It can be a kind of March madness. With the arrival of St Patrick’s Day we celebrate a change of season through indulgence. It’s supposed to be fun.

I remember the St Patrick’s Day in my late teens when I went to the Brunswick House tavern before a piano lesson. While I did not consume enough green beer that I started to resemble the Hulk, it was still memorable. I remember the discussion with my piano teacher (who saw red rather than green), and who listened to me play even though I was obviously intoxicated. I played accurately because I had memorized the pieces. We were both surprised, actually… much better than I had any right to be considering what I had been doing. But it was a good exercise, confirming what Frank Zappa might tell you if he were still here: that whether you’re stoned or drunk in rehearsal, you must sober up when you perform.

This weekend I picked up from The Kingston Social, whose St Patrick’s Day menu extended until Saturday.

Sam greeted me at the door when I brought dinner home, obviously intrigued by what her nose was telling her. We’re still being careful what we feed her as she’s not fully recovered from her December illness, so we couldn’t give her any…

I had a Guinness braised lamb stew (diced lamb, turnips, carrots, new potato, shallots & even as Irish as the Guinness in the gravy) served with soda bread. Erika had the smoked blueberry back ribs dinner, and then she shared with one another.

We enjoyed the accompaniment of the Konzelmann Shiraz that I find so congenial to just about anything.

The portions were generous, perhaps in keeping with the spirit of over-indulgence that I associate with St Patrick’s Day. We were both so stuffed at this point that we had to adjourn for a bit,… I took the dog outside for a walk.

Before partaking of the dessert that we had from Kingston Social I made coffee. The cupcakes were also St Patrick’s- themed, a bit of an allegory of the treasures one might find at the end of the rainbow.

The moral of the “story”? Eat it!

Notice the gold on top of the chocolate, and the actual rainbow.

We split one Saturday night, with another for Sunday morning.

I hope the lamb stew will be back and won’t just be once a year. It’s one of the most delicious creations I’ve discovered in a long time.

Here’s the Kingston Social menu for future weeks.