Charcuterie night at an Irish pub

Guinness sliders, lamb lettuce wraps and Dubliner cheese, plus a little Yeats. A perfect night of craic, setting the stage for the Ireland Writing Retreat on the Wild Atlantic Way

Last night’s Charcuterie 17.0 was a celebration of Irish pub food, in anticipation of heading to Ireland later this month to lead the Ireland Writing Retreat on the Wild Atlantic Way.

The main board features Guinness sliders on a nest of hashed potatoes, lamb lettuce wraps, coffee-and-pepper encrusted salame (a homage to Irish coffee), along with honeydew melon, white nectarines, orange bell peppers and tiny tomatoes.

The second board picks up a green-white-orange theme, hearkening to the colors of the Irish flag, featuring honeydew, Irish Dubliner cheese and tangerine slices, with a tiny bowl of raspberries as an accent.

Naturally, this pairs well with a pint of Guinness or Redbreast Irish whiskey.

In honor of Irish heritage, I’ll leave you with the poem that William Butler Yeats wrote as a love letter to Maud Gonne — and to the rising Irish spirit, “Song of the Wandering Aengus.”

The Song of Wandering Aengus

BY WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS

I went out to the hazel wood,

Because a fire was in my head,

And cut and peeled a hazel wand,

And hooked a berry to a thread;

And when white moths were on the wing,

And moth-like stars were flickering out,

I dropped the berry in a stream

And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor

I went to blow the fire a-flame,

But something rustled on the floor,

And someone called me by my name:

It had become a glimmering girl