Ode to Elizabeth Gilbert

I couldn’t write another post without paying homage to author Elizabeth Gilbert, whose fabulous memoir “Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia” inspired this blog. At least it inspired my blog title, “Eat, Pray, Angst” et cetera. But regarding all the confessing in my first post, I have another confession to make: I’m not a very angsty person. Even on a bad day, I'm more of a glass-half-full kind of girl. However, I once saw the famed Irish writer Edna O’Brien at a book event, and she made reference to the “vast, ancestral loneliness” of the Irish. Well, I figure there's lots of potential angst to tap into.

How about “Pray?” Well, Ms. Gilbert is far more open about her spirituality than I am. But, since this blog will also include occasional riffs on another passion of mine, growing your own food and eating local, praying might sneak into it. Like earlier this week, when the potato foliage in our garden started to turn yellow-black—a fungus, I think. I couldn’t help thinking of the Irish farmers during the potato blight some 160-odd years ago, and with fungicides not yet available, how many prayers must've been sent to the Almighty. In lieu of spraying my own potatoes, since we’re trying to grow organic, I sent oodles of positive vibes in their direction. We’ll see how well it works.

And finally, “Eat.” Sorry, no rapturous descriptions of Italian food a la Ms. Gilbert—we’re here to focus on Irish stuff—but as a devoted foodie, I'll probably chat a lot about eating. To that end, a great place to start eating Irish in America is with Ireland-made Dubliner cheese. Despite my goal of eating more local food, I can’t help myself: Dubliner makes sandwiches to die for. And you don't have to go to Ireland to get it either--only as far as your nearest Costco.

I found another great “eating Irish” resource in an unexpected place—a novel I just finished: “Recipes for a Perfect Marriage,” by Irish author Morag Prunty. While I’ll talk more about “Recipes” next time, I will say my favorite part was the author weaving authentic Irish recipes into the plot. However, "Recipes" is a novel, not a proper cookbook. The recipes are more, shall we say, approximate. Like the way you cook a dish you've made a dozen or even a hundred times--by feel and memory. I might give the Irish soda bread recipe a try, though—and we’ll see how it goes. Kind of like my potato patch.