Slainte: The Irish Wake
Nearly thirty-eight years ago an exuberant friend named Eddie burst into the office where I was working as assistant to a...
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In This Issue
Sláinte: Hail to the Chef
By Edythe Preet The secret of distilling spirits was brought to Ireland by fifth-century Mediterranean missionaries, Edythe Press informs us, while Darina Allen gives us a wonderful recipe for...
MoreSláinte! The Irish & the Oval
In 2020 you can safely bet that the biggest topic of news and conversation is going to be the presidential election. And until midsummer, the hottest sub-topic will be “Who will the Democrats...
MoreSláinte! An Irish Christmas with a Drop of Scottish
Head back to Kansas with Dorothy, fly to Never Never Land with Peter Pan, and read about the two writers that gave us these wonderful characters. ℘℘℘ By mid-November and we are solidly...
MoreSláinte! The Great October Fair
The Ballinasloe October Fair is one of the oldest fairs in Ireland. While now predominantly associated with horses, in its heyday it served as a market for the sale of cattle and sheep by...
MoreSláinte! Clean Green
Summer is in full bloom! The days are longer, and the light is brighter. But with the drapes pulled back, and sunshine illuminating the corners of every room, suddenly everything looks a little...
MoreSláinte!: The Lace Place
Imagine Ireland. What do you see? Patchwork green fields, stone walls, crystal streams, ancient ruins, horses…and lace. From manor house to country cottage, windows are draped with the delicate...
MoreSláinte! Rainy Day Comfort
“Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.” – Anonymous ℘℘℘ When people who live elsewhere than Los Angeles phone me and ask “How’s the...
MoreSláinte! Auld Lang Syne
With the New Year in mind, Edythe Preet writes about Robert Burns: Scotland’s Immortal Bard. ℘℘℘ In case any reader has ever wondered how a gal named Preet could claim Irish ancestry,...
MoreSláinte!: New Wave Greens
The therapeutic benefits of seawater and seaweed baths, as well as seaweed as an important food source, is explored by Edythe Preet. ℘℘℘ I’ve got this thing about immersing myself in water....
MoreSláinte!: Ahoy Me Hearties
Celebrate “Talk Like a Pirate Day” on September 19 by upping your knowledge of these Irish buccaneers of yonder years. Read on and ye’ll discover the Irish men and women who sailed the high...
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Music: The Food of Love
With Father’s Day in mind, our columnist writes about her own dad, “a true Irish bard.” ℘℘℘ I live with a disc jockey. No, not like one you’d find in a dance club, not at all. My jock...
MoreSláinte! Calling All Fools, Fairies, and Leprechauns
The history of April Fools’ Day and tricksters of folk mythology. ℘℘℘ April is full of surprises. When spring sunshine starts warming the earth, night can fall on a brown leafless landscape...
MoreSláinte! Flipping Over Pancake Tuesday
Once the winter holiday feasting frenzy ends, hundreds of ads bombard us with ways to lose weight. There is certainly a time to count calories, but then there is Fat Tuesday. Dieters beware. The two...
MoreSláinte! The Gentleman Who Pays the Rent
Edythe Preet’s first of a two-part series on the Irish pig. ℘℘℘ Whenever I travel to a place I have visited before, the first thing I do is make a beeline for a foodie treat found only...
MoreSláinte! All Hail the Humble Spud
Edythe Preet writes about Ireland’s relationship with its signature crop. ℘℘℘ Back in first grade, my “see Spot run” primer told how Dick and Jane grew potatoes in their backyard and...
MoreSláinte! My Own
Personal Seanchaí
Edythe Preet writes about her father’s love of literature and storytelling. ℘℘℘ June always finds me thinking about my father more than usual. It’s Father’s Day month, his birthday...
MoreSláinte! The Irish and their Horses
Irish horses are much more than the stuff of legend ℘℘℘ It is spring. The foals are being born. In their gawky, long-legged honor, I give you the saga of the Irish and their horses. It is a...
MoreSláinte! The Little Clover
Slainte columnist Edythe Preet explores the story behind Ireland’s national symbol. ℘℘℘ Telling anyone with even just one drop of Irish blood there’s no such thing as a shamrock would be...
MoreSláinte! The Joyous Season
Ireland’s ancient Christmas traditions and the magic of Newgrange. ℘℘℘ The winter holidays are a time to gather with family and friends, to share abundance, to feast, to reflect on joyful...
MoreSláinte! The Magic of Mushrooms
From fairy rings to the perfect Thanksgiving side dish, mushrooms have fascinated people since antiquity. ℘℘℘ Alert! Savvy insider grocery tip I’ve kept secret for several decades ahead!...
MoreSláinte! Women Rule
“I was elected by the women of Ireland who, instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system.” – Mary Robinson, President of Ireland, 1990 – 1997 ℘℘℘ When the 2016 presidential...
MoreSláinte! Heroes of the Revolution!
As St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated around the world, Edythe Preet looks to March 17, 1776, and the role the Irish played in America’s bid for freedom. ℘℘℘ Pop quiz: What color ink is used...
MoreSláinte! Everything’s Coming Up Ginger
Ireland is known for its redheads and also, Edythe Preet discovers, for its ginger lovers. So this Christmas, make some ginger cookies, grab a glass of milk, and settle down with J.P. Donleavy’s...
MoreSláinte! Birds of Celtic
Myths and Legend
In Irish folklore the raven was thought to be a messenger from the other world. ℘℘℘ Autumn is upon us. The leaves have gone gold and scarlet, night falls earlier, the air turns chill, and the...
MoreSláinte! Eat Your Veggies
While most people think of Ireland as a nation of “meat and potato” eaters, vegetables and dairy products are also a vital part of the Irish diet. One of my favorite Irish proverbs concerns...
MoreSláinte! Flower Power
The long days of summer are upon us, and gardens everywhere are in bloom. Admiring the pretty flowers will satisfy some, but Sláinte columnist, Edythe Preet, likes to eat her plants. Freshly picked...
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The Meat and Potatoes of Life
An Irish saying has it that “A dinner is not a dinner at all but only an excuse for one if it does not contain a plate of meat.” It’s a good bet that America’s penchant for “meat and...
MoreSláinte! Love Mór
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Edythe Preet gives us the story of Áine, the goddess of love, and star-crossed lovers – the warrior Diarmuid Ua and Gráinne, daughter of the High...
MoreSlainte! A Stitch in Time
Every year December swoops in with a blizzard of holiday parties. There are office parties, cookie trading parties, trim the tree parties, cocktail parties, secret Santa parties, and more. But the...
MoreSláinte: I Love Pie!
In one of my favorite movies – Michael, a tale of Michael the Archangel visiting earth to help a few folk find their way in life – a particularly sweet scene shows the central characters all...
MoreSláinte: Forty Shades of Green
Back in the nineties a friend’s gorgeous garden made me 40 envious shades of green. Then in 2002, I moved into a little 1950s bungalow with a big backyard that was choked with weeds, discarded bed...
MoreSláinte: Saint Patrick
It is perhaps a love of words that endears the Irish to Saint Patrick. Son of a West Britain Roman family, at age sixteen Patrick was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. Six...
MoreSláinte: Soup is ON!
It rained yesterday. That might not be a big thing in Ireland or New York where drenching downpours only generate brief comments from the weatherman. In Los Angeles even scattered showers are top...
MoreSláinte! Goblins, Ghosts and Ghoulies
When it comes to goblins, ghosts, and ghoulies, most folk – without a fluttering heartbeat’s hesitation – will name Transylvania as the epicenter for scary creatures of the night. There’s...
MoreSláinte! Music, Music, Music
Edythe Preet writes that music defines Ireland’s identity. For every country there is an iconic image that immediately brings the nation to mind. The United States has the Statue of Liberty....
MoreSláinte! Mother Earth
Edythe Preet writes of the many reasons why Ireland is called the Motherland. Civilization began when hunter-gatherers learned to cultivate grain and evolved into permanent agricultural communities....
MoreSláinte! Forty Shades of Red
Brigid – Ireland’s red-haired saint – was one of history’s liberated women. Everyone knows that in Ireland one will encounter “forty shades of green.” Lesser realized is that another band...
MoreSláinte! Irish Glass: It’s Crystal Clear
Just before midnight on December 31, 2012, hordes of people will be crunched together like so many sardines in the icy cold midwinter streets surrounding New York City’s Times Square. They will be...
MoreSláinte! Where’s the Beef?
Bird or game, it’s all about carving against the grain, writes Edythe Preet, Irish Heritage Kitchen chef and Sláinte columnist. An old Irish saying has it that “A dinner is not a dinner at all...
MoreSláinte! Land of a Thousand Welcomes
How the tradition of hospitality to strangers has its roots in an ancient law. ℘℘℘ For more than a thousand years Ireland was regulated by the Brehon Laws. Here are a few of my favorite...
MoreSláinte! Ireland: It’s the Berries!
If you ever visit Ireland during the month of June, it’s tempting to maximize summer’s daylight hours and ramble until the sun goes down. Not a good idea. In the island’s northern latitude,...
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The Fast & The Feast
How Ireland perfected the journey from abstinent Lent to the celebratory feast of Easter. Throughout the history of Western civilization, spring’s arrival was always a time for feasting and gaiety....
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Wine: Another Irish Triumph
The legacy of the Celts in Ireland and how, in the absence of grapes, they used their wine making skills to create a honey-wine. Odds are, you’re familiar with the fact that beer, stout and whiskey...
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New Year – A Time of Big Portions Edythe Preet, Irish America columnist, Jan 2012 Who needs Hocus Pocus when we have global positioning satellite systems, cell phones, ipods, and full-body...
MoreSláinte! The Night of Cakes
No Christma-a-as! No Christma-a-as!” Such was the town crier’s chant in the streets of 17th-century Dublin when Ireland felt the hammer blow of Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan iron fist. Garlands of...
MoreSláinte! Feile Na Marbh – the origins of Halloween
Slainte! Columnist Edythe Preet explores how Feile Na Marbh or “Feast of the Dead” became Halloween- with recipes That which we know as All Hallows Eve actually began as a harvest...
MoreSláinte: Oysters Galore
Edythe Preet explores the history of Ireland’s favorite bivalve, from Mesolithic times to today’s Galways Oyster Festival. Opening an oyster can be a daunting task. Those little critters...
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Dublin, City of Literature
Edythe Preet on the history and influence of Dublin, and James Joyce-centric recipes. ℘℘℘ When I was young, my father’s oft-repeated favorite riddle was: What is the richest country in the...
MoreSláinte! Trees, Tea and ESP
Edythe Preet explores ancient traditions of fortune telling and explains how to see the future in a cup of tea. My Irish grandmother, Margaret McCaffrey, was a psychic. “Pooh! Not possible,” you...
MoreSlainte! Alive, Alive-Oh!
Dublin’s iconic Molly Malone statue Lately, I’ve been craving oysters, crab, and mussels. I could write it off to the fact that I keep seeing rafts of the succulent treats on shopping forays....
MoreSlainte! Ireland’s Viking Heritage
Edythe Preet looks at the legacy of the Vikings in Ireland, including influences that linger in Irish winter holiday celebrations. One day while searching for I can’t remember what in my foot-thick...
MoreSláinte!: Feasting with the Angels
Pop quiz: what’s the most popular Irish boy’s name? Odds are, the first one that came to mind was Patrick. Wrong. While Saint Patrick is Ireland’s patron, his name comes in at #18. Go ahead,...
MoreSláinte: The Bread of Life!
Many scholars contend that our prehistoric ancestors gave up their hunting-and-gathering lifestyle once they learned how to bake bread. Although there is evidence that barley was sown and harvested...
MoreSláinte!: Irish Cowgirls and Award-winning Cheesemakers
My friend Vickie’s face blossoms with one of those secret smiles when I tell her she’s a cheesy broad. Truth of the matter is, she’s a cheese guru who, given the slightest opportunity, will...
MoreSláinte: A Winter’s Tale
Just because I live in Los Angeles doesn’t mean I’m an Angeleno. Natives here love that it’s sunny and quasi-summer all year long. Not me. Locals think I’m crazy. Crazy like a fox, I say....
MoreSláinte: Rest in Peace Ted Kennedy
As my sophomore year of high school began in 1960, the country was buzzing with the coming election. An Irish American was running for president! My Irish relatives rallied to the call and even my...
MoreSláinte!: Bless the Buttie!
When autumn arrives, trees turn shades of ochre, orange and scandalous scarlet, scents of wood smoke waft on the suddenly chill air, and I am annually reminded of my first trip to Ireland. It was...
MoreSláinte!: Irish Wedding Traditions
Just when I think I have my dad all figured out, a new snippet of info comes to light, and June always finds me thinking more about him than usual. It’s Father’s Day month, his birthday was the...
MoreSláinte!: The Tree of Life
Though I am at most times a mild-mannered pacifist, last week I had a meltdown. But I had a good reason. I was fighting to save a tree. Every winter since moving into my Fifties Bungalow in 2002, I...
MoreSláinte!: Runny Honey
One day last summer while inspecting the progress of my vegetable plants, I heard something that sounded like a giant cell phone on vibrator setting. Turning in the direction of the noise and peering...
MoreSláinte!: Penny Wise & Tasty Too
As I sit and write this during the global economic meltdown of October 2008, I admit to getting tired of listening to all the pundits predict that 2009 is going to be a humdinger of a financial...
MoreSláinte!: All Hail the Humble Spud!
Back in first grade my See Spot Run primer told how Dick and Jane grew potatoes in their backyard and roasted them in an autumn leaf bonfire. If those kids can do that, I thought, so can I. Mom...
MoreSláinte!: Dancing at Lughnasa
Of all the months of the year, only August has no “official” holiday. That’s poor marketing if you ask me. Holidays generate more “stimulus” to the economic calendar than...
MoreSláinte!: Holy Wells
The sacred nature of water was revered by our ancestors for its healing powers. It always amuses me when a phone call with someone on the East Coast includes the question: “How’s the weather in...
MoreSláinte!: A Charmed Life
My friend Michael says he has a charming mother. He hastens to add: “I know you think we all do, but my mother has charms other than the ones on her gold bracelet. She has the ability to stop...
MoreSláinte!: Ireland Conquers The World
Pining for a pint of stout, an earful of blarney, and a toe-tapping fiddle tune but find yourself far removed from the Emerald Isle? Fret not. Edythe Preet has the answer. Be ye in an off-island...
MoreSláinte!: Ballinasloe’s Great October Fair
An Irish adage advises: Go East for a woman; go West for a horse. When I was a girl I had a bicycle. I wanted a horse. That was not in the cards for this city child, so I named my bike Lightening and...
MoreSláinte!: Go, Big Fan, Go
I don’t watch much television. Mainly because, despite the hundreds of channels, the menu is mostly repeats. Every so often, however, something extraordinary airs and I become (dare I admit it?) a...
MoreSláinte!: Comfort & Coincidence
A Wedding Day and Bloomsday Coincide Coincidences never cease to amaze me. Once is, well, coincidence. Twice, will earn a ‘hmmm.’ Three times, sends the eyebrows soaring. But when something...
MoreSlainte: The Irish Wake
Nearly thirty-eight years ago an exuberant friend named Eddie burst into the office where I was working as assistant to a Hollywood producer commanding, “Come with me right now. I want to introduce...
MoreSláinte! Irish Tree Tales
From space, Earth resembles a big beautiful marble with swirling patterns of blue (oceans), white (clouds), and green (trees). As global warming makes weekly headlines, we are warned of the dire...
MoreSee You in September
Americans vacation in July. Europeans do it in August. No one goes anywhere in September. During the peak summer months, regardless of continent, the shops are crowded, the beaches are jammed,...
MoreSláinte!: A Peck of Pickled Peppers
When I set out this year’s veggie garden, it never occurred to me that 6 eggplants, 5 peppers, 4 cucumbers, 6 string beans, 3 zucchini, and 8 tomato plants, plus a few 4-inch pots of herbs,...
MoreChef Doherty’s Unconventional Fare
An Irish American chef will be responsible for feeding some 30,000 Democrats. ℘℘℘ It’s a big year for Boston. For the first time in U.S. history, the city will be hosting a presidential...
MoreSlainte: The Queen of Flowers
One Sunny June afternoon several years ago, I stood on a Wicklow cliff overlooking the Irish Sea. All around me, mounds of wild roses covered the ground. No genetically crafted sterile blooms were...
MoreSláinte: Four & Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie
Just recently I moved into a little house with a large front lawn and a very large back yard. All needed some tender loving care. The house, a darling early fifties bungalow constructed during...
MoreSláinte! When an Apple is Ripe, it Will Fall
Several years ago after a rigorous day of exploring County Laois, I pulled into a pub for a well-deserved pick-me-up pint. It was a wee bit early for the local drinking crowd and the long bar held...
MoreSláinte! The Hedgerow Harvest
On my second trip to Ireland half a dozen years ago, a fellow passenger in the Aer Lingus jumbo asked me, “Do you know what happened when St. Patrick got rid of all the snakes?” I took...
MoreSláinte! Rhubarb:
The Sweet & Sour of Irish Pies
Often when I sit down to write Sláinte! I find myself ruminating about my Dad’s favorite foods, which writing this ongoing series has revealed to me are almost always directly related to the...
MoreSláinte! Oats:
The Original Comfort Food
Call me crazy, but oatmeal cookies have never had a spot on my favorite foods list. They’re too sweet. I prefer my oats prepared in such a way that I can really taste the full nutty flavor. I...
MoreSláinte: Christmas Is Coming & The Goose Is Getting Fat
Christmas is one of those words that immediately brings thoughts to mind. First, and foremost in these troubled times, is the hope for peace on earth. Hard on the heels of our heartfelt sentiments...
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The Irish Roots of Halloween
Ask anyone to name five favorite holidays, and it’s a sure bet Halloween will be on the list. Then ask how the celebration came to be. More than likely you’ll be told Halloween means All...
MoreSláinte! The Feast of Lughnasa
The most joyous event of the Celtic year is Lughnasa (August 1), the beginning of the annual harvest. The Celtic calendar was structured on nature’s agricultural cycle and great festivals...
MoreSláinte! Midsummer’s Eve: St. John’s Day
One of summer’s finest gifts is its long hours of sunshine. This is especially true the farther one travels from the equator where a midwinter’s night is so long that only a few hours of...
MoreSláinte! The Ubiquitous Egg
In the 13th century when theologians were arguing how many angels could stand on the head of a pin, Thomas Aquinas, an inquisitive scholar of the Dominican Order of Friars, posed the famous...
MoreSláinte! Goddess Meets Groundhog
Time passes and things change. As people migrate from nation to nation around the earth, they may leave the land of their birth behind, but their travel gear is packed chock full of tradition. No...
MoreSlainte! The History of Soup
Come fall, the days grow shorter, temperatures drop, and trees shed their leaves. Just as certainly, as soon as there’s a chill in the air and a hint of winter weather creeps onto the scene,...
MoreSláinte! Irish
Eats Down Under
Regular readers have probably deduced I’m a boomer – a member of that generation born after WWII when the troops came home. Along with more than one hundred thousand other Americans, my Da...
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Ireland – The Lace Place
A love of lace is woven into the fabric of Irish life. ℘℘℘ Perhaps my favorite possession is my mother’s trousseau chest. Treasure chest is more apt since it’s filled with...
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