My mother received her love of All Things Irish from my great-grandmother who had emigrated to the U.S. from Ireland before settling in Upstate New York. With Mom in charge of family holidays, we started celebrating St. Patrick’s Day as soon as February rolled into March which culminated in a traditional Irish-American meal on the 17th. After that, we needed the rest of the month to recuperate! Mom never let us forget our Irish roots.
Sadly, neither my great-grandmother nor my mother passed along any cherished family recipes to mark the occasion. But that hasn’t stopped me from serving at least a few of these comforting foods and spirits on St. Paddy’s Day in memory of my mother and in honor of my Irish heritage:
- Irish Soda Bread (best made with buttermilk, with caraway seed, dried currants and golden raisins mixed in for good measure)
- Lamb or Beef Irish Stew, served with colcannon (a blend of russet potatoes, cabbage, milk, green onions and butter) or
- Corned Beef and Cabbage, served with boiled red potatoes, carrots and other root vegetables
- Shortbread Cookies, Chocolate Mousse, or Chocolate Cupcakes – or all three! – for dessert
Now it wouldn’t be a true Irish celebration without one of these favorites on hand, would it?
- Irish Whiskey or Irish coffee (Add 1 to 1- 1/2 ounces of whiskey and a teaspoon of sugar to 6 ounces of strong black coffee. Top with whipped cream.)
- Guinness or Harp
Ah, it’s great to be Irish!
What about you, Wanderboomers? Tell us how you plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and/or share the foods that remind you of your family heritage and childhood.
I don’t know if I have any Irish heritage, but St. Louis has a large Irish population, which means two parades every year — the big one downtown and the more makeshift one in the historically Irish neighborhood. We can hear Irish music at pubs all year, but in February and March we have a wealth of Irish music/dance coming through our city connected with our Irish Arts Society.
Top o’ the morning and all that. I hope you have a fabulous St. Patrick’s Day, decked out in your best greenery. I’m not big on Irish foods, though I do enjoy Irish Soda Bread now and then. Oh and my favorite traditional Irish food? McDonald’s Shamrock shakes. They’re refreshingly delicious! 😉
Two parades!? The more the merrier, Julie! Time to polish off your dancing shoes for tomorrow’s big event ~
For sure I’ll be wearing green tomorrow, Monica! McDonald’s Shamrock shakes is a new one on me. I might have to try one in between my other Irish beverages tomorrow ~
Hi, Nancy. Great post. Hope you had a great St. Patrick’s Day yesterday. While I have no Irish blood in me, I’ve had all the Irish foods you mentioned above and love them, especially the dessert and stews! My family enjoys sampling international fare, including Irish foods.
Thanks, Crisitina! Glad to hear you enjoy Irish food, too. Hope your St. Patrick’s Day was a merry one ~
We celebrated by wearing green and the foods. We had corned beef and cabbage, Irish Soda Bread (with buttermilk) and I made a Mint Chocolate Trifle (because, of course, the mint was green).