Why St Patrick's Day Is Hard For Me...
Every year my family would go out to get some yummy corned beef and cabbage on St Patrick's Day, if the place served green beer, all the better! This was a great tradition until March 17th, 2005.
That was the year that only my husband and I went, Mom and Pop stayed home because he thought he was coming down with a cold.
He didn't have a cold. He had a massive heart attack that night and passed away. They said it was so bad that if he was in an Emergency Room, they couldn't have saved him.
=(
Pop wasn't my real father...he was my third one.
My birth father had died many years before, my Stepfather adopted me when he married my mother, but had a new family as they divorced and he remarried. Let's just say he was a MUCH better Dad to the new crop of kids...
Then came Pop. Husband #3.
Pop was warm, loving and a fixture in my life for over 10 years...and he gave the best hugs! He would have ADORED our daughter - he was there for our entire journey to be parents and sobbed with us when fertility efforts failed. She would have been even more spoiled than she is... He was a master welder who built amazing mini tractors that a child could ride -- she would have had a whole fleet, LOL!
I think of my husband and I toasting that day, with our green beer, and having the best dinner around (at the VFW in Sun Prairie)...while Pop's body was giving out. We know now that heart attacks can present early symptoms that seem like a chest cold.
I still am not ready to go out for Corned Beef, but WILL make it at home. It really is VERY easy to do - if you have a crock pot!
Start with just your meat in the crock pot, on low, overnight. Let it cook and tenderize while you sleep - I guarantee you that you will wake up to a heavenly smell!
In the morning, remove the meat from the crock pot, but not the juice.
Put your hard veggies in that juice first; carrots, potatoes, rutabagas, turnips, etc. 
Now top it with your cabbage wedges
NOW, put the meat back on top, with the fatty side down.
Let it rip on low for a few more hours, until the veggies are tender and you will have a flavorful meal that melts in your mouth!
Make sure you save some corned beef to make home made corned beef hash (recipe coming)! Mine is almost ready to eat...
Until then - I miss you Pop!
That was the year that only my husband and I went, Mom and Pop stayed home because he thought he was coming down with a cold.
He didn't have a cold. He had a massive heart attack that night and passed away. They said it was so bad that if he was in an Emergency Room, they couldn't have saved him.
=(
Pop wasn't my real father...he was my third one.
My birth father had died many years before, my Stepfather adopted me when he married my mother, but had a new family as they divorced and he remarried. Let's just say he was a MUCH better Dad to the new crop of kids...
Then came Pop. Husband #3.
Pop was warm, loving and a fixture in my life for over 10 years...and he gave the best hugs! He would have ADORED our daughter - he was there for our entire journey to be parents and sobbed with us when fertility efforts failed. She would have been even more spoiled than she is... He was a master welder who built amazing mini tractors that a child could ride -- she would have had a whole fleet, LOL!
I think of my husband and I toasting that day, with our green beer, and having the best dinner around (at the VFW in Sun Prairie)...while Pop's body was giving out. We know now that heart attacks can present early symptoms that seem like a chest cold.
I still am not ready to go out for Corned Beef, but WILL make it at home. It really is VERY easy to do - if you have a crock pot!
Start with just your meat in the crock pot, on low, overnight. Let it cook and tenderize while you sleep - I guarantee you that you will wake up to a heavenly smell!
In the morning, remove the meat from the crock pot, but not the juice.
Put your hard veggies in that juice first; carrots, potatoes, rutabagas, turnips, etc. 
Now top it with your cabbage wedges
NOW, put the meat back on top, with the fatty side down.
Let it rip on low for a few more hours, until the veggies are tender and you will have a flavorful meal that melts in your mouth!Make sure you save some corned beef to make home made corned beef hash (recipe coming)! Mine is almost ready to eat...
Until then - I miss you Pop!
Pop sounded like an incredible man. I'm glad you have the memories to remind you of him and hope one day you're able to go out for Corned beef again : ) Happy St. Patrick's Day
ReplyDeleteWe miss him too. My parents have one of his tractors. He was a great Uncle and your Mom brought out the best of him. My Dad loved to see them coming up the driveway with those little dogs of theirs. Enjoy your dinner, I'm sure hes looking after Sarah, and wishing he could give her a 1000 tractors, green of course! Give your mom a hug from the Liverseeds, She was not only good to pops but also Grandma. Hugs
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