The "Troubles" with Ireland; Belfast, famine and Potatoes

This Saturday we made our way to the north of the island, to the troubled city of Belfast. Belfast and the whole of Northern Ireland is euphemistically "troubled" because it has been plagued with warring peoples for centuries and continues to remain in strife. I am still a bit hazy as to why the people are still fighting but I will let wikipedia explain the situation rather than relay the still unclear bits of information I picked up on an hour long bus tour. To depict these troubles, citizens of Belfast have painted murals along walls, houses and apartments in the city.

I wish that I could say Ireland's troubles stopped with the petty disputes of man, but as any old European country can attest to, and our young nubile nation of America so eloquently verbalizes "if it ain't one thing then it's another." The Irish Potato famine troubled its people long before petrol bombs in the name of Jesus were the danger of the day. While men, women and children once starved when their precious potato crops died, they seem to be more than making up for their years of loss now. Potatoes are now abundant on this green island. Potatoes can be found whole, sliced, wedged, seasoned, mashed, diced and shredded in any grocery store, restaurant, gas station and convenient store across the nation. It is incredible. I thought I would share some of the potato recipes I have made while here.

Creamy Potato Spinach Soup
I just sort of made this soup up out of ingredients I had or could easily get when another plan fell through. It actually turned out to be pretty good, too!

ingredients:
onion
garlic-half a head?
olive oil
potatoes
chicken stock
milk
spinach leaves, cut into edible pieces
cream cheese
bacon

method:
Bring a pot of chicken stock to a boil. While stock is heating, peel and dice some potatoes. (I'm not sure of exact amounts in this recipe, so you might just need to guess--I'm pretty sure it will be fine regardless!)Add the potatoes to the stock and cook until soft and mashable.
While potatoes are cooking dice the onion and garlic. Saute over medium low heat until translucent. When potoatoes are soft, mash them and combine them with onion and garlic.
Separate cream cheese into little spoonfulls and add to the mash and stir to combine.
Now add the spinach. Stir spinach and allow to wilt.
Once properly wilted, add milk to your liking.
If you are a meat eater, and are a fan of bacon, I would definitely suggest adding bits of bacon to this soup. While the soup can definitely stand alone, the salty taste and crisp texture of bacon is are definite assets to this soup!

Shepard's Pie
Before I rekindled my relationship with FN, but after I arrived in Ireland, I decided to make an Irish classic-Shepard's Pie. Here is a pretty typical Irish recipe for this old staple.