Irish American Mom

Book Review & Giveaway: “Would You Marry A Farmer?” By Lorna Sixsmith

December 6, 2013 By Irish American Mom 4 Comments

Would YOU marry a farmer? This six million dollar question is posed by Lorna Sixsmith in her similarly titled new book. Through the pages she wittily answers many questions for would-be farmers’ wives, which may leave you firmly believing an Irish farmer is the ideal husband after all.

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Today I’m thrilled to be part of Lorna’s virtual book tour, to help launch her new publication. Lorna kindly gave me an advance copy of her book to review and is providing an additional copy for one lucky reader of Irish American Mom to win.

A good book is an ideal Christmas gift. Over the next week I’ll share some titles, that are just perfect for your loved ones who are interested in all things Irish.

But now back to those farmers….

Although I may be a city girl, I spent many days, weeks and months of my childhood with my two grannies on their farms in County Cork. My farming experience, milking cows and bringing in the hay, helped me truly appreciate Lorna’s humorous take on Irish farming life.

For those girls set on finding a farming husband this book has it all. Lorna first explores the question of whether or not farmers are a good catch.

She includes a wonderful look back on marriage practices in years gone by, the dowry system and the ancient art of matchmaking.

Old newspaper advertisements from eligible men and women seeking a partner with land are thoroughly entertaining. Some of these snippets date back to the 19th century.

In 1946 The Irish Press printed the following appeal on the 16th October 1946.

“Farmer, age 30, 40 acres, own farm, no encumbrance,

would like to correspond with farmer’s daughter,

age 25-30, good strong girl with view to above.”

I love the fact this potential suitor made no effort to hide the fact he needs a “good, strong girl.” No pretty weaklings need apply.

Next Lorna guides us through the process of finding a good farmer, with plenty of tips on types of farming, finding a farmer to date, and the language of farming.

But finding a farmer is just the first step. Many pitfalls await for budding agricultural relationships. Rest easy, Lorna has plenty of advice including how to pick the right color wellington boots for a date, how to enjoy a romantic tractor ride, and the signs you are destined to be a farmer’s wife.

This book isn’t just for girls hoping to meet the man of their dreams in wellies. Anyone already living the good life as a farmer’s wife will appreciate Lorna’s honest take on agricultural life.

I laughed when Lorna discussed appropriate etiquette for attending the cattle mart. My own grandmother was widowed at fifty years of age, and shortly afterwards received a marriage proposal at none other than the cattle mart. Barely out of mourning, she tactfully declined. Refusing her potential suitor’s romantic propositions must have been difficult while “examining the hind quarter of a fine bullock.”

Lorna and her family on their farm in Co. Carlow

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In the final section, Lorna offers solid advice on how to stay married to your farmer, once you have tied the knot. She explores the challenges faced such as lack of vacations, or romantic dates, how to feed contractors when you have only two eggs in the cupboard, bringing dinners to the field, and how to be mistress of your own domain.

Now if you believe you would never marry a farmer, let alone set foot on a farm, this book may still hold a chuckle or two for you. It offers wonderful insight into our Irish farming ancestors’ way of life. I highly recommend this book as a must-read guide, for anyone interested in rural Irish life, both past and present.

The Giveaway:

One lucky winner will receive a copy of Would You Marry a Farmer by Lorna Sixsmith.

To enter just leave a comment on this blog post by noon on Saturday, December 14th, 2013. Any comment will do but if you need inspiration why not tell us a little bit about any farming experiences you may have.

A winning comment will be chosen randomly. Remember to leave your e-mail so that I can contact you should you win. Your e-mail won’t be published or shared, just used to contact our lucky contestant.

Winners will be announced on Saturday December 14th, so Lorna can get the winners’ prize in the mail. Christmas delivery may not be possible, but it should arrive by the the New Year.

How To Buy This Book:

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of this book, just pop over to Lorna’s blog Irish Farmerette. The cost is € 17 which is approximagely US$20.27 or US$27.02 inclusive of postage.

A big thank you to Lorna for sponsoring this giveaway.

Slán agus beannacht leat!

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

P.S. I did not receive any payment for this post, but simply received an advance copy of the book for review purposes. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

Filed Under: Books, Entertainment Tagged With: Books, Entertainment

Winner Of The Custom-Made Alphabet Art By Letters From Ireland

November 30, 2013 By Irish American Mom Leave a Comment

A big thank you to everyone who participated in this week’s giveaway for a custom made piece of alphabet photo art by Letters From Ireland. It was lovely to hear the inspirational words readers would use to create their own unique piece of artwork.

A big thank you to Letters From LLC for graciously sponsoring the prize for our lucky winner…..

Margaret

who said:

“Lovely idea. I would ask the artist to produce a piece that reads “Dungarvan” my husband’s hometown ~ it would be the perfect gift for him.”

Congratulations, Margaret. I will send you an e-mail to arrange to send your prize.

A big thanks to everyone who commented and supported this giveaway. I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Slán agus beannacht leat!

(Goodbye and blessings)

Irish American Mom

Filed Under: Crafts, House & Home Tagged With: Crafts, Giveaway, House & Home

Holiday Giveaway From MyIrelandBox

November 29, 2013 By Irish American Mom 24 Comments

This Thanksgiving weekend MyIrelandBox, a subscription service providing monthly Irish craft surprises from Ireland, has graciously sponsored another giveaway for Irish American Mom readers.

Based in a pretty little town on the western coast of the Emerald Isle, MyIrelandBox curates the best of Irish made crafts, delivering monthly surprises directly to your door.

Our previous MyIrelandBox giveaway for St. Patrick’s Day was a huge success with many wonderful responses. Readers told us about their favorite Irish crafts and why they love Ireland. You can read that post and learn more about this innovative service here.

As the Christmas season gets underway, MyIrelandBox is providing one November craft box and one December craft box to two lucky winners of our giveaway.

The wonderful world of Irish made crafts and the talented artists who devote their lives to the creative process are introduced to subscribers each month. The MyIrelandBox team scour Ireland and thoughtfully curate the best of Irish crafts.

Dingle – Home of the MyIrelandBox Team

Here at Irish American Mom I love to support Irish and American artists, writers, and small businesses by helping spread the word about their incredible work.

MyIrelandBox shares that vision by introducing subscribers to new and unusual Irish crafts, they might otherwise not be able to buy. Each box includes background information and personal stories about the Irish artists whose products are chosen for each monthly surprise.

This holiday season MyIrelandBox is offering a three month subscription for anyone hoping to surprise someone special for Christmas. Orders can be placed right up until Christmas Eve, with the first gift boxes arriving in early January.

The Giveaway:

One lucky winner will receive the November craft box and another will be surprised by the Christmas-themed December box.

To enter just leave a comment on this blog post by noon on Saturday, December 7th, 2013. Any comment will do but if you need inspiration why not tell us what Christmas crafts, trinkets or treasures you cherish most.

Winners will be announced on Saturday December 7th, so MyIrelandBox can get the winners’ prizes on their way for Christmas.

Best wishes to all our contestants.

Féile Na hAltaithe Shona Daoibh,

(Happy Thanksgiving)

Irish American Mom

P.S. Irish American Mom receives no remuneration from My Ireland Box, who graciously provide these prizes free of charge. I feature this wonderful gift idea as a way to promote and support Irish businesses and crafts people.

Filed Under: Crafts, House & Home Tagged With: Crafts, Giveaway

Thanksgiving – The Irish Connection

November 28, 2013 By Irish American Mom 2 Comments

Believe it or not, the origins of Thanksgiving may have an Irish connection. “No way,” I hear you declare, but incredibly a link may actually exist.

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Until now, I deemed Thanksgiving a totally American holiday with no ties to the old sod whatsoever. That myth was laid to rest this week by one of my blog readers. Her comment included a link to a very interesting article by the Irish Cultural Society of San Antonio.

This article piqued my interest so much, I just had to share this little nugget of Thanksgiving history with you today, on this special day of blessings.

And so, here I go again, claiming anything and everything has an Irish connection. I’m nearly beginning to annoy myself with all this Irish pride. But then I realized you all share the same Irish pride, so I couldn’t resist writing a post about my newly found information.

My quick synopsis of the tale follows, but for anyone interested in further details, you can read the full story here.

The First Thanksgiving With An Irish Twist:

A North American winter was far harsher than the pilgrims ever imagined possible. During the first year in their new land they faced challenges of starvation, freezing temperatures and death. Their plight was so bad they even considered returning to England.

Salvation arrived, that first February, in the form of a ship carrying provisions to sustain them. ‘The Lyon’ arrived from none other than Dublin, Ireland, sent by a merchant and loving father, who was worried about his daughter. She had moved to the New World with her pilgrim husband.

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A Day of Thanksgiving was celebrated the day after the ship’s arrival. I hope the Pilgrims shared some of their Irish bounty with their Native American neighbors.

Two hundred years later President Lincoln decreed the day a national holiday, but moved it to November. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to move the holiday in the 1930′s, public outcry prompted a study to validate the origins of the holiday.

The Boston Post published an article which mentioned The Lyon’s arrival in New England as the reason for the first Thanksgiving. However, the article claimed the ship’s origin as England or Holland. Outrage amongst Irish American Bostonians spurred the writer to acknowledge Dublin as the port of origin. A correction was promised the following Thanksgiving, but was never printed.

And as with most controversies, time brought calm, and the origins of the first Thanksgiving were quietly committed to the annals of history.

And so the first Thanksgiving may have celebrated the generosity of a loving Irish father, shared by The Pilgrim Fathers with their Native American neighbors???

For me the key to this holiday is that it remains centered on giving thanks for our many blessings.

And so, on this Thanksgiving Day, I wish you all a time of peace, joy and love, shared with family and friends.

Lá an Altaithe Shona Daoibh,

(Happy Thanksgiving Day)

Irish American Mom

P.S. A big thank you to Ruth for her informative comment on my post ‘Ten Reasons Why I Love Thanksgiving’.

Filed Under: Holidays, Ramblings Tagged With: Holidays, Ramblings, Thanksgiving

Baileys Irish Cream Pumpkin Cheesecake

November 26, 2013 By Irish American Mom 14 Comments

Pumpkin cheesecake spiked with Irish cream liqueur is a perfect dessert for celebrating Thanksgiving, attending a holiday gathering or hosting a party. The distinctive flavor of Baileys perfectly compliments a creamy, pumpkin cheesecake filling.

I created this Irish-American fusion pie especially for Thanksgiving. Bailey’s cheesecake meets pumpkin pie, resulting in a hybrid Baileys pumpkin cheesecake. It boasts the requisite flavors of Thanksgiving, while it’s light texture makes it a perfect dessert after a heavy turkey dinner.

This is a baked cheesecake. Technically, it probably should be called a cheese pie, but whether you call it cake or pie, cheese, pumpkin and Baileys are the perfect trio for scrumptiousness.

Pie Base

1 and 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (8 cookie sheets)
1 cup vanilla wafer crumbs (25 cookies)
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter (1/2 stick)

Pie Filling

1 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 cups low-fat cottage cheese
8oz 1/3-less fat cream cheese (1 block)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup Irish cream liqueur (Baileys or any other brand)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Pie Topping

1 and 1/2 cups low-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons Baileys Irish cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Whipped heavy cream to decorate if desired

The first step is to create the biscuit crumb base. In Ireland I use digestive biscuits for all my cheesecake bases. When I can’t find my favorite McVite’s biscuits in America I compromise by using a mixture of graham crackers and vanilla wafers.

Place the graham cracker cookie sheets and vanilla wafers in a large plastic bag and zip closed. Using a rolling pin crush the cookies to form crumbs. This step can be completed in a food processor.

Toss the cookie crumbs into a large mixing bowl.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar and mix well.

Pour the melted butter into the cookie crumb and sugar mixture and combine using a fork. Mix well to moisten all of the crumbs. Just enough butter is used to hold the crumb base together. The mixture shouldn’t be too wet.

Press the cookie crumb mixture into the base and up the sides of a 10-inch round spring form pan, coated in cooking spray. Place the pie base in the refrigerator while making the filling, allowing it to chill.

Next it’s time to make the pie filling and a blender can do most of the work.

Add the sugar, cottage cheese, cream cheese, pumpkin puree, Greek yogurt, Baileys, flour, salt, 2 eggs and egg yolks to a blender.

I don’t add typical pumpkin pie spices to my filling, since I like how the Irish cream and pumpkin flavors blend. Too many spices overwhelm the creamy liqueur. But feel free to spice up the pie filling to satisfy your taste buds. Toss in some cinnamon, nutmeg or all-spice into the blender with the cheese filling and blend away, if you can’t handle pumpkin without a hint of cinnamon.

Look at the lovely fall colors in the blender.

Process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl.

I’m hoping for a nice big food processor for Christmas this year. With my trusty twenty year old blender I’ve got to hold down the lid to make sure this mixture doesn’t explode all over the walls when I flip that switch.

Using a hand mixer beat the two egg whites in a separate bowl until the eggs form firm peaks. Add the powdered sugar.

Beat again until the eggs become glossy and form stiff peaks. You should be able to turn the bowl upside down without the eggs moving in the slightest.

Combine the pumpkin cheese blend and the beaten egg whites. Use a large spoon to gently blend the egg whites into the mixture. Do not beat them with the hand mixer.

A lovely light orange creamy mixture should be the result.

Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust. Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 minutes. When the cheesecake is ready the surface will be a light golden color. The center will jiggle just slightly when the pan is moved. The center will firm up during the cooling time.

A typical cooked-cake test using a knife or tooth pick doesn’t work for a cheesecake. A knife may crack the top of a cheesecake made with sour cream. The test will never be accurate since cheesecake is supposed to be a little moist and gooey. The knife will never come out clean. Cheesecakes, like this one, made with sour cream still jiggle when cooked and have a soft spot in the center.

Here is a photo of the cheesecake as it came out of the oven.

Next, add the ingredients for the pie topping (sour cream, powdered sugar and Baileys) to a small mixing bowl.

Whisk them together to form a glossy topping. Pour the topping over the cheesecake, spreading it evenly to cover the cooked filling.

Return the cake to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes at 325 degrees. Most of the alcohol will burn off at this temperature.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack until it reaches room temperature. Cover it and place it in the refrigerator to cool over night, or for a minimum of 4 hours.

The surface of my cheesecake is not as pretty as I wished. A little, wandering finger tested it as it was waiting to be photographed. I tried to smooth over the evidence, but I’m afraid the damage was done.

After chilling the pie overnight, I concealed some of the surface damage with whipped cream. I’m afraid my cream piping was not perfect either, but you get the idea.

To serve, remove the sides of the spring form pan and slice.

Hope you enjoy this delicious taste of fall.

Here’s the printable recipe:

Irish Cream Pumpkin Cheese Cake

Print recipe

Serves	12
Prep time	45 minutes
Cook time	1 hour
Total time	1 hour, 45 minutes
Allergy	Egg, Milk, Wheat
Meal type	Dessert
Misc	Serve Cold
Occasion	Thanksgiving

Ingredients

Pie Base

1 and 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (8 cookie sheets)
1 cup vanilla wafer crumbs (25 cookies)
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter (1/2 stick)

Pie Filling

1 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese
8oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese (1 block)
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup Baileys Irish cream
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Pie Topping

1 and 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons Baileys Irish cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Step 1	Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Step 2	Make cookie crumbs from the graham crackers and vanilla wafers by pulsing in a food processor, or by placing them in a plastic bag and crushing them with a rolling pin.
Step 3	Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter in a mixing bowl using a fork. Mix well to moisten the cookie crumbs with the melted butter.
Step 4	Coat a 10-inch round quick-release baking pan with cooking spray. Press the crumb mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Place in the refrigerator to chill, while making the pie filling.
Step 5	Add the sugar, cottage cheese, cream cheese, pumpkin puree, Greek yogurt, Baileys, flour, salt, 2 eggs and egg yolks to a blender. Process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl.
Step 6	In a second large bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and small peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and beat until glossy, stiff peaks form. Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the pumpkin cheese mixture. Do not beat.
Step 7	Pour the pie filling into the prepared crust. Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 minutes. When the pie is ready the surface will be a light golden brown. The center of the pie will jiggle just slightly when the pan is moved.
Step 8	Make the topping by whisking the sour cream, powdered sugar and Baileys in a bowl. Pour over the cheesecake and spread evenly over the top. Return the pie to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes at 325 degrees.
Step 9	Let the pie cool in the pan on a rack until it reaches room temperature. Cover and chill in the refrigerator overnight or for a minimum of four hours. Remove the side of the pan to slice and serve.