Sherry Chapmanby Sherry Chapman
First published in February/March, 2006, Volume 3, Issue 1, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.
Here’s hopin’ you had a good holiday season. Christmas did not fall on a Thursday, so I didn’t get the afternoon off. But in the evenin’ I walked over to my cousins an’ had a good time dancin’ an’ carryin’ on, without takin’ off any of my clothin’. On New Years I was throwin’ pieces of bread at the back door of the Borden’s house. ‘Tis a custom in the old country that wards off bein’ poor for the comin’ year. But Mr. Borden, he carried on somethin’ awful when he saw me. Called it a total waste of good bread. I told him, “But ‘tis molded, Mr. Borrden, and no use to us anyway.” He told me to waste not, want not and to serve it. Ya shoulda seen him goin’ around the back door, pickin’ up the bread I threw and brushin’ the snow offa it. I knew ‘twould be a bad thyme to laugh but I’ll tell ya, it was harrd to hold i-tin.
Saint Patrick’s Day is one of our Irish holidays everyone seems to like. An excuse for a party I think, for anyone who’s not Irish. We know what it means, though. But underrstood or not, ‘tis the one day o’ th’ year when we ain’t yelled at and called names. The girls here, Miss Lizzie and Miss Emma, they call me ‘Maggie’. I put up with it. If you’ve seen Miss Lizzie’s eyes, you’d do what she said too.
Well, today I thought I would give you my own dear mother’s recipe for Corned Beef & Cabbage. A lot of people in Fall River that don’t have an Irish girl in the house think they’re makin’ it right. But it takes one of us genuine lasses to know how to make the real thing. Let’s go into the kitchen now, before Mr. Borrden comes home and hollers about the smell of cabbage, even tho there’s thymes he don’t smell so good himself.
We need:
1 corned beef brisket (about a 4-pounder)
1 orange (the juice)
Whole cloves (about 20 should do ya)
Mustard seeds – one small spoonful
Caraway seeds – Half a small spoonful
Peppercorns – Half a small spoonful
Coriander – Half a small spoonful
Now if you bought yer brisket an’ it came with a packet of spices, like they sell at Hudner’s Market, you can use that instead of yer own spices.
Small potatoes, peeled – maybe 3 pounds
Carrots, peeled and cut in big pieces – 2 pounds, maybe a little more
Cabbage – a head that’s not too big an’ not too small
Put yer brisket in a large stockpot. Wash the orange.
Cut it in half and squeeze the juice out of it, over that brisket. Stick some cloves on the orange peel halves and put ‘em on the sides of the corned beef. Now add yer spices, an’ put enough water to cover the meat with. Bring it to a boil, take the heat down a good piece, and simmer about 3 hours. Then ya wanna drain it.
About 2 l/2 hours into the simmerin’, boil another big pot of water and cook yer potatoes and yer carrots. Then you don’t add yer cabbage till about just 10 minutes before servin’ thyme. That don’t need to cook for long. Drain yer vegetables and arrange it all on a big platter. Serve some mustards on the side.
And if yer inclined to have a drink or somethin’ stronger than sarsaparilla, you might wanna use a charrmin’ toast my dear ol’ dad used to say when we celebrated back home.
“Here’s to our wives and girlfriends.
May they never meet.”
