THE BEST EVER!

Every year at St. Patrick's Day, since I was a little kid I hated corned beef and cabbage. It was one of my least favorite dishes that I would never order in a restaurant, would never go out for it even on the green day.

Mom used to make it once a year and we had to eat it or starve, it was one of her great dishes to teach us the value of food and how important it was to appreciate without wasting it.

Then what do I do but marry an Irishman, swear my love for all things Miss Manning and forgo my prejudice about corned beef and cabbage? She would make it and I would think that after dinner I would sneak out and go to Burger King or something like it, and feast.

Then about 12 years ago I retired and to save our marriage, TLW (The Little Woman) decided to go to work and see the world after years of a stay at home mom. I started to do the cooking. I had to make corned beef and cabbage.

I decided to go on this adventure by trying different recipes, including Irish Soda Bread in the mix and even tried a completely different dinner one the Irish of Ireland had: colcannon and lamb. This fell like a dud, something about "Comfort foods" and what have you.

Although my suspicions were that TLW wasn't a fan of the dish itself that millions of households were having that evening, she still had to have it, it was her past.

Then a few days before St. Patrick's Day I found this recipe that changed everything I felt about Corned Beef and Cabbage. It called for Guinness Stout, brown sugar and a slow cooker and the rest is history, the best-corned beef ever!