I have some Irish friends in blogland that inspired me to add a wee bit of green for St. Patrick's Day to my blog. There is nothing on my St. Patrick's Day menu since we'll be getting together with our dinner group for a celebration.
In the photo above, I came across these Annalee dolls in a store so I snapped their pictures. A young adult in the 1930's, Annalee created dolls, unaware this hobby would become her life's calling. Annalee transformed a chicken coop into a design room, and painted her smile onto dolls. She sold her dolls though craft outlets in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and then her hobby transformed itself into a business. Seventy-five years later, the business is still operating out of that chicken coop. How cool is that!
This non-Irish gal has made her share of corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread and Potato Soup over the years. This year I won't be cooking any Irish fare but I will be bringing my lucky shamrock salad to a dinner party. Spinach salad garnished with four leaf clovers.
To make the four leaf clovers, I use baby spinach leaves which are relatively flat. You can use any flat green such as basil, but be forewarned that it's a wee bit tricky getting them through the punch. My inspiration came from here.
This non-Irish gal has made her share of corned beef and cabbage, Irish soda bread and Potato Soup over the years. This year I won't be cooking any Irish fare but I will be bringing my lucky shamrock salad to a dinner party. Spinach salad garnished with four leaf clovers.
To make the four leaf clovers, I use baby spinach leaves which are relatively flat. You can use any flat green such as basil, but be forewarned that it's a wee bit tricky getting them through the punch. My inspiration came from here.
I did a little Googling about St. Patrick's Day for you ;o) Did you know that in Great Britain, the Queen Mother used to present bowls of shamrock flown over from Ireland to members of the Irish Guards, a regiment in the British Army consisting primarily of soldiers from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland? The Irish Guards still wear a shamrock on this day, flown in from Ireland.
Did you know that Montreal's flag has a shamrock in one of it's corners?
You probably know that 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.
I brought out my green cabbage teapot for the occasion. It is teensy tiny, and belonged to my grandmother.
Close to my home, in the city of Syracuse, NY, Saint Patrick's celebrations are traditionally begun with the delivery of green beer to Coleman's Irish Pub on the first Sunday of March. Coleman's is located in the Tipperary Hill section of the city. Tipperary Hill is home to the World famous "Green-on-Top" Traffic Light and is historically the Irish section in Syracuse. Saint Patrick's Day is rung in at midnight with the painting of a Shamrock under the Green-Over-Red traffic light.
I am joining Cuisine Kathleen for her annual blog crawl. Thanks for stopping by!
xo
Debbie
I am joining Cuisine Kathleen for her annual blog crawl. Thanks for stopping by!
xo
Debbie
