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."

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.