To help you plan a delicious and stress-free St Patrick�s Day this year, Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, is suggesting a simple timetable. Some delicious, easy to make, traditional Irish recipes can be found on the Bord Bia website at http://www.bordbia.ie/StPatricksDay

There�s a wealth of Irish food available in the UK these days and all the ingredients in the Bord Bia recipes can be bought in your local supermarket or fine food retailer.

Saturday 14th March Once you�ve done your shopping you�ll probably want a cup of (Barry�s) tea. Once tea time is over, start preparing the Irish beef stew with Herby Dumpling. When this has cooled down ladle into individual containers (it�ll defrost quicker) and freeze until Tuesday.

Sunday � 15th March Why not have a joint of Irish beef as you can use the leftovers for your St Patrick�s Day lunch!

Monday � 16th March On Monday, when the kids get home from school - and they�ve done their homework - get them to bake some Irish farmhouse cheese shamrock shaped biscuits so they can take them into school to share with their friends (and maybe teacher too!). It�s the same recipe for cheese straws so this is a really simple recipe to follow but the end result looks great. Shamrock shaped pastry cutters can easily be bought on line.

Tuesday � 17th March - St Patrick�s Day

Breakfast You may need to get up a little earlier to prepare your Irish soda bread as it takes about an hour to make and bake (Bord Bia have given the recipe a delicious twist, using Irish farmhouse cheese and Flahavan�s Irish Porridge Oats). Don�t forget to take your Irish beef stew with herby dumplings out of the freezer!

Once the loaf is in the oven, prepare your family a Full Irish breakfast. You can get delicious Irish rashers (bacon) and sausages from your local supermarket or local butcher and for a real taste of Ireland, the award winning Clonakilty black and white pudding can be ordered from www.okaneirishfoods.co.uk. Fry a free range egg and a large flat mushroom per person and add half a grilled tomato. Make a pot of (Barry�s) tea or coffee and by the time you�ve prepared and cooked the breakfast your soda bread should be ready to take out of the oven. Let it cool down for a few minutes and spread with lashings of Irish butter.

Lunchtime Lunchboxes can be filled with slices of Irish beef and your home made Irish soda bread. Add a teaspoonful of Ballymaloe Country Relish and garnish with a tomato and lettuce. That should keep you going until supper time. St Patrick�s Day Supper Tuesday evening � now the family can sit down together to raise a glass of Irish whiskey (such as the multi award winning Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey) to St Patrick and enjoy your homemade Irish beef stew.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITOR

1. Irish beef is predominantly grass fed and it has been proven that this is the healthiest feeding system both for the cattle and for humans. The meat has a near perfect balance of omega-3:omega-6 and has less overall fat therefore less calories and cholesterol. Fact sheets are available on request. Continued� 2. Irish beef is available at your local supermarket and butcher (if not, simply ask your butcher to order it for you).

3. Irish farmhouse cheeses are available at Sainsbury�s, Waitrose, Selfridges Food Hall, Harrods, Paxton & Whitfield and Neal�s Yard Dairy. Or, go to your local deli and ask them to order these cheeses for you (Sheridan�s or Neal�s Yard Dairy are great wholesalers)

4. Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey is produced in Ireland�s only independently owned distillery, The Cooley Distillery, owned by the Teeling family. In 2008, The Cooley Distillery won World Distiller of the Year and the whiskey also swept up gold medals at all last year�s international spirit competitions. Connemara Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey is available in Waitrose and Oddbins.

5. Flahavan�s Irish Porridge Oats are available at Waitrose, Sainsbury�s and ASDA.

6. Ballymaloe Country Relish is available at Morrisons, Waitrose, Sainsburys and Budgens.

7. Barry�s Tea is available at ASDA.

For further press information please contact: Bernie Fennerty, Food Matters. Tel: 020 7371 6466 or email bernadette@foodmatters.co.uk