AM~Erica is Taking in the Craic

So anyway...

What's the craic, me lads & lasses?

Today is it! It's St. Patrick's Day!! A day when everyone's Irish makes an appearance...whether you have Irish ancestry or not...
Never fear...I do have ancestry...no need to be shocked by this tidbit.

So I am ready to do some celebrating, myself.

I cannot get to the KC St. Patrick's Day Parade again this year...but I will be watching it live on TV while I do some dinner prep!

Then, I will turn on some Irish music for the rest of the day...as I continue to do dinner prep!

Breakfast consists of Lucky Charms & some Irish oatmeal. The coffee has some non-alcoholic Irish cream coffee creamer (from Bailey's) in it (and maybe some mint & chocolate for a Tingling Leprechaun)...then a motly-authentic dinner for tonight! And some semi-authentic...but we will certainly enjoy some Irish fare!

If you remember, I talked about corned beef & cabbage HERE. Remember that? Well...there have been a few articles I came across, just in this past week, to bring up the same point:

Link: www.europeancuisines.com

Link: Yahoo! Food

Link: ** Huffington Post

** A couple of things about the Huffington Post link info:

1. I've been saying this about corned beef & cabbage for quite some time. Amm-i-rite?

2. The color of green is worn since the day commemorates the death of a saint...which is Catholic. The green side of the Irish flag is symbolic for the Catholics, orange for the Protestants, white for the division between the two sides. So...wear blue AND green...and you can throw in some orange, too...It's all about coming together & unity at this point. Amm-i-rite?

3. It is believed the snakes being referred to were the demons & pagan ways as he converted Ireland to Christianity. The snakes are a metaphor. That's why there were no actual snakes to chase out...Amm-i-rite?

4. One thing NOT pointed out is that St. Patrick was a male. Right? By referring to him as "St. Patty" means we are calling him the effeminate form of Patrick as St. Patricia. The masculine shortening of Patrick is "Paddy". Quit referring to him as woman. It's kinda weird, yo. So please say "Happy St. PaDDy's Day". Amm-i-rite?
(UPDATE: Just came across this very fitting & timely article HERE! Found AFTER I did this blog post!)

Just know what your celebrating & how you dress thru research...

OK...back to our regularly scheduled programing...

So, instead, I decided to try something that I'm hoping the family will enjoy. The Dublin Coddle, last year, was not enjoyed by everyone as much as hoped. So, I came across this recipe for Pub-Style Irish Orange-Glazed Beef (HERE)! Gonna be adding some cole slaw, colcannon & Irish Soda Bread! Gonna top it off with some desserts: Irish oatmeal cookies, Irish Cream Erin's Lush pie & some Apple Irish Cream Cake! There is some Irish ale that has been also purchased by my hubby. I'm not a beer-drinking girl...so I'll pass on it.

However...you know lookin' the part is all part of the craic in the day!

Not sure if we'll get to work in "The Quiet Man" or not. We shall see how the evening goes...considering it's a school night & stuffs! And we will have some peeps over to share our dinner with.

Plus...it would be entertaining to try to stay up to catch Jimmy Fallon, Conan O'Brien & Stephen Colbert! They are Irish...and those would be some seriously fun shows tonight!

So now that you might be rethinking some of your celebrating plans...what's the plan for you now?

I still say some craic (which is Irish for fun & pronounced like "crack"...but with a great Irish accent) & shenanigans would still be in order! And maybe a wee bit of toasts & blessings should be shared...

But first...a lot of kitchen time today! Gotta get that Irish meal going!

Erin Go Braugh!

Stay tuned...you know the celebration will be shared...

God Bless, AM~Erica