Get ready to shamrock and roll - St Patrick's Day is right around the corner. I think we are all in a-green-ment when I say that even if you're not Irish, it's a day we can all celebrate and make spud-tactular!
St Patrick's Day has had an interesting history. Did you know that Saint Patrick himself was not actually Irish? He was born in England (or Wales - historic documents vary) and was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland when he was 16. He managed to escape after six years, but whilst a slave he formed his religious beliefs and later returned to convert the Irish to Christianity. March the 17th is said to be the day of his death. It wasn't made a public holiday in Ireland until 1903, and up until the 1970s, it was illegal for pubs to be open on this day. Hard to believe now when St Patrick's Day seems to be mostly about drinking green beer and dressing up as leprechauns!
Here are a few of the things associated with Ireland and St Patrick's Day, and will maybe give you a little inspiration for something to create for the big day. You can shop all things green here.
We all associate the colour green with St Patrick's Day, but the man himself actually wore robes of blue and this was the colour associated with the day. When Ireland was fighting for independence from Britain, green started becoming the colour to wear, which is appropriate for a place known also as The Emerald Isle. Legend has it that wearing green makes one invisible to leprechauns too, which is advantageous when leprechauns are said to pinch someone when they see them!
If you'd like to dye your beer and food green so leprechauns won't pinch it all, you can use our Americolor gels! Mint Green is a good choice, as is Leaf Green. Americolor gels are very concentrated so you won't need too much to get a good effect. Just watch out the following morning, if you know what I mean ;-)
These chocolate chip cookies would be a perfect treat to make.
These bagels look awesome!
Delicious Irish soda bread, but make it green.
We're going to delve into some botany here, so hold on... A shamrock is a type of clover, but it is not a four leaf clover. The shamrock (a three leaved clover) is the national emblem of Ireland and a symbol of St Patrick. Legend says that St Patrick used the shamrock as a teaching tool for the Celtics to covert them to Christianity. The number three was important to the Celts, and for Christianity it could represent the Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Historians now think that this didn't happen at all, and that shamrocks were actually added to St Patrick's legend as late as the 19th century. Four leaf clovers are a three leaf clover with, well, an extra leaf. It's a genetic mutation that causes the extra leaf and they are very rare. Odds are about 1/10,000 to find one, which is why they are considered lucky. The lesson to take from this is make sure to wear shamrocks or make shamrock shaped goodies for St Paddy's Day, not four leaf clovers.
People love to shorten names when they can, and it's no different for St Patrick's Day! But should you say St Paddy's Day or St Patty's Day? Which is correct? Patrick is the anglicised version of Pádraig, which is shortened to Paddy in Ireland. Although Pat is often a nickname for Patrick, Patty is more usually used as a shortened form of the female name Patricia. So definitely go with St Paddy's Day or even with St Pat's Day if you must shorten it.
A massive amount of beer is consumed on St Patrick's day, the most popular of course being Guinness - the black gold. The brewer says that 13 million pints of the stuff will be consumed worldwide on the day. Blimey! To help soak up that alcohol, why not make some little beer shaped cookies? You could even make them Guinness flavoured. Here's one recipe, although there are lots more out there on the interwebs:
https://confessionsofabakingqueen.com/guinness-chocolate-cookies/
Here are some rather lovely green beer cookies to get some inspiration from!
Leprechauns are a type of fairy, but a very grumpy one. They are always male, solitary and short. There are theories that leprechauns are the unwanted and rejected children of fairies, which would explain why they are grouchy and lonesome. They are also known for being quite mischievous and for playing tricks on humans. Leprechauns work very hard - they are cobblers by trade - and because of this they have a lot money, which they have to hide at the end of rainbows to stop people from stealing it. Don't try and trick a leprechaun into giving you his money though, he'll be much smarter than you and will most likely play a trick on you instead!
How cute is this little leprechaun face cake? He doesn't look grumpy at all, but he really looks like he's got some mischief going on!
And any leprechaun would be happy with these pot o' gold cake pops!