Sweet Zoey and me testing the appetizer I made for Tram and Steve’s St. Patrick’s Day/Going-Away dinner party last Friday night. Zoey and Zak were not fans of the Guinness Fondue, but they did love all the dippers for it.

One of the dippers is blanched Brussels sprouts.

To blanch them; trim the ends and cut them in half. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Add sprouts and boil for 3 or 4 minutes, or until a paring knife pierces a sprout easily. Drain and then shock in ice water. Drain on paper towels and leave at room temperature until serving time. Note: When you’re trimming and halving the sprouts, you’ll end up with a pile of single leaves. I blanched the leaves first for about 30 seconds, shocked and drained them, and used them in a salad the next day. Zero waste!

Also a note about another dipper – the pretzel roll cubes. I didn’t have time to get to Costco and buy a package of their pretzel rolls, which are the best around, in my opinion. Instead, I bought the Trader Joe’s pretzel rolls. You know I love my Trader Joe’s, but there is no comparison between the two rolls. The Costco variety is saltier and way more pretzel-y. Lesson learned.

One last note before the recipe. I know, I’ve got so much to say about this easy-breezy appetizer! A third and very important dipper is apple cubes. In my rush to assemble and set out the appetizer when I arrived at Tram’s, I forgot to add the apple cubes to the serving tray. I felt like something was missing, but I brushed it off. Finally, a guest asked, “What is this container of apple cubes for?” Darn it! Don’t forget to put them out because they add a much-needed light and bright color to the tray of dippers and are a delicious fresh addition to the overall taste choices. *If you look closely in the left upper corner of the photo above, you’ll see them in their storage container with the purple trimmed lid. Oh well.

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The one bummer about St. Patrick’s Day is that it always falls during Lent. I nearly always give up alcohol for Lent, so it’s a bit of a letdown. Maybe next year I’ll just give up green beer!

Here are three St. Patrick’s Day recipes that won’t let you down! Plus, you can find more by clicking on the “Complete Recipe Index” over there on the left and scrolling down to the “Holidays” heading, and then scrolling to “St. Patrick’s Day.”

Have a wonderful day and be sure to partake in “The Wearing of the Green!”

Irish Pizza

Stout and Irish Whiskey Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream Frosting (aka Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes)

Duffy’s Irish Soda Bread

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These darling green tartlets are perfect for St. Patrick’s Day but they will soon be serving another purpose for me.

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As promised, here is the fantastic recipe for a traditional Irish Soda Bread, given to me from Sharon Cereska. The recipe writer in me couldn’t help but rewrite it a little bit, but I only changed one actual ingredient from the original recipe, and that was using unsalted butter instead of margarine. I don’t use or buy margarine, sorry, can’t help being a foodie snob about that one!

My reworded recipe is first and Sharon’s original family recipe is below. But first, here is what Sharon wrote to me when she sent the recipe, accompanied by a lovely treasured family photo of hers.  Thank you Sharon for sharing with me and everyone out there in the blog-a-sphere.

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At 4:30 today I’ll appear on Channel 12 Valley Dish with Tram Mai, where we’ll be making my Corned Beef, Cabbage, and Potato Pizza, along with this Mint-Chocolate Shake. If you want your shake to be green, it’s important NOT to use green-colored mint chocolate chip ice cream, but instead, the more natural white ice cream. When blended, the green ice cream turns a lovely chocolate brown from all those chips! You’ll be using green food coloring to turn the white ice cream green. Either way, green or brown, this is one heavenly holiday treat! Now you can go to the “In The News” page on the left and watch the video of the show…

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Time to gear up for the green! Tomorrow it is finally St. Patrick’s Day, and coincidentally I need to make a couple of dozen cookies for friends, so green it is! These soft cake-like cookies would be perfect for a Tea or Brunch. The “High Tea” theme is popular for weddings and baby showers, and so are these cookies. For a wedding shower, you could tint one half of the icing color of the bridesmaid dresses and leave the other half white. For a baby shower, pink and blue are the obvious choices. No matter what color theme you choose, these cookies will disappear as fast as you put them out!

I tested baking the cookies on both a Silpat lined baking sheet and one that was sprayed with Pam. Although I generally use the Silpat when baking, the cookies turned out a crisper on the unlined pan and in this case, a crisper is better. You can see the results for yourself in the pictures below. And thanks to my “cookie tester and model”- Connor, who is home for spring break!

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One week from today is St. Patrick’s Day!  Here are a few fun St. Patrick and St. Patrick’s Day facts from Wikipedia:

• Blue was the original color associated with St. Patrick, not green.
• St Patrick used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) to the Irish people.
• St. Patrick died on March 17th 461 AD.
• The Irish Society of Boston organized what was not only the first Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the colonies but the first recorded Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in the world on 17 March 1737.
• The first parade in Ireland was not until the 1931 parade in Dublin.
• Chicago dyes its river green and has done so since 1962 when sewer workers used green dye to check for sewer discharges and had the idea to turn the river green for St. Patrick’s Day.
• St. Patrick’s Day is a one-day reprieve from the forty days of fasting during the season of Lent. For many Christians, this includes indulging in ale.
• Saint Patrick’s Day is widely celebrated in America by Irish and non-Irish alike. Many people, regardless of ethnic background, wear green-colored clothing and items. Traditionally, those who are caught not wearing green are pinched, usually affectionately.
• And of course, corned beef and cabbage is the food most associated with St. Patrick’s Day in the United States.

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There is a multitude of things I like about this soup; #1 It is super green – one of my favorite colors, #2 It is super healthy – no roux or cream to thicken, and #3 It is super versatile.

Plus, it is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day thanks to its super greenness (only about 23 days away – yes I do count it down- I can’t help it – I’m 100% Irish !) It is already plenty healthy as is, but even more so when prepared vegetarian style using vegetable broth and tofu instead of chicken broth and chicken. And it is perfect for Lent, just replace the chicken with cooked and diced shrimp and you’re all set for a Friday night meal.

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