MARCH has crept up on me...and suddenly I'm remembering IRELAND

Somehow, we're suddenly in the third month of 2016, and I have barely gotten used to the new year! What about you?

March is the month when, because of St. Patrick's Day on March 17th, everyone in the US thinks of their Irish heritage, real or adopted. In my case, it's real, as I found out after some ancestry sleuthing...and after visiting Ireland and feeling so very much at home.

Among the joys of Ireland is the Irish breakfasts that I had at Cappabhaile House, a simple yet very comfortable bed & breakfast in the Burren near Ballyvaughan, County Clare.

Cappabhaile House, with the limestone hills of the Burren in the background.

The tower in the middle distance on the left is part of the Burren College of Art, where my daughter Evera studied.

Image from the Cappabhaile House website.

The breakfasts were hardly simple! Owners Margaret and Connor presented no fewer than eleven options, including spectacular smoked wild Irish salmon. These were accompanied by a hearty tea that they recommended drinking with milk and sugar.

Here's their menu:

Our Breakfast Menu

Porridge, Cornflakes, Rice Crispies, Weetabix, Muesili or Yoghurt
AND
1. Full Irish Breakfast:
Bacon, Egg, Sausages,tomatoe, mushrooms, Black & White Pudding
2. Cooked Breakfast: Bacon, Egg, Sausages & Beans
3. Scrambled Egg with Smoked salmon
4. Scrambled Egg & Bacon with (Tomato or Beans)
5. Scrambled Egg with Beans & Tomato
6. Omelette with Tomatoes & Fresh Herbs
7. Ham Omelette with Tomatoes & Fresh Herbs
8. Mushroom Omelette with Tomatoes & Fresh Herbs
9. Poached Egg on Toast
10 Poached Egg on Toast with Tomato
11 Poached Egg on Toast with Bacon & Tomatoes
12 Boiled Eggs (x2)
13 Fruit Platter with 5 fresh fruits
(Melon, apple, banana,kiwi, orange) and also 4 in syrup/juice
14 Platter of Irish Cheeses,
(B&W Cheddar, Brie, Cashel Blue, Edam, Gauda and Cottage) dressed with lettuce, cucumber and tomato
15 Platter of Fruit and Cheese, mouth-watering mix of no.13 & no.14.

Choice of Teas (Roberts & Herbal)
Freshly Brewed Roberts Diplomat Coffee

All served with Homemade Brown Bread, Toast & Orange Juice

The Robert Roberts company is an Irish tea & coffee company that has struggled hard through the years to maintain itself against competition from bigger brands, especially those based in the UK. It prides itself in supporting the local Irish economy.

The base leaf of their tea blends comes from Africa, primarily Kenya, but also Tanzania. Their breakfast style tea adds Assam teas to the mix, and is a potent brew of malty excellence. To tame it, the tea should be drunk with milk and sugar.

I prefer my tea wild.