but I like it with all of the potatoes, meat and vegetable.