I love St. Patricks Day!!!!!

I always have. I'm about as un-irish as you are going to get but there is just something about wearing green and chasing leprechauns that really excites me. When my son was in preschool he brought some "magic beans" home. I let him plant them in the yard. Well you can imagine his surprise, and mine, when those beans grew lollipops. Every year on St. Patricks day there is a fresh harvest of lollipops. He picks them all and then they keep growing throughout the day. The more he shares them with others, the more lollipops will grow. Its a lot of fun. You know what else is fun about St. Patricks day? You can buy a six pack of Guinness on sale at Safeway for $7.99. "Now what," you ask, "would you do with all that Guinness?" Um, I can't believe you would have to ask me that. You make a roast. Duh.  

Guinness Bar-B-Q Sauce

1 15oz can tomato sauce

3 cups brown sugar

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2 cups guinness or other dark beer

1 Tbs. tamari soy sauce

Preheat oven to 325. Mix all ingredients together in a large sauce pan. Pour half of the sauce into a dutch oven. Place your roast in the dutch oven. Now place the dutch oven in your oven. I used a 10 lb. roast and it took about 3 hours to cook. It was delicious. I mean delicious. With the remaining sauce, cook it over medium heat on the stove top for about 20 minutes. This allowes all the alcohol from the beer to cook off. I think it gives it a nicer flavor, however this is a completely optional step. If you prefer you can leave the Guinness out and you will still have a wonderful bar-b-q sauce. Now what do you do while this cooks. Well, if I were you, I'd make some carmelized onions.

Carmelized Onions

2 medium onions

1 Tbs. butter or olive oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup Guinness

Sautee the onions in the butter or olive oil over low heat until they are translucent. This takes about 10 minutes. They burn quickly so keep your eye on them. Add the remaining ingredients, cover the pot and let them cook for about another 45 minutes. When they are done they will be extremely soft and sweet. I'm not kidding you guys, I ate these like candy. They were perfect

I chose to serve all of this "sandwich style" with rolls, the sliced roast, onions, and cole slaw. It was perfect. I also tossed some potatoes in some olive oil and garlic and threw them in the oven for oven fries. This meal was nice because there really isn't a lot of prep work. It does take a lot of time to prepare the roast but once in is in the oven you don't have to do anything til it is time to take it out of the oven.