In a post earlier this month, I shared with you all about my Irish Heritage and life for my great- grands on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. 

In true Irish form, my mom brought up her meal plans for St. Patrick's Day last week. Of course, she asked me what I'm doing, but Wednesday nights during Lent don't leave much room for cooking, baking, or time in general. 

For tomorrow's festivities, she is making her annual tradition of corned beef and hash along with Irish soda bread. I must admit, for these things I care not. 

Didn't like em growing up, still don't like them as an adult. During her laments of how high the price of corned beef is this year, I realized, that outside of these staples, I know very little about Irish foods, so I explored a bit. 

Traditional staples, such as soda bread, cabbage, corned beef are always very popular. Yet, there is always so much more to a culture than we give credit to! 

Here are the top finds that I  can get behind:

1) Shepherd's Pie

For years, I could take or leave shepherd's pie. Then I lived in England. But, for this pie to hold up, it's got be prepared well. Traditional Shepherd's pie uses lamb meat, something that Americans are not custom to cooking with, so your traditional turkey or beef is absolutely fine. Loaded with gravy, veggies (although, there is a interesting debate about this over on British Grub Hub), and topped with mashed potatoes, this casserole will NOT leave you hungry. 

2) Bacon and Cabbage

One of Ireland's National dishes, this is loaded with cuts of ham, bacon, onions, cabbage, salt, and just a little bit of sugar. I am NOT a fan of traditional boiled cabbage, but fixing it up like SugarandSoul does is absolutely fabulous! 

3) Bangers and Mash

There is nothing like good pork sausage, mashed potatoes, and onion gravy. Traditional brown gravy and my tastebuds fight against each other, but adding this juice onion gravy might top all other dishes. Check out Food.com for an inspiring recipe! 

4) Boxty (Irish Potato Cakes)

Ok, I love potatoes. Not as much as Kel Mitchell's love for Orange Soda (you know you remember Kenan and Kel!) but I do like potatoes. Traditional boxty is made from whole potatoes, but using leftover mashed is just as good! Check out the Culinary Travel Guide on Gallagher's Boxty House in Dublin for a recipe that you will love! 

5) Irish Pound Cake

Oh, there are so many great desserts to make but I love some good poundcake! Don't forget to convert to american measurements and temps if you use this recipe from the Irish Times. PS- its nearly impossible to find proper caster sugar in the US but if you are looking, its usually referred to as bakers sugar or superfine sugar. But after spending a year in england, the sugar hanging out in your pantry works just fine!