My St. Patrick's Day Dinner 2026

March 25, 2026

I always enjoy hosting St. Patrick's Day dinner at my farm.

This year, I invited 13 friends to join me for a delicious feast - complete with my corned beef, root vegetables, and of course, my own version of the traditional Irish soda bread. I started with a colorful salad. The brisket was brined and cooked perfectly and served with potatoes, cabbage, carrots, parsnips, turnips, and leeks. And for dessert - refreshing citrus granita and Tarte au Fromage a recipe from my 100th book that combines the rich flavors of farmer cheese and crème fraîche with a flaky pâte brisée crust. Everything was made by me! It was an evening of good company and great food.

Many of these photos were taken by Kevin Sharkey - enjoy and follow him on Instagram @seenbysharkey.

: I shared the beginnings of my belated St. Patrick’s Day dinner on my Instagram Stories @marthastewart48 – did you catch it? I also promised more images and here they are. Kevin Sharkey took this one of me behind the kitchen counter. These are my Irish Soda Bread loaves fresh from the oven.

: Whenever I entertain indoors at my farm, it’s usually in my Brown Room, a large dining room and sitting area. Here is our beautifully set table – in all shades of green, of course.

: Here’s a view from above – the table was set for 14.

: I decide the place settings for every holiday meal – working closely with my housekeepers to make sure we have all the necessary plates, utensils, and glasses. The green china plates are Paris porcelain monogrammed with an “S”.

: I also displayed False Shamrock, Oxalis triangularis, down the center as my centerpieces. Do you know the difference between a shamrock and a clover? Shamrocks always have three leaves, while clovers can have a fourth. Shamrocks are usually green, but one can also find them in purple, green, or white. And shamrocks grow in clumps, while four-leaf clovers are rare and grow one at a time.

: Dinner was scheduled for 6:30pm. Everyone arrived right on time and started with my Meyer Lemon Drop cocktails. The recipe is in my 100th book, MARTHA: The Cookbook. The drink includes vodka, Cointreau, Meyer lemon juice and Meyer lemon juice simple syrup.

: Here are the glasses all rimmed with sugar.

: I love using fresh, organic vegetables from my gardens. I always grow lots of varieties of lettuce, so I can enjoy them at dinners and share them with my family and friends.

: I made loaves of my Irish Soda Bread with rye flour, wheat germ, golden raisins, and caraway. Everyone always loves my Irish soda bread – there’s never a crumb left over. Legend has it that, in some areas of Ireland, a cross was cut on the top of the Irish soda bread with a knife to ward off the devil and protect the household. It also helps the bread cook evenly and thoroughly. Irish soda bread is a somewhat sweet white bread made with eggs and butter and studded with raisins and caraway seeds — the “soda” in the name comes from the baking soda, or “bread soda” in Ireland used to leaven it instead of yeast and kneading.

: I sliced the loaves and served it with delicious Vermont Creamery butter.

: For dessert – Tarte au Fromage. The light filling includes fresh farmer cheese and crème fraîche. It pairs so well with the flaky pâte brisée crust. Find the recipe in MARTHA: The Cookbook – it will quickly become one of your favorite desserts to eat and share.

: The platters were on the kitchen counter, so all my guests could help themselves. Kevin took this photos before we all “dug in.” There was plenty for everyone. Everything was so beautiful, and delicious.

: The vegetables were very tasty. This platter has potatoes and cut parsnips.

: This is a platter of turnips and corned beef. In Ireland, beef was a meat reserved only for the wealthy. The Great Famine resulting from potato blight caused a mass migration of the Irish to the new world. In America, corned beef was readily available to Irish immigrants and became a favored comfort food.