Believe it or not, this was the best of three takes. I clearly still need to work on my A-roll a little, but at any rate, here is my flawed, but spirited, rendition of the jig "Hole in the Hedge." Also, as one more note, this tune is usually played in sessions on a C whistle whereas here I'm playing it on a D. So, you know, if you've heard it before and it sounded different, it's not wholly because I f-ed it up. As a more spirited way to celebrate, here is someone who really knows their way around a whistle playing a couple of jigs. Just give me a few more decades, and I hope to be at that level.
As another way to celebrate, and also to embrace my love of baking, I brought some Irish Car Bomb brownies to the office yesterday when I went in on a visit. Like the somewhat offensively named cocktail of the same name, these treats incorporate Guiness, Baileys, and Jameson into the ingredients (specifically: Guiness in the brownie, a Baileys cream cheese swirl, and topped with a Jameson chocolate ganache). They were a hit at the office, although I couldn't really taste any of the alcohol. If anything it just brought out the chocolate taste all the more.
If you too are bored with making soda bread and want to give a try, I got the recipe from here and made no changes. Highly recommended.
