Luck of the Irish Kettle Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

2 T butter

1 1/2 C white onion, chopped

1 C celery, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 C chicken broth

1 1/2 C carrots, chopped

4 C cabbage, coarsely chopped

1 bay leaf

1 t parsley flakes

1/2 t thyme

1/4 t pepper

2 1/2 C cooked corned beef, chopped

1 (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with juice

1/4 t salt

Directions:

Melt the butter in a kettle placed over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and stir to coat with the butter. Cook 8 minutes or until the vegetables are fork tender, stiring often. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Pour the chicken broth into the kettle. Carefully stir in the carrots and cabbage. Add in the bay leaf, parsley, thyme and pepper and stir to incorporate. Bring the soup to a steady boil.

Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium low and cover the kettle. Allow the soup to simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Up the heat to medium then stir in the corned beef. As the soup begins to boil carefully add in the tomatoes. When the soup has returned to a steady boil reduce the heat again to medium low.

Cook uncovered for 15 minutes.

Sprinkle in the salt and stir to combine.

Serves: 8

Corned beef was originally substituted by the Irish Americans for bacon in the late 1800's. Many believe that eating corned beef with cabbage on St. Patrick's Day brings good luck throughout the year.

Inspiring Irish Blessing

From: seestaernli

St. Patrick's Day Brings Out the Irish Cooking

There is something about St. Patrick's Day that brings out the Irish cook in all of us. At least it seems to have this effect on the women in my family. If you are not of Irish decent it may not have quite this profound effect upon you. If you are, then I'm quite certain you will understand what I mean by this. There's something about revisiting traditions that may have been lost in the fog of coming to a new world and adopting a new way of life that is lifted on this one day of the year. As a result old favorite recipes handed down from mother to daughter over the centuries come out and grand meals are prepared.

If your mother wasn't of Irish decent and you do not have a stockpile of wonderful Irish recipes in your inventory there are a few great websites on the Internet that offer excellent recipes that have already been converted to standard American measurements that will have Irish eyes and any eyes that think they might wish to be Irish smiling once again.

Corned beef and cabbage is a favorite. In our house we add great things like potatoes and carrots to the recipe. This is a great meal because it can be put in the crock pot before the work of the day begins and with very little effort is simply waiting on you to be ready for dinner time. No real effort is necessary in creating an outstanding feast that many will think you've had to miss a parade or two in order to prepare.

Irish stew is another great dish to put on your St. Patrick's Day table. There are also slow cooker or crock pot recipes available for this family favorite if you take the time to search them out. This is a stick to your ribs kind of meal that is very popular in cooler climates for the St. Patrick's Day festivities. This makes a great lunch or dinner for this great day and goes quite well with Irish Soda Bread.

Shepherd's pie is another hale and hearty meal that is a wonderful addition to the St. Patrick's Day festivities. This dish is a favorite among those who have tried it and might just become a staple recipe in your kitchen if you haven't managed to prepare it before. There are many recipes online though I recommend going the path of least resistance and finding the simplest recipe possible.

No Irish meal is really complete without potatoes of some kind on the table. Keep this in mind no matter which meal you cook. There must be potatoes in order to complete the meal or it simply cannot be authentically Irish. This may be a slight exaggeration but you should take a moment to make sure that there are potatoes for this particular event because it's just a very Irish
thing to do.

Of course Irish coffee and green beer are quite often the drink choices for St. Patties day celebrations and they are never a bad choice, provided someone not drinking those drinks is doing the driving. If alcohol isn't your beverage of choice it is definitely not a requirement. However, if you are feeling particularly in line with the green theme of St. Patrick's Day you could make a green milk shake, a green smoothie, green powdered drink mix, or any other green drink that comes to mind. The drinks and even the colors aren't really all that important in the end. It is all in good fun at this point even if it isn't Irish in nature. There are some days when it just pays to be green despite the fact that Kermit still claims, "it ain't easy being green."

St. Patrick's Day Fun

by Angela Billings

Have a little "green" fun with the following activities.

Make Irish Toast - Simply get a piece of sliced bread and paint shamrocks on it using a new, clean small tipped paintbrush and water mixed with green food coloring. Then pop it in the toaster and serve when lightly browned.

Make Shamrock Pancakes - Use a heart cookie cutter and cut 3 hearts out of the cooked pancake and form in a shamrock shape.

Make construction paper shamrocks - Cut 3 heart shapes out and arrange them in the shamrock shape and glue on construction paper. It is said that St Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the concept of the Trinity; which refers to the combination of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is said to be one reason for the strong association with St. Patrick's day and name.

Make Leprechaun Traps - give the children boxes, string, ribbons, tape, glue, sticks, wood and other craft materials to help them make a leprechaun trap have children set the traps before going to bed, then while they are sleeping you can leave gold wrapped chocolate coins or something else special in each childs trap.

Angela Billings is a stay at home wife and mother who publishes an online newsletter Home and Family Ezine. Subscribe and receive 10 more St. Patrick's Day ideas in a free downloadable report. http://www.homeandfamilyezine.com

Article Source: Lady Pens

"Shamrock" Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

1 package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup butter or margarine -- softened
1 tsp vanilla, almond extract or lemon extract
1 egg
Green sugar sprinkles

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375º.

Beat half of the dry cake mix with the shortening, butter, vanilla and egg in a large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, or mix with spoon. Mix in the remaining cake mix.

Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each part 1/8 inch thick on lightly floured surface. Cut with a Shamrock shaped cookie cutter; sprinkle with sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until light brown. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool.

A Leprechaun Visit on St. Patrick's Day!

by EarTwiggle

It is a lot of fun to learn about leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day. Leprechauns are little Irish fairies, and they are thought to be shoemakers. The Irish say that if a leprechaun is caught by a human, he will reveal where he hides his pot of gold. It is believed that they bury their gold in secret places only Leprechauns can reach, or that the pot of gold is hidden at the end of the rainbow.

The leprechaun visit - The night before St. Patrick’s Day, do some harmless pranks and mess up the family-room after your children are in bed. Think of as many silly things as you can that your children will notice in the morning. Leave little gold coins or gold nuggets (beans sprayed golden) lying around. Hide a scroll (letter from the leprechaun – find print version at www.kidssoup.com) for your children to find. Read the letter together and tell your children about the mischievous leprechauns and their pot of gold.

Have children search for the gold coins/nuggets that the leprechaun left behind and put them in a bowl. Ask them to estimate the number of gold coins there are in the pot. Count the coins with the children and use this opportunity to introduce and teach the math concepts “same,” “one more,” and “one less.”

After cleaning up after the leprechaun, have children write a letter to the leprechaun asking him to please clean up next time he plays in your house. Discuss how you could catch a leprechaun and make a leprechaun trap together. Use items around the house like a shoebox, a clean can, paper rolls, strings, sandwich bags, etc. Be creative and have fun. Don’t forget to decorate the trap and to add bait.

Scavenger Hunt - Before your children return from school (or the next morning), close the trap and place inside it a piece of a rainbow and shamrock with a clue from the leprechaun. Print other clues onto the other pieces of the rainbow and hide them in the room. After following each clue, your children will find some of the leprechaun’s “pot of gold” - bag of chocolate foil-covered coins!

Color some leprechaun coloring pages and make a leprechaun puppet to remind you of his visit.

If you are lucky enough to capture a Leprechaun don’t take your eyes off him for even a second or he will disappear. Happy leprechaun hunting....

Jolanda Garcia is a former teacher and educational content designer and runs several websites. Her goal is to provide parents and teachers with quality resources to promote their children's development and creativity. Visit her websites at: Preschool activities and crafts , and http://www.eartwiggles.com for resources and activities to promote healthy eating habits in young children.

Article Source: Lady Pens

The Luck of the Irish - Corn Beef and Cabbage Dinner

Ingredients:

1 5-pound corn beef brisket with spice packet

6 potatoes, peeled and quartered

1 large head of green cabbage, cut into wedges

Instructions:

Open spice packet and rub spices onto the brisket. Be sure to coat both sides. Place brisket in a large cooking pot and cover completely with cold water. On high heat bring water to a rapid boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low, cover pot and simmer brisket for approximately 3 hours.

Remove lid and place quartered potatoes in pot. Recover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes until potatoes are almost fork tender. Remove lid from pot and place cabbage wedges on top. Simmer uncovered for approximate 15 minutes or until cabbage and potatoes are at desired tenderness.

The Holiday Where Everyone is Irish - Saint Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day is a holiday in which we celebrate "Saint Patrick" who was one of the patron saints of Ireland credited with spreading the Catholic religion to many areas of Ireland.

St. Patrick’s Day is a national holiday in Ireland with many businesses being closed on that day. In other parts of the world, especially the US and Canada, it is widely celebrated but is not an official government holiday. It takes place on the 17th day of March each year, which is the day on which Saint Patrick died.

St. Patrick’s Day is a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. Interestingly enough, occasionally the church authorities move the date of the holiday because of its clash with other holy days. In 2008 this is the case, and it will be moved to March 15th to avoid Holy Monday. Catholics around the world will start off their St. Patrick’s Day with a Mass service which is held to signify the holiday.

Amazingly, St. Patrick’s Day began being celebrated here in the United States with a parade in Queens New York in 1737, well before the Revolutionary War. Since that day, parades are a very popular way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Here in the United States, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by everyone becoming of Irish decent for the day and has become more of a secular holiday than one of religion. Also, here in the United States, it has taken on more of a meaning of celebrating the beginning of spring. This goes along with the tradition of wearing green on the day, because green is both the color of Ireland as well as the color which signifies life and growth. It is said that you will be lucky for the coming Spring if you wear green on the holiday.

Many people wear a shamrock on the holiday to signify good luck. However, the roots of this tradition, it is said, come from St. Patrick using a shamrock to explain to the pagans the concept of the Holy Trinity. In the Catholic Religion, the Holy Trinity is the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, which Christians know all stem from the same God. The three leaves of the shamrock all connected to the same stem were used to explain this concept to the pagans. If you are wearing a shamrock on St. Patrick’s Day, it means that you can claim good luck or blessings on that day and for the rest of the year.

In addition to the shamrock, many people believe that the cute little fictitious Leprechaun character can bring you good luck. For this reason many people wear Leprechaun pins and other memorabilia on St. Patrick’s Day as well as a shamrock.

One of the fun and very popular traditions which goes along with St. Patrick’s Day is the consumption of green ale. Many bars and pubs add green food coloring to their beer on the holiday to serve to their customers. In addition to the green ale, many people also indulge in Irish Cream and Irish Whisky on the day as well. For the kids, a nice green lemonade or 7UP make great non-alcoholic alternatives.