Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Irish Potatoes Revisited

I'm not into the whole St. Patrick's Day thing. There are so many things I'd rather eat than boiled meat and cabbage. I was never pinched for my refusal to wear green. An Irish boyfriend's mother once sent a soda bread to our house and boy that shit's the worst ever. It shouldn't even be called bread. There are a lot of cultures with much better food we could celebrate. How do we go about promoting them?

So, it was for Cathy and not the holiday that I made Irish potatoes. When I dissed them--and I dissed them because they're inherently weird not because of the taste--she told me I needed to try homemade ones, and sent me her grandmother's recipe. So I made them. She's right! The homemade are way better than storebought. Even the dude likes them...no loves them, and he doesn't really like sweets.

Cathy has given me permission to share this recipe with you. You should make it.

Cathy's Grandmother's Irish Potatoes
2 boxes 10x sugar (confectioner's sugar, powdered sugar, icing sugar)
4 oz. butter softened
4 oz. cream cheese softened
1/2 cup coconut (optional)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Cinnamon

Keep a little bit of 10x separate
Mix everything else in a bowl with hands
Roll into bite-size balls
Mix 10x with cinnamon until it resembles the color of potatoes
Roll balls in cinnamon
Chill the candies, but let them soften a little before you eat them

Speaking of grandmothers, mine retired recently and made the front cover of the hometown newspaper (not sure how long this story will be available). You can also hear her--and her wicked New Hampshah accent--if you click on the little slideshow. And you should. You will see that she gets way more into holidays than I do. But that's a bartender's lot. Or a grandmother's. You decide.

PS. If you can't get the link to Swirlygig to work, try clicking here.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think I love your grandmother :)

Deb said...

Your grandmother sounds like a great person!!! And I just might have to try the recipe - I think my kids would like them.

glamlawlib said...

Wow, your grandmother rocks! Get that woman a martini now!

It always tickles me how St. Patrick's Day is so big in the US and not so much in the UK.

Jacque said...

I definitely love your grandmother...you are so lucky to have someone with so much spunk and personality in your life! : )

Diane (di) said...

Yum! Let's see... sugar, cinnamon, cream cheese and butter. I think I'm lovin' your grandmother, too. :)

Anonymous said...

Faughty yeahs...well God Bless ah as my Grammy used to say. Thanks for sharing the story.

Patricia Lessell said...

I think there is now way I am trying that recipe with 3 diabetics (including me the fake one cause I'm not on insulin) in the house. But thanks for the recipe anyway. Now I can just drool. Lots of Love Patti xxx

Casa Pearl said...

Your grandma rocks! How cool is she? I hope she enjoys her retirement and her free martini's on Thursdays at the club.

Anonymous said...

That's a great story about Maggie Gill. Did you make it to the pahty?

dd

doris said...

Grandmas are the best. Yours sounds about as feisty as mine was. Just think of the great genes you have! Thanks for sharing her.

Anonymous said...

Nice feature on your grandma. Congrats to her!

Thanks for the new link to "Swirlygig." I like the idea of your challenge, but the links in your last post didn't work for me. All fixed now. It's printed and ready to go.

mainely stitching said...

I'd retire for free martinis,too. LOL. Oh, she's a house afire - thanks so much for providing the link. I even turned my mute button off to enjoy her little speech. How I miss the accents of home!

Now as for that recipe. Two boxes of 10 units of sugar, as in 20 units of sugar? Good grief!

Thanks for the Swirlygig link - this one worked fine and I've saved it.

Anna van Schurman said...

To clarify the recipe: it's 2 lbs of confectioners sugar. Cathy's grandmother called it 10x sugar and if you look on the bag of powdered sugar, it does say that. Confectioner's sugar can be 4x or 10x, this recipe calls for 10x.

Jennifer said...

Your grandmother is a riot!

And I maintain, if you think you don't like corned beef and cabbage, you've never tried mine. It's probably my most favorite meal of the year.

Coni said...

OK, we already knew you were the coolest chick in the room....now we know from when you get it! Thanks for sharing the story about your grandmother...she is simply sublime!