a tragic situation, beer and potatoes, the end

So this weekend I had a bit of a...err...situation which could have, but didn't, resulted in me burning my house down. I swear sometimes I wonder how in the world I am an adult. I put my lovely turquoise tea kettle on to boil and took a very dirty egg yolk covered Margot into the other room to change her. Then I discovered globs of egg yolk in her hair and determined that a bath was necessary so we bathed and played and ran naked, and played with clothes and got dressed and played with shoes and put some shoes on and low and behold 45 minutes later....Complete destruction of my tea kettle!!!! I had black molten splotches all over, the handle attachments were melting and flopped over, there was smoke and the kettle itself had started to melt onto the burner coil on the stove. Chris was of course at his office and so I did what every mature adult does in these situations. I turned off the burner, put my child down for a nap and called my Mother. 

Long story short. Tea kettle and burner coil are toast, I got to trek to glenwood to an appliance parts store for a new coil and I am now mourning the loss of my perfect tea kettle. This was it.

See perfect. The color matches all the accents in my kitchen including my vintage turquoise canister set. And the shape is lovely. And there is no cheep ugly plastic. But I am finding that this particular tea kettle is a one of a kind which they no longer make and everything else is just depressing. I would have been in complete despair if it hadn't been for Dublin coddle. Have you had Dublin coddle??? It's freaking amazing. It's basically a giant steaming pot of meat, potatoes and lovely broth. The ultimate comfort food and so easy to make. It only has 6 ingredients. Here’s the recipe:

Dublin Coddle*

4 slices thick cut bacon

6 English banger sausages (meat counter market of choice)

4-5 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced

4-5 carrots, peeled thinly slices

2 onions thinly sliced

One can chicken broth or two cups homemade chicken stock

In med. Non stick skillet fry bacon medium heat, set aside. Brown sausages in same skillet in bacon grease, set aside. Pour out most of grease, leaving about 1 Tb, cook onions until they begin to brown, about 10 minutes.

In Dutch oven or oven safe pot with lid, assemble. First spread half of onions on bottom, season with salt and pepper, layer half potatoes on top of onions and season with salt and pepper. Lay bacon over potatoes and sausage over bacon. Cover with second half of onions, season with salt and pepper, carrots, season with salt and pepper and finally remaining potatoes, season with salt and pepper. Pour broth over the top. Cover and bake at 375 for two hours.

*This recipe is my own adaption of several online versions which all claim to be from someones Irish grandmother

Eat with crusty bread and drink lots of new castle brown ale and you will feel so happy you will almost forget the tragedy of your broken tea kettle until morning when there is no longer English ale and potatoes to console you. The end.