Corned Beef and Cabbage and a Mystery!

I had a  very hard time writing this post, because the words weren't coming, and my mind is on the victims and families of the horrific disasters that have happened in Japan. How can I write about a happy holiday here, when I can't even imagine what it is like in Japan at this moment. My heart and prayers go out to the people of Japan.  I have a widget at the top left of my page, if you want to donate.  Thank you!  I just feel so helpless, and want to contribute in a small way.

We always make a Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner around St. Patrick's Day, so we made one yesterday. I am usually able to find low sodium corned beef, but not this year.  I had to settle for the regular corned beef, with all of that sodium, so I only bought a small piece, but is was very lean, except for the fat around the top, which I cut off.  We put the corned beef in a pot on the stove and simmered until tender We love carrots, so we put in a whole bag of carrots, red potatoes " B" size, and a small head of cabbage . This is Scott's plate, he likes cabbage, me not so much.

                                                     

Now, for the mystery.  What is in this glass?  It's green and has bubbles. You don't have to necessarily drink it  for St Patrick's Day, because it is green all of the time. You can buy this, it isn't something that you make. You might be showing your age if, you know what this is.  Give up?

It's Green River soda!!! I'm probably showing my age, but I can remember going to the corner drugstore, sitting at the soda fountain, and ordering a Green River. I could have ordered a Vanilla Coke, a Chocolate Coke, a Cherry Coke, or if your were really brave, you get a Suicide Coke.  A suicide coke was a mixture of all the flavors of Coke. For those of you who don't know about Green River soda,  it's even on Wikipedia!  What would we go without Google and Wikipedia?  According to Wikipedia, Green River Soda was first manufactured in 1919 by a brewery in Chicago, as a nonn-alcholic Prohibition drink.  Once Prohibition ended, Green River fell out of favor. It was later a soda  fountain drink in the 60's.  Maybe your parents had Green River Soda? It is now manufactured in Chicago The bottle is now plastic, and they even have a Diet version. It's a very limey drink, no wonder I like it.  If you can find it in your area, try it!  You might like it!

Back to the recipe:

Corned Beef and Cabbage

1 3 lb Corned Beef Brisket, preferably flat, cut spice packet was included

4 clove of garlic, smashed

1 med onion quartered

2 bay leaves

1 lb of whole carrots cut in chunks

1 lb of red potatoes, 'B" size

1 small head of cabbage, quartered

Place brisket in a pot with garlic, onion, bay leaves and content of spice packet.  Cover with water, bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer.  wait 5 min, and skim off foam. Continue simmering, until meat begins to get tender.  Add carrots and potatoes.  Continue simmering for 15 min, and then add cabbage.  Cook until cabbage is tender, approximately 15 min.  .

Slice meat and serve with vegetables.  Slainte!