Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Are you wearing your green?

I am, so you can't pinch me :)  Today is St. Patrick's Day- March 17, 2013, and so I thought we should find out a little more about this St. Patrick fellow and why we all honor him.  St. Patrick is one of the 3 primary saints of Ireland, along with St. Brigid and St. Columba.  He is known as the Apostle of Ireland because he spread the doctrine of the Catholic Church throughout Ireland. He did a good job apparently, since over 80% of the country is Catholic. But did you know that St. Patrick was not Irish?

Patrick was born in Great Britain (the area was known as Cumbria at that time) and his parents were rather well to do.  When he was 16, Irish raiders attacked his parents estate and took him as a slave to Ireland.  For 6 years he was held captive and put to work as a herdsman.  During this time he became very religious and one day he heard a voice telling him his ship had come.  He escaped and walked 200 miles to the ports and made his way home.  Years later he had a vision that told him to return to Ireland.  He spent the next 15 years studying to become a priest and then returned to Ireland to minister to the Christians who were already there and explain Christianity to the pagans.  This teaching was the basis for the legends and myths of St. Patrick.

The Shamrock is synonymous with Ireland.  It was mostly due to St. Patrick that this simple plant is so popular.  St. Patrick used the 3-leaved shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.  He explained the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all make up one God, just like the 3 petals all make up one shamrock.  Or something like that, it's been a while since I've been to church.  The pagan religion had also used the shamrock as a symbol, but their shamrocks were symbols of the Triple Goddesses and of birth, eternal life and rebirth.  It seems that the shamrock was just destined to be part of the Irish culture :)

Another of the main legends surrounding St. Patrick was that he banished all the snakes from Ireland.That's a great story.   Unfortunately, scientists have said that there is no evidence that there ever were any snakes on Ireland.  Oh well, it's a good story.  The "snakes" that St. Patrick banished were most likely the serpent symbols used by the Druids.  Catholics have used serpents as symbols of evil in many stories so it's most likely that he banished "evil" Druids from Ireland.

There, now we know a little more about St. Patrick and why he is so meshed with Ireland.  And everyone knows that Irish people are fun and happy people who like to have a pint of beer or two, so on St. Patrick's Day it makes sense that everyone wants to be a little Irish.  Who wouldn't ?!?     

On the Menu: Irish Food

Not Corned Beef and Cabbage!

Somewhere, sometime, Corned beef and cabbage became the official "Irish" meal that everyone celebrates St. Patrick's Day eating.  I'm sure it is eaten occasionally by Irish families but it's not really a tradition in Ireland, so I've heard.  I'm not sure about green beer either?!  Anyway, I set out to find a more traditional Irish meal for this week- partly because my husband doesn't really care for corned beef and partly because corned beef just seems so cliche.  I decided on Shepherd's Pie. YUM.  For those of you not familiar with the dish, it is ground beef (or lamb) and chopped vegetables in a tomatoey, rich gravy.  If that wasn't delicious enough, it is then topped with mashed potatoes and baked in the oven until piping hot.  It's easy to throw together, is full of healthy ingredients, and uses up all the leftover mashed potatoes- all of these are important for the busy Irish mothers (who seem to have very large families)!!  It's important to me too, and I only have 2 kids. 

I grew up around the corner from a wonderful Irish family.  They had 6 kids yet it always seemed calm and under control.  There were no huge piles of laundry or dirty babies running around!  As a mother of (only) two, I'm not sure how Mrs. Brosnan was able to keep her sanity, but she seemed to, and so I dedicate this recipe to her and her beautiful happy family that I wish still lived around the corner. 

One note about the recipe- I am still watching my carb intake (down 16 lbs thank you very much) and so I decided to swap out the regular mashed potoatoes for healthier sweet potatoes.  Therefore, I am calling this recipe-

Red-headed Shepherd's Pie

For the recipe you will need: 

• 5 sweet potatoes or yams.  I should have used yams to make it more "red- headed" - oh well :)
• 1 lb. ground beef or lamb
• 3-4 large carrots- finely diced
• 1 onion - finely diced
• 1 cup frozen peas or green beans
• 3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme- leaves removed from stems and chopped finely
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbsp Tomato paste
• 1 cup beef broth
• 2 Tbsp flour (I used garbanzo flour)
• 1 Tbsp oil for sauteeing veggies
• salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat the oven to 400° and throw the sweet potatoes in to cook until they feel soft- about 40 mins or do this step ahead.
2.  Saute the carrots in the olive oil until they start to soften a bit.
3.  Add the onions and cook until they are translucent.
4.  Add ground meat, some salt and pepper and thyme. Cook until browned.  Drain fat if there is a lot. I used ground sirloin and there was hardly any fat rendered.
5.  Add peas or green beans.
6.  Sprinkle the flour over mixture and stir around.
7.  Add tomato paste, wine and Worcestershire sauce. Reduce slightly.
8.  Add the broth and reduce until you have a nice gravy.
9.  Put the meat mixture into a greased oven - proof dish.
10.  Remove the roasted sweet potatoes and mashed them up.  You can add some butter and salt if you wish.  Spoon this on top of the meat mixture.
11.  Most recipes say to brush the top of the potatoes with a beaten egg and bake until the potatoes are browned.  Maybe because they are using cold mashed potatoes?  We were starving and since everything was already piping hot we ate it without the last bit of baking.

This was delicious!  I've had Shepherd's Pie with regular mashed potatoes and I have to say I think I like this version better.  I love sweet potatoes anyway, but they were really good with the meat and delicious sauce combined.  The whole family ate this one :)

So this St. Patrick's day break out of the Corned Beef rut and try something new- you'll be glad you did!! 

Leprechauns

They're Magically Delicious!!

Am I dating myself with that?  In case you have no idea what that is a reference to, "They're magically delicious" is what Lucky the Leprechaun used to say about Lucky Charms cereal.  And it's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of leprechauns :) I'm not even sure they make Lucky Charms cereal anymore- boy, I feel old.

In Ireland, though, leprechauns are real.  Really.  Well, maybe not really, but they are a big part of the Irish folklore.  They have been mentioned in stories for many hundreds of years.  According to Irish legend, leprechauns are a type of fairy. 

They are most commonly a child-sized adult man traditionally wearing a red and gold coat and a jaunty hat.  Somewhere down the line that got changed to a green outfit.  They spend their time making shoes (not sure for who) and they have a stash of golden coins (from selling shoes?) that they keep hidden in a pot at the end of the rainbow.  If a human catches a leprechaun, the leprechaun will grant 3 wishes in exchange for freedom.  They are quite mischievous and love to play practical jokes, so be careful if you  try to catch a leprechaun!  They might just catch you!!

I've already got my own little leprechauns- they don't have any gold but they love to play practical jokes and be mischievous!!  My little leprechauns and I have an art project for you so that you can have your own little wee leprechaun :)

Lucky Leprechaun
For the project you will need:

• construction paper in green, orange, and flesh-colored
• markers to draw the face or any designs on clothes
• glue stick or liquid glue
• scissors

1. Cut out a body, legs, arms, hat, and shoes from the green.  I used two different greens but it doesn't really matter.  See picture for patterns.  They are very simple shapes.

2.  From the orange paper cut a large round shape with irregularly scalloped edges.  This is the hair and beard.  I don't know that all leprechauns have orange hair but they did in all the pictures online.  Redheads are very common in Ireland.

3. From the flesh-colored paper cut out hands and a roundish face.  At the top of the face piece cut it so that it looks like a bite has been taken out of it- that will look like his hairline when it's all glued together.  See picture parts picture above.

4. Glue the face piece on top of the orange hair piece and draw his facial features. Glue on his hat.

5. Add head to body and then glue on the rest of the pieces.

There now you've got your own little leprechaun!!  Now you can hide him and try to find him.  Remember whoever finds him gets 3 wishes!!!  What do you wish for??

 

Week 34: Ireland

Welcome to the Emerald Isle-

There are many reasons that this week we are visiting Ireland- first because it's going to be St. Patrick's Day in just a few days and the entire world seems to celebrate Ireland's patron saint.  Second, my father's side of the family is part Irish and my maiden name, Parnell, is rather well- known in Ireland.  Charles Parnell was a hero in the fight for independence or something like that (I will check).  And lastly, because when I asked my daughter what country we should go to next she said, "One that parties a lot!", so Ireland it is :)  She was talking about "birthday" parties because her 6th birthday is tomorrow so we will have to do some fun projects this week to celebrate!   But first some facts about Ireland:

• People have lived in Ireland since Prehistoric times and there are many prehistoric ruins that can be visited.
• Ireland is know as the Emerald Isle because it is so green and lush.  Mostly this is due to the climate - they get plenty of rain.
• The 3 most common symbols of Ireland are the harp, the green shamrock, and the Celtic cross.

• Ireland has no snakes (some say St. Patrick drove them off) but they also don't have any moles, weasels, or polecats either.  Most likely because the island is isolated from mainland Europe.
• The town of Birr (also known as Parsonstown) was the first city in the world to be lit by electricity.  In 1879, Charles Parsons, the 4th Earl of Ross, built a water wheel with an electric turbine on the River Camcor that provided energy for Birr Castle and the neighboring town.

• Dublin, the capital city of Ireland was founded by Vikings in 988.  People had lived in the area for thousands of years before that though.  The area was known originally as Dubh Linn, which means "Black Pool" in the Irish language.  It's coordinates are 53.20°N/ 6.15°W.
• The national language of Ireland is Irish but only about 1.6 million people say they are competent in the language and about 1/2 million are fluent.  English is most widely spoken but Irish is trying to regain popularity.
• Prior to becoming part of the United Kingdom, Ireland had never been under the rule of one king.  The country was broken up into many minor kingdoms (clans) that were always waging wars and making peace with each other.

• Because of the many kings, Ireland is the home to many castles.  Many of the castles have been turned into hotels where you can sleep like a king or queen for the night!!
• The island of Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland (the country we are studying), that covers about 5/6 of the island, and Northern Ireland, which is still part of the United Kingdom.  Many battles have been waged over this division and peace has only recently been declared.

That's a lot of facts but I'm sure I have only scratched the surface.  The history of Ireland is fascinating but it takes too long to go over all the facts and names.  We've got projects to do!!  We will make a delicious dinner of Shepherd's pie.  A little leprechaun and pot of gold and a few other projects I've got up my sleeve!  So go get your green on and meet us back here tomorrow :)