ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI: ST. PATRICK'S DAY AT PAPPY MAYS

When I was a little girl, there was no place like Pappy Mays' for St. Patrick's Day. Pappy Mays turned the old tin washtub upside down, for its flat bottom gave me the perfect stage to perform the Irish jig. Pappy would whistle, and I kept time.

As we ate, the air was full of shamrock shenanigans. Jokes about everyone's favorite Irishmen, Mike and Pat, were flying as we were eating. The heavily laden table offered everything from corned beef and cabbage to my great-grandmother's Irish marmalade bread pudding. The pudding was made with her homemade orange marmalade, a first-cousin to Irish marmalade, with its tart slivers of orange peel and sweet jelly base. Traditional Irish marmalade is one of the joys of any Irish table.

The bread pudding was my favorite dish. It was served with fresh milk that had been kept cool in the spring house. I got to help Pappy retrieve the milk from its tin can in the spring.

Pappy crossed over the rainbow into clouds of green when I was 7, but my mother and I have carried on the family Irish tradition. On St. Patrick's Day we sing a song or two, and give a toast of love, for all the sons and daughters of Erin before us and for all those to come.

Angie's favorite Irish blessing

May the wind always be to your back, and

May the road always rise to meet you, and

May you be dead and in heaven a half-hour,

Before the devil knows that you are dead.

Irish Marmalade Bread Pudding

3 1/2 cups sliced bread cubes

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup brown sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for topping

1/2 cup Irish or other orange marmalade

pinch of salt

3 cups milk (skim or regular)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Place the bread cubes in a mixing bowl.

2. Combine remaining ingredients (except 1 tablespoon brown sugar for topping) and pour over the bread cubes. Stir to moisten. If bread is dry, let stand 15 minutes.

3. Pour pudding into a greased 2-quart souffle dish. Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of brown sugar. Bake 45-50 minutes, or until brown and knife inserted in center of pudding comes out clean.

Yield: 4 servings.

Visit Angie at her Web site, www.cookingwithangie.com.

Angie Holtzhouser is author of Drop Dumplin's and Pan-Fried Memories ... Along the Mississippi. Her cookbook is available at local bookstores. In addition, it can be purchased through the mail at: Drop Dumplin's, P.O. Box 10, Lilbourn, Mo. 63862. The price is $19.95, including tax and shipping.