Black and Green

You may forgive me to come back to Saint Patrick's Day. It was only yesterday and I haven't completely taken it out of my heart and mind until next year. It is my favourite holiday this time of year. Anyway, yesterday on social media, I was sharing this picture from 2015, with the pint of Guinness and the disgusting looking pint of lager with green colouring. I first saw green coloured beer in Montreal, I found it disgusting then, I find it disgusting now. So I wrote: "General principle on Saint Patrick's Day: wear green, drink black. (No but seriously, who thought green beer was a good idea?)" I think it deserves to be a great unknown line.

Guinness: Out of Stock

It is Saint Patrick's Day in less than a week and I haven't really prepared for it. But this post is sort of about Saint Paddy's. Last Sunday, we stopped briefly at the local Travelodge. The place was empty but for one staff member, we thought about staying for a quick drink and a snack, but we decided against it, because the one staff member there was pretty much ignoring us. But this sight caught my attention: they were out of Guinness. Even though the place was, like I said, empty. Just like the barrel, I guess. This is not good. The Travelodge is maybe the nearest drinking place. It's nothing fancy and I never actually drank there, but for a quick pint on St Paddy's, it would actually be perfect. I guess I will have to either go further, or buy myself a can. Still, this is a sorry sight.

Preparing Saint Patrick's Day

 I took this picture last time we went to Marlow. One of their high street's pubs, the Duke of Clarence, was already advertising for Saint Patrick's Day. Now that's a pub after my own heart! Preparing for Saint Paddy's more than a month in advance. And it looks like they are starting the celebrations with a brunch, so they will start drinking before noon. How perfectly Irish. I am not sure if I will be around there come the time, but short of a typical Irish pub (how I miss the one we used to have), this might be the next best thing. Time to start planning, anyway.

Guinness and Patience

 I have a painful confession to make: during our holidays in Belfast, I barely drank any Guinness. That said, while it was my go-to beer when I was in my twenties, I seldom drink Guinness nowadays, except on Saint Paddy's. But there were plenty of other brands of beer to drink (I will come back to them in future posts) and well, so little time. But drinking Guinness I did: the very last day, waiting for our flight. Only half a pint, which is shameful, but I would rather not drink too much when traveling. So I err on the side of caution. The barmaid took my order, filled the glass, twice, to let the beer set. I am not expect on Guinness' pouring method, but she sums it up like this: "You need to have patience with a Guinness." Which deserves to be a new great unknown line. "Good things come to those who wait," as their old advertisement slogan said. I will keep that in mind next time I drink one.

Saint Paddy's Day

Let's start with, well, how we must start today: happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! To my Irish readers, if there are any, and to any reader among you who may have some Irish blood. Which I may or may not have, my family history is kind of muddled up. But in any case, I looove Ireland. I will celebrate listening to Irish music and drinking (well of course) Guinness. I had this one last night, in preparation to today's celebrations. I usually drink it this time of year, but it used to be my poison of choice in my youth.

The many names of Guinness

I found this meme about Guinness a few weeks ago. In less than a month, it will be Saint Paddy's, so might as well share it now, before I forget. Guinness used to be my poison of choice about 20 years ago, ex aequo with real ales. I only drink it round the 17th of March now. But anyway, I thought this meme was quite educational. I particularly like Irish champagne and soup. And you, what's your favourite name for a pint of Guinness?

The Guinness Cake gentrified

 Looking in my old pictures, I found out one that my wife took years ago in a restaurant. It was the very first piece she had of Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness cake.The one we made last week for Saint Paddy's. That is how much we loved it: she even took a picture of her dessert. I am surprised it took us that long to make one ourselves. Presented like this, with chocolate sauce and a thicker icing, the cake looks way fancier than our version, somewhat gentrified, but I think I prefer our homemade one.

The Guinness Cake

I blogged on the 14th of March about Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness cake. Well, my wife baked one so we ate it for  Saint-Patrick's Day. And for the day before, because we could not wait and because it is oh so very edible. The presentation was not perfect, she had to make two smaller cakes instead of a tall one that would look like a pint of Guinness, the icing was a bit liquid, but it still looked pretty good. And it tasted absolutely yummy. We just need to wait a bit longer until it cools down before adding the icing on. I am very tempted to have this as my birthday cake.

A Guinness Cake for Saint Paddy's

 I haven't blogged about the upcoming Saint-Patrick's Day yet, which is a bit of a shame, as it is one of my best holidays. That doesn't mean we are not preparing it. I say we, as this year my wife took the initiative with a great idea. For many of us, myself included, Saint Paddy's means drinking Guinness. Well, she suggested that we bake Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guinness cake. We never made one, but enjoyed it a few times in cafés and restaurants. It is just so delicious. We bought alcohol free Guinness so Wolfie can have some too. We might fail miserably, but even if it looks terrible, it should be edible.

St Paddy's Day

Well, it is that day int he year again and I must start this post by a word: happy Saint-Patrick's Day everyone, to all my readers but especially my Irish readers (if there are any). Today I will drink Guinness, even though it is a weekday (I generally don't drink alcohol on a working day, it shows how much of a special occasion this is) and I will listen to a lot of Irish music. I might share some here. No visit at the pub, for obvious reasons (and we do not have a local Irish pub anymore anyway, sadly). I don't pretend to be Irish and I am not a Plastic Paddy, but I do know that some of my ancestors were Ulster Scots and my wife has some Irish blood, so I do have some connection to Ireland. I would like to think it makes my enjoyment of that celebration at least somewhat legit.

Black Velvet

So it is Saint Paddy's Day very soon, so I bought some Guinness for the 17th. But in the meantime, I thought I would try something new, at least new to me, and see if I liked it. I don't know if you have ever heard of the Black Velvet. It is a cocktail made of campagne (or another fizzy wine) and Guinness. A very improbable mix, come to think of it. But I have been curious about ot since I have known of its existence, so I bought some Prosecco and yesterday mixed it with a Guinness. I am not sure if I had the right proportions, so I did a 50/50 ratio. It does taste unusual, like a sparkling Guinness, if that makes sense. But it does taste nice. That said, for Saint Paddy's, I will stick to the iconic stout.

Who was Saint Patrick?

First and foremost: happy Saint-Patrick's Day everyone, but especially any Irishman reading this! (You never know). I know it happens in a difficult time, but let's try to celebrate, at least virtually. I intend to drink some Guinness, if I am not too tired. If I am too tired, well, I drank that one on Sunday in anticipation. Not in a pub, for obvious reasons. And yes, I poured it badly and the picture is horrible. But here it is anyway. I don't drink Guinness very often anymore, only around March, which is a shame. It is nice and filling and perfect for pretty much any day, as long as it is not too hot. And to start the day, I thought I would share a video about the story (or rather the legend) of Saint Patrick himself. I found it quite interesting.

Dicey Reilly

Well, Saint Patrick's Day is not over yet, so let's celebrate, at least on this here blog, the lovely country that is Ireland. This is the one and only Guinness I've had today, such is the life of a father. But please feel free to have more and enjoy Irish music, hopefully in a pub, if not then at home. I have been listening to a lot of it today and tonight. Here is a famous one which I wanted to share tonight, called Dicey Reilly, about a lady of ill repute who is also an alcoholic. It is a proper drinking song. It is here performed by the Dubliners. It is the version of the late Ronnie Drew, and his low, raspy voice and attitude alone are worth the price of the ticket.

This year's Saint Patrick's Day

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! I hope everybody is enjoying it, hopefully with a good pint of Guinness, like I did earlier on today. Sadly, our local Irish pub is gone, so I had to take it in one of the many, mundane English (shudder) pub. But I should not complain: Saint Paddy's Day truly is a celebration of the Irish diaspora and expats. Although I would give a lot to celebrate in Ireland itself, once in my life. Funny little anecdote: we know for sure that little Wolfie does have some Irish blood, from his maternal grandmother's side, whose grandmother was a bona fide Irish. This is far remote and we cannot claim that we truly are Irish, but that makes him one of the 60 millions people with an Irish ancestry. One of his aunts (my wife of my wife's brother) is Irish, and her daughter (Wolfie's cousin) now has Irish citizenship and passport. So our link with Ireland is stronger than one may think. That said, I don't want to make to overplay it. I love Ireland, but I want to avoid becoming a Plastic Paddy (see my recent posts on the subject). So I end this post with The Simpsons' take on Saint Patrick's Day. It is silly, full of clichés and stereotypes, very Plastic Paddyish, but hilarious all the same.

Guinness time

It has been more difficult to fully celebrate Saint Paddy's Day this year: lousy weather made us stay home, and with a young child I had to moderate myself in every way. That said, I could not celebrate without one obligatory Guinness. One pint, no more, in the afternoon. This is all I had. I enjoyed it fully. In fact, drinking it I was struck by something: I had forgotten how good a stout is, all smooth, creamy, filling. It used to be my poison for all year round or almost, when I started living in the UK. Guinness was the companion of many drunken nights, and many days of hangovers... Because Guinness is a merciless beer for hangovers. All the same, I still love it.

No, nay, never, no more...

Happy St-Paddy's Day everyone! And to all of you especially who have Irish blood and spirit (or Irish spirits in the blood). This was the one and only pint of Guinness I had to celebrate. Because I am a father now, I must behave. There used to be a time, I was far wilder and enthusiastic and this dark beer made me nurse many cases of Irish flu the next day. So of course this song is in order for tonight. This is the story of my wild youth and it is one I always listen to on St Paddy's. As for this pint of Guinness, my wife had a sip, which surprised me greatly, as she dislikes beer, dark ones most of all. I guess one cannot escape the Irish spirit, even an Englishwoman. And Wolfie looked longingly at it. He's my son all right.

Time for a Guinness

It is going to be Saint Patrick's Day soon, this Friday in fact. Usually, it would mean that I'd go to the local Irish pub to celebrate. Not this year, as I will go straight home to be with my family. That said, I want to celebrate Ireland and the Irish people so I already bought a four pack of Guinness. I drank this one last Saturday. It's not the same and it certainly will not have the same atmosphere as in a proper, authentic Irish pub, but it will do. It will at least be better than last year, when I was sick.

Farewell to the local Irish pub

Well, here is another piece of bad news I have learned recently: the local Irish pub will soon close. It will be replaced by... yet another gastropub. That truly sucks. Where am I supposed to truly enjoy a pint of Guinness now? More importantly: where am I supposed to celebrate St-Patrick's Day now? It was THE place to be on that day, full of genuine atmosphere and so warm and welcoming. In fact, it was truly Irish in that way, it was a warm and welcoming pub any other day too. Oh and the many memorabilias that made it so unique (and example here). I feel like we really lost a great gathering place.

"Guinness is good for you"

I took this picture in Devon, in the old train station at Buckfastleigh. An old Guinness advert, which is of course my beer of predilection on St Paddy's Day. But this year, a nasty cold forced me to take antibiotics. Which means I will not drink alcohol. Dry on Saint Patrick's Day.I don't drink Guinness much anymore, in fact I almost exclusively drink it today. But I do want to enjoy a pint or two, it is one of the few things I do to celebrate Ireland. But tonight, there will be no Guinness, no Jameson, no trip to the local Irish pub. At least I have the Irish music, but even that is more enjoyable with a pint of Guinness. Maybe I should forget about the medication and just drink one. After all, it gives me strength. It's good for me.

Telenn Du

Je regardais mes photos et je suis tombé sur celle-ci de la dernière Telenn Du que j'ai bue, lors de mon dernier voyage en Bretagne. L'un des fers de lance (si je peux m'exprimer ainsi) de la Brasserie Lancelot. La France n'est pas exactement reconnue pour ses bières, étant un pays de buveurs de vin, mais en Bretagne ils ont vraiment de bons brassages. La Telenn Du est encore plus inattendue, étant une bière noire à base de sarrasin. C'est une stout bien celtique et un incontournable brassicole lorsque je vais en Bretagne. Peu de gens aiment la bière noire de nos jours, paraît-il. Ils ne savent pas ce qu'ils manquent.