click on image to take you to the source: The Sweets Life
(Review by Denise)
This is totally a cheater’s review. I didn’t even make this! But wait, before you run off…. I did eat it. I watched a bit of it being made. And I smelled it cooking all day. You see we visited some friends in another state over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, and I offered to make this recipe for the blog and split the grocery bill. I should’ve known! My sneaky friend wouldn’t let me fork over a dime and she pretty much did all the cooking before I even had my first cup of coffee. (Thanks, Caralee!) Luckily the Pinterest recipe grades I hand out are based on taste alone.
St. Patrick’s Day at Caralee’s abode was the perfect day for stew: cold and rainy! Her man had a fire going in the fireplace, and that classic, rich stew scent paired with the scent of the beer really whet my appetite. Caralee even made an Irish soda bread and two loaves of wheat to go with it. (She’s like that. She makes bread on a whim.) I was pretty surprised that the Guinness scent never diminished during the cooking process. It had me concerned that maybe the alcohol didn’t cook off (which would taste pretty weird)–but nope.
Verdict? Pass. But hear this: it was a mild pass. On a rainy, cold day paired with warm, homemade bread–it hit the spot. But there was consensus that it needed more flavor. I just said, “It tastes like any Irish food I’ve ever had: warm, filling, and hardly any flavor.” If you like stew, are feeling particularly cold, or possibly work in a coal mine or other classic career that demands a meat-and-potatoes dinner…head on over to The Sweets Life and check out the recipe here.
