Beware! How AM~Erica Spent this Ides of March

So anyway...

As we get this round of celebrations rolling, we had an ultimate Ultimate Pi Day yesterday (reminder HERE). And that's just the beginning...

These next several days are full of holidays!!

Today...though dark, is the infamous Ides of March.

Caesar didn't heed his warning in 44 B.C., on this day, and was stabbed in the back...and several other places...by people he thought were friends.

My family uses this day to kick off our salad season! Not accurate in feasting, but we do enjoy stabbing a fork into a good Chicken Caesar Salad. Wrong? Maybe...but we find it fitting.

With some crazy scheduling that has been entering into our lives this year, we are scaling our feasting back a bit & including apple slices, cubed cheese, and some Italian Bread.

I had hoped to work in an Orange Julius at some point...but it looks like we cannot do it this time. So hoping to makeup for that one tomorrow.

Oh! And as we all probably know by now, I must dress for the occasion! Amm-i-rite?

Yes...this is pretty much my staple Ides of March top. And I got this new headband for $5 that is the perfect topper!! So, I tried to look ready. I just stayed away from government buildings & such.

And now that this weird holiday is coming to a close, I look forward to St. Patrick's Day in a couple of days! One of my favorites!

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica Still Not Good at Math & Didn't Visit a Government Building

So anyway...

CELEBRATE! CELEBRATE! CELEBRATE!
I'm in the midst of celebrating like CRAZY!

Yesterday, March 14th, was National Pi Day. How did you celebrate?

OK...I'll admit that I'm still working on this one...

I am SO not good at math. It hurts my head. Just when I start filling my head with math...my brain takes a strange detour & it is all like, "Whoa! Check out these other numbers & figures I can come up with!" And then it comes across a land mind of a brain cell...and there is a semi-brain cell explosion...

Not. Pretty.

Anyhoo...when Pi Day rolls around, I just stick with what I know: piE!

So, we have pizza (we enjoyed Minsky's pizza), then finished off with oatmeal cream pies from Little Debbie.
I was trying really hard to find Moon Pies...but we didn't have time to make the stop at Bass Pro (yes, they carry Moon Pies) or to clean out a convenient store stash of them. I was  SO disappointed!! But we still enjoyed what we had.

Next year? I think I want a quiche for breakfast & a pot pie for lunch. I also want some of those Moon Pies!

With National Pi Day being on a Saturday next year...I so want to do a Pi Day Nerd Pizza Party! That would be amazing! Especially since I found this out:

Albert Einstein was born on March 14th! Is that so fitting? Just SO appropriate??
Plus, next year, Pi Day will be on 3/14/15! Oh...SO fitting! I am starting to get my wheels turning...

Oh...and my smarticle Teen Boy did use pi to figure out that our pizzas were 22 square inches, each. Yeah...I had a brain cell explode...

*****

Let's move on to today. Yep...another celebration! Of course...

Today is the Ides of March. Did you beware today? This day is when Julius Caesar met his demise. He was literally stabbed in the back (and several other places) on the steps of the Senate in ancient Roman times...

Well, I dressed as toga-like as possible without having to wear a sheet:

Americana: Roman Goddess of Celebration & Caffeine?
...or not...

And I went out in public several times looking like this...

We didn't do much thru the day, but I was so excited for this evening! Our slightly cheesy, yet semi-authentic food was on the menu!

We enjoyed some chicken Caesar salad (with Romaine lettuce)

with grilled cheese croutons & some lighter Caesar dressings

along with a sesame seed Italian bread loaf

three kinds of cubed cheese along with some mini antipastos

and some fruit

And it was all SO good!! A fest fit for Caesar, for sure!!

About the only thing that was missing was my bacon-wrapped figs. Why? I couldn't find any dried figs to use! So upset...still hope to find some to make soon!

Also ran out of time to make sour grapes & fig newton brownies. Bummer!

Then...what else could we possibly do for the Ides of March?
How about NOT go to a government building with friends! Passing up any government building was high on our list...but there had to be more!

So...here's where we went instead:

That's right! Orange Julius at the mall! YUM!!

So we had Orange Julius & Caesar Salad to celebrate remember the Ides of March! *SNORT*

So...hitting a Roman-goddess-like pose was completely called for!

Yep...I went there... (and it's OK...I realize how big of a goober I am)

OK...good celebrating these last couple of days...and sparking future celebrating, too!

Let's consider this diem totally carped!! Shall we?

Stay tuned...(St. Paddy's is comin')

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica So Enjoys March

So anyway...

I know I've been on my major celebrating kick lately...but, hey! It's March!

March has some seriously awesome & totally fun things to celebrate &/or commemorate, yo!



We have Dr. Seuss' Birthday. (read about it HERE)








We can have Mardi Gras, like this year. (read about it HERE)

Those are now checked off of the list for 2014...and now looking to plan for a crazy run of close-together holidays:

Pi Day is coming...and so is the Ides of March! (read about them HERE)

Then, even though it's not a weird holiday, per se, it does need to have it's celebrating looked at. St. Patrick's Day comes right after Pi Day (3/14) & the Ides of March (3/15). So, we gotta plan ahead to get it all in!

I already know that Pi Day will consist of eat of pie. Yes...it should be about math & other nerdicle things, but math really does hurt my head. So it will consist of at least pizza. Maybe some kind of pie for dessert. Other than that...not sure. But it would be awesome to host a Nerd Party on 3/14/15...so let's all think about this next year! Epicness might happen. Until then...the plan is pizza on Pi Day Friday (my hubby came up with that rhyme).

For the Ides of March, it will be Caesar Salad & a large Italian feast. And no visiting of government buildings with friends. Oh...and togas! Or something Roman-inspired to wear for the day.

Those are usually pretty well in place. But I like to keep thinking thru & then thinking thru some more about St. Patrick's Day.

If you remember...corned beef & cabbage is NOT an Irish dish! I'm not a fan of corned beef anyway...so that works for me! Last year, I made an adapted Dublin Coddle. (read about it HERE) I like it! Hubby is OK with it...the kiddos are still whiny! So...the search continues for an authentic meal we ALL will try & hopefully enjoy. Oh...and no pork since we have a non-pork eater. I have found a flavorful beef dish to try...a potato side, a cabbage side & will hope to go back to try tradition Irish soda bread. A couple of Irish-inspired desserts are being planned, too. Hoping to take in the KC parade & catch an Irish movie. We usually do "The Quiet Man" since it's my hubby's fave movie, anyway...but would like to work in "Darby O'Gill & the Little People" as a change. We shall see...

OK...off to some more planning & prep for the upcoming holidays. I've turned on some Irish music to get me focused!

Have I mentioned I love this time of year? Cuz I do...I really, Really, REALLY do!

Are you gonna join in? Let's do this!

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica's Ides of March is Just Fine

So anyway...

I really ENJOY CELEBRATING THINGS. But you might already know that. Amm-i-rite?

And you may know that I am willing for find things to celebrate. And it became a busy, busy feasting week...

Well, this is the second day of a HOLIDAY-TYPE RUN...

Yesterday, the first to start out the festival run being March 14th (3/14), is known as Pi Day! Get it? Math Pi...3.14? Yeah...that. So you could have a nerd party & do a bunch of math. Yes?

But I really don't like math. So I celebrate with pie...like pizza & stuffs.

So, we had pizza & some oatmeal cream pies. Could have done chicken pot pies & quiche, too...even moon pies! Oh! Moon Pies would be great! Moon...like space; Pi...like nerdness. OK...maybe next year...

But then we moved onto today...March 15th: the infamous Ides of March.

In 44 B.C., today wasn't a good one for Julius Caesar. A betrayal of "friends" led to him literally being stabbed in the back...and several other places. Yes, even by Brutus. ("Et tu, Brute?")

He even got a warning that was shoved into his hand on a piece of paper...that he never looked at before heading to the senate's steps. And we think about how differently history, and any way we live today, would have been affected by him reading that little note.

As we ponder this, and slowly do history research about it, the family enjoys a feast fit for Caesar! It's not all accurate, but still fitting:

So, we had an Orange Julius. So not historically correct...but...JULIUS! Duh!

Orange JULIUS from the mall...I got Orange Berry! It was delicious!

And then we get together to enjoy The Feast. And we try to include several of us in the prep. Because there's a lot of prep work...but so worth it!

There's the main part: Caesar Salad!! OK...still so not historically correct...but...CAESAR! Duh!

In that salad, we just use colorful (cuz I like color in my food stuffs) romaine lettuce mix (cuz...romaine sounds like Roman...yeah, that's where my brainy-brain goes) & I add in Italian Butter Grilled Cheese Croutons (RECIPE HERE). And then we top or toss it with Caesar dressing & parmesan.

Then, we marinade chicken breasts in Italian dressing for a couple of hours, and then hubby grills them up & then cuts them into strips. That chicken is amazing with our salad!

Though I have done some other FINGER SIDES FOR THE FEAST last year (and the rest of what we did), some of it changed due to time & variety. So I found on Pinterest some really adorable tiny antipasto kabobs...well, on a toothpick... But I'm the only one in the family who does olives & since we have a non-pork-eater in the house, we were limited on some of the additions I had seen to use. So, I did a grape tomato, a slice of mozzerella, a basil leaf & then placed a slice of turkey pepperoni to it. The drizzled all of those little cuties with the leftover Italian Butter I made for the croutons.

Teen Girl assembled these for me!

We also had our tried-and-true finger food sides of cubed marble cheese, grapes, and sliced Italian bread.

And, with this CRAZY MISSOURI WEATHER, today was around 80 degrees...and perfect for a salad feast!

And, of course you should know, I dressed for the occasion! Duh! No...I didn't toga up for the day...but I did put together my next best Roman-Inspired outfit:

Really...did you expect anything less??

And...we made sure to not visit any government building steps. We decided to cut out that part of the day. What? Too soon?

And...if we had gone, and then saw any of our friends there coming toward us...we would have run. No offense to any of you...just the awkward timing. I know you understand.

Also...why haven't there been some kind of sales this week around these days? C'mon! Pi off of whatever product or service on 3/14? Prices slashed on the Ides of March? What...too soon?

Now that we have feasted & avoided anything we needed to beware...time to take a day off to get our crazy-busy St. Patrick's Day feasting into place...

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

AM~Erica is Trying to Prep the Right Way

So anyway...

This week is one of those weeks with SEVERAL DAYS TO CELEBRATE really closely in the proximity of each other.

Thursday is March 14th...or 3/14 (aka - 3.14)...known as Pi Day. I know it's all mathy & stuffs, and that kind of hurts my head, but I we are going to celebrate with PIE! You know...things like pizza, or quiche, or actual pie. Not sure if or how you plan to celebrate...but here's a starting point!

Friday is March 15th...BEWARE! That's right...it's the Ides of March. The day that Caesar was literally stabbed in the back by his "friends". Since it's all Roman & stuffs...I try to have a Caesar Salad feast fit for a Caesar! HERE'S WHAT WE'VE DONE BEFORE...a lot of fancy-schmacy-like finger foods, salad, antipasto, and maybe even an Orange Julius...you know, "authentic" Roman. Amm-i-rite?

If there's anything that happens on the 16th, I don't know about it...so we just take a break from celebrating...but then...

Sunday is March 17th! You know what that means? Yep...everyone suddenly becomes Irish. Amm-i-rite? But in weird, weird ways...

There's this bizarre tradition where green beer is guzzled, corned beef & cabbage will be consumed along with anything green or mint, and many are way to eager to start pinching if green is worn...and the Irish music starts blaring in hopes that someone will step up to sing "O Danny Boy".

We Americans are cheesy-celebratory hysterical! We can twist anything into an over-the-top holiday that was never meant to be. It's amazing! And, as you know, I try to celebrate where I can...but I try to do it in the right ways. So I'm about to burst some bubbles...sort of...

First, corned beef & cabbage is not Irish. Did you know that? People who find out that I have a lot of Irish in me automatically figures I enjoy the meal. Ewwww! Now don't get me wrong...give me a potato & I will be happy. However, I was so happy when I found out about 5 years ago that the long-standing AMERICAN St. Patrick's tradition is just that..."American". So think thru your annual events next year when you plan on serving up that corned beef & cabbage for St. Paddy's. Because it's not authentic at all. Cabbage? Yes. Corned Beef? Nope.

Second, just because it's green...that doesn't mean it's Irish. Maybe we've latched onto the whole green thing since Ireland is known for being covered in beautiful, lush, emerald foliage. But the green was always known to denote the Catholics...and orange the Protestants. Hence the colors of the flag. So quit the pinching! And we are not all leprechauns.

Next...it's amazing what happens or what we hear that we latch onto for our celebratory "traditions"! Like the music. I love me some Irish music. It's folky & happy...I love it. Not for all the time...but I do enjoy it. Time debunk an old "Irish" favorite! That "O Danny Boy" you expect to hear? Well...guess what. It's not Irish. You can read about it over on my friend's blog HERE. Bill puts it quite well.

As for the beer...maybe not necessarily green...but I'm sure much Guinness will be consumed. Probably a lot of Bailey's & Jameson, too. I don't do a lot of the drinking thing. I'm not a beer drinker. But some Irish coffee is not a bad thing. I actually have a drink I created that is very versatile. Hot or cold; liqueur or non-alcoholic...it's still a Tingling Leprechaun.

TINGLING LEPRECHAUN

coffee

Bailey's/Irish Creme

Mint syrup/extract/creamer (very little)

Chocolate syrup

Milk or Cream

I don't have amounts listed since everyone has different tolerance levels. This is just for a regular coffee drink, like I have often. I really like to make mine a breakfast mocha by using Carnation Instant Breakfast, chocolate flavor, Bailey's non-alcoholic or International Delight Irish Creme creamer, International Delight York peppermint patty flavored creamer in my coffee. It can be hot or iced. You can certainly use the liqueur equivalents to these, too.


Beyond this, I do plan on making a slightly adapted, yet still authentic, Irish meal (like a Dublin Coddle). And I will probably be wearin' a green plaid scarf with a cable-knit sweater (if it turns cool enough...which it might not...). OK, maybe a rainbow dress for church...cuz you can't take all the cheesiness out of it for me...but I do try to take things back to their roots. Like HOW WE CELEBRATED LAST YEAR.

So...there's a lot to get ready for this week! What are you planning to do? Is it cheesy or authentic? And do you know the difference?

Stay tuned...

God Bless, AM~Erica

The Outcome of AM~Erica's Ides of March

So anyway...

Yesterday was the Ides of March. I hope no one got stabbed in the back or anything. Did you attempt to celebrate?

Well, you know that I did! And "enticed" (forced) the family to join in.

I was the only one that dressed for the occasion:


(pic courtesy of my crazy-fabulous neighbor, Jill)

It's not quite a toga. Probably best that I didn't walk around in a sheet wrapped around me. But I tried to get a modernized Roman feel.

Then came prep for dinner:



The dinner served was Caesar salad (I colored the dressing red *snicker*), Caesar dressing marinaded grilled chicken strips (thanks to the hubby for grilling), bacon wrapped figs & dates with herb cream cheese filling, red & green (white) grapes, cubed cheese, sliced apples, and sesame seed Italian bread.



Tea was served in wine glasses/goblets.

We also enjoyed a treat from Orange Julius & fig newton brownies:



Since the girl wasn't with us for the Orange Julius outing, we (all the boys & I) ordered an Orange Julius (teen boy), Strawberry Banana Julius (lil guy), and Pina Colada Julius each for hubby & me. YUM! The fig newton brownies were easy, yummy & filling!!

I also tried a Pinterest recipe for Sour Grapes (aka - Sour Patch Grapes or Glitter Grapes):



The boys (all of them) LOVED these! Gotta make these again!

Didn't get a chance to top things off with vino, but it was a delightful meal. Hubby was very happy with it, for sure! Truly a feast fit for Caesar!

And, I didn't even join in a commemorative friend stabbing. I was feeling nice...well, exhausted...whatever. LOL!

Did anyone out there do anything for the Ides of March?

Stay tuned...St. Paddy's Day is a-comin'...

God Bless, AM~Erica