St. Patrick's Day

Happy Americans' Irish Stereotypes Day (after)!  St. Patty's Day is a big deal in this state.  We don't have a 4th of July parade, but you better believe there is one for this holiday!  We decided to go though (We have had to be in them before for Eric's employer, but they weren't sponsors this year (Thank goodness)), I always enjoy a good bagpipe band

  That is about the only kind of decent photo I got.  We didn't get there early enough to stake out a prime parade route spot, and I didn't feel like throwing elbows with 6 year olds!  There were some fun floats though, scattered among the local politicians and car dealers.  We then decided to be mature adults and head home rather than overindulge in green beer then have to wait 3 hours for a cab.  Besides, I had a date with a corned beef roast. 

In the past I've always thrown it in a crock pot and let it do its thing.  This year, I tried Rachael Ray's  method and braised it in Guinness on the stove (I did not do the home brine, too much work and no fridge room).  It was easy and tasty, although the cabbage picked up a little bitterness from the beer. 

I heard on the news that this is a completely American tradition.  Oh well, it was yummy.  I also made a variation on Irish soda bread.

It was super easy and very good.  My glaze didn't turn out as thick as it was supposed to though (I admit, I didn't measure the liquids, just an eyeballed splash).  It reminded me of a scone, only hints of sweetness in the bread and from the glaze.  I had a piece for breakfast this morning.  I think this will also become a tradition for us. 

In other news, not much else exciting happening here.  I'm on a stretch of shifts in preparation to take a vacation out east next week.  Nursing shifts are easy on your PTO bank, I'm taking off 8 days and only using 3 days vacation!  Oh, and we saw Radiohead last week

I need a camera with a better zoom.  It was a pretty great show, those screens actually showed real time close-ups during the show and were on pulleys so they got re-arranged.  This is the first time they have come to CO since 2003 (which Eric often ranted about). The show was on my 1st nephew's 5th birthday.  It was nostalgic remembering the night he was born, I was also at a concert that night, on crutches post-ACL tear.  I don't remember too much of that show (I think it was Sound Tribe Sector 9) since I was glued to my phone all night for photos and updates.  I'm sure his mom has a much different story for the night he entered this world and stole all of our hearts, though mine involves less pain (even with a knee injury!).