Flavors from Ireland
To celebrate St. Pat’s, we’re passing on the green beer and heading to the cheese case. Myriad varieties of wonderful Irish cheeses are sold in supermarkets and specialty shops. Two we found in the cheese case at Whole Foods Market: Kerrygold’s Ivernia (left, $11 per pound), a hard, pleasantly sharp cow’s milk cheese that’s great for grating or shredding, and Neals Yard Dairy Coolea ($24 per pound), a mild and creamy cow’s milk cheese with a nutty bite, similar to gouda (the prices as published have been corrected in this text).
Celebrate the weekend
“Brunch: Recipes for Cozy Weekend Mornings” (Fireside, $18.95), by Georgeanne Brennan, is filled with 50-plus recipes (spring vegetable frittata, brown sugar coffeecake, turkey and Yukon gold hash) as well as decorating and technique tips for splendid weekend feasts. It’s at Barbara’s Bookstores, some Borders stores and amazon.com.
Irish, with a twist
Caraway seeds add a pleasant twist to the buttermilk and golden raisins that flavor Declan’s Irish Soda Bread from Glencoe-based Hannah Banana Bread Co. A 13-ounce miniloaf is $5-$7 at Sunset Foods locations, Casey’s Market in Western Springs, and Prime Meats and Meeske’s Meats, both in Barrington. In Chicago, Nordstrom’s coffee bar (55 E. Grand Ave.) and Savories (1651 N. Wells St.) sell it by the slice for $2- $2.50.
