If you want to throw a Cyber Miracles Party to discuss the book, here are a couple must-haves for the menu.

  • Brídgeen’s Bloody-Good Martini
  • Casa de Sonrisa’s Black Cherry Salsa
  • Esposito’s Chicken Spiedie Sandwich
  • Cool Beans Café’s Half Moon Cookies
  • Aisling’s Diner Irish Breakfast

    •   

    Brídgeen’s Bloody-Good Martini

  • 4 oz. blood orange-flavored vodka, chilled
  • 2 oz. Cointreau, chilled
  • 1 TBSP lime juice
  • 1 TBSP orange juice
  • dash of Grenadine for color, chilled
  • curled orange peel for garnish

    • Place all ingredients except the orange peel into a martini shaker and cover with a lot of ice. Shake vigorously for a few seconds and then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with the orange peel.
         To make the curled orange peel, cut a long strip of orange zest and wrap it around a cocktail stirrer. Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Slide off into the cocktail.

      

    Casa de Sonrisa’s Black Cherry Salsa

  • 1 lb. of organic black cherries, pitted
  • 1 organic jalapeño pepper, seeded and inner membrane removed
  • ½ of an organic red onion, quartered
  • juice of 1 organic lime
  • 2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
  • pinch of sea salt & coarse-ground black pepper
  • bag of organic blue corn tortilla chips

    • Pulse all but the last ingredient together in a food processor. Serve with the tortilla chips.

      

    Esposito’s Chicken Spiedie Sandwich

  • 2-3 chicken breasts
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup vinegar
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 TBSP dried parsley
  • 1/2 TBSP dried basil
  • 1 tsp rosemary, crushed
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/2 tsp coarse-ground black pepper
  • slices of ciabbatta or crusty Italian bread

    • Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. Mix the other ingredients together and marinate the chicken in it for at least 12 hours. String cubes onto skewers and grill over charcoal until meat is cooked firm. Take a slice of the bread, wrap it around the meat and pull them off the skewer. Mangia!

      

    Cool Beans Café’s Half Moon Cookies

  • 1 C sour cream
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 3/4 C butter
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. cardamom
  • 3 C flour, sifted

    • Preheat oveb to 375 degrees. Cream together the butter, sour cream and sugar. Once they are well blended, add the eggs. Once the mixture is blended again, add the rest of the ingredients. Drop batter in circle (about the size of a tennis ball) onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Once cooled, frost as per directions below.
    Frosting

  • 2 TBSP soft butter
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 C sifted powdered sugar
  • 2 TBSP cocoa powder

    • Cream the first three ingredients together. Split the frosting into two bowls. Add cocoa powder to one and blend well to make the chocolate frosting. Frost half of each cookie with the white frosting, then frost the other half with chocolate.

      

    Aisling’s Diner Irish Breakfast Fry

    Go to FoodIreland.com and order the following:

  • Irish bacon rashers
  • Irish-style sausages
  • Irish black pudding
  • Irish white pudding
  • Barry’s Tea – Gold Blend
  • Kerrygold Irish butter

    • and at the local grocery buy:

  • eggs
  • ripe tomato, sliced
  • potatoes, diced and boiled until fork-tender
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • slices of warm brown bread

    • Put the kettle on the boil and fry up the bacon, sausage and puddings cut into rounds. Drain on paper towels. Fry enough eggs per person in another pan. In the first pan, drown off most the grease, add a couple knobs of butter and brown up the potatoes. Season with salt & pepper. Put boiling water in tea pot with Barry’s tea. Remove potatoes from pan and quickly heat up the tomato slices. Serve some of each on everyone’s plate. Eat with a slice of brown bread slathered with Kerrygold butter.
    NOTE: This is the type of breakfast that will fuel you to spend a day plowing a field or cutting turf (and sober you up from a night on the town).  Low-cal, low-cholesterol it ain’t.