CORNED BEEF, CABBAGE & A WINNER!!

I am so happy to be joining Kathleen's Annual St. Patrick's Day Blog Crawl. I have been participating since I first started blogging 3 1/2 years ago. It's such a fun day. And as they say, everyone is Irish on St. Paddy's Day!
On to my post. I mentioned that I was looking for the BEST corned beef ever and I finally found it last Sunday. That's the day we celebrate on the Southside of Chicago since our annual parade takes place that day and the whole day is one big party. So I found that corned beef in the knick of time and it literally went from the bag into the pot of water!
It came with a seasoning package as most do...what it consists of I'm afraid I don't know, But it adds just the right amount of flavor to the water that you will also boil your vegetables in. Cover the roast with water and bring to a boil.
I had a 4 lb. cut of beef. It will shrink quite a bit. This served 4, so keep that in mind. Sometimes I have cooked two in separate pots. Once it comes to a boil, let it simmer until tender, or that you can slide a knife through it. Mine cooked for about 5 hours. Keep adding water as it boils down to keep as much of the meat covered as you can.
Once the beef gets a little tender, maybe an hour before it is done, add carrots and quartered red potatoes to the pot.
During the last 15 minutes you want to cook your cabbage, right down in the same pot. My mother in law taught me to cut my cabbage in wedges and carefully place it on top of everything. This keeps it from getting really soggy.
I serve my veggies in one bowl and my meat sliced up on a platter. And you have to have rye bread! If you have leftovers, a sandwich on rye with Swiss cheese and mustard is our standby.
Dessert is always Irish soda bread...I have made it before but the store bought seems just as good. I wish this picture were a little more elegant, but I didn't want anything to get cold, so I was just grabbing plates. It did turn out perfect and was wickedly good! It's a little late in the game to make one today, but corned beefs will be on sale now and you can always pick on up to make this week. Using a crock pot works nicely if you can't be watching it. I hope this little tutorial helps you!
During my regular grocery shopping trip I found these wonderful Bells of Ireland. Aren't they the sweetest? I hope you have a great St. Patrick's Day!

Finally, I want to announce the winner of my giveaway. You may remember it was part of the Beauty 101 post. The two packages of make up goes to Kristin at My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia! I will be sending her an email. I wish I had enough to go around. You ladies were fantastic in sharing all of your beauty tips!

Have a great week! :-)