Sunday, March 15, 2009

St. Patrick's Day (American Style)


Our family has always celebrated St. Patrick's Day as if it were one of the "big" holidays-- we enjoy a big family gathering to eat a traditional Irish dinner, wearing of the green all day, buying clovers for every person and definitely drinking green drinks... It just dawned on me, though, that my way of celebrating this day is most likely a completely Americanized version of the day. Someday I would love to go to Ireland for St. Patrick's Day and experience the traditional celebration, but for now, I'll enjoy my Americanized version! Here are all things-St. Pat to me!

McDonald's Shamrock Shake
I love McDonald's Shamrock Shakes. Our family didn't head to McDonald's that often growing up, but if we did manage to get there during March, I'd always get a Shamrock Shake! I found a Shamrock Shake recipe online so you can make it at home! Yum.

Wearing Green
When I was little, I dressed head to toe in green, whether the patterns matched or not. In high school, it was all about tricking your friends and only wearing green underwear or socks... To this day, I still wear the green for St. Pats. Heck, I don't want to get pinched!

Good Ol' Irish [American] Pub
Who doesn't like a great Irish pub... Although I don't think the ambience in an American/Irish pub is quite like an Irish pub in the rolling hills of Cork County, it still can be a good time! Even in my suburbian town we have an Irish pub!

Irish [American] Songs
I love Irish music... I have several different albums, for when I'm in that Celtic mood, but here's one of my all-time favorites to play on St. Pats: Bing Crosby's Top O'the Morning - His Irish Collection. My favorite tune from this album is "Macnamara's Band."

Green Beer
A Guiness is really the beer to be drinking on St. Pats... it's so rich and delicious... but it's hard to have a lot of Guiness. That's probably why the green beer phenomenon is so popular! I found many recipes online to make your own green beer at home! Not a beer drinker, check out these Irish Drink recipes as well.

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