We always made St. Patrick’s Day a special occasion when I was a youngster because the hired man, Dan Sullivan, was Irish.  He wore a tiny green bow on his work cap.  It was a game which one of us children spied the bow first when Dan and my dad came from the barn for breakfast.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner - Image: istockphoto

(Dan worked for my dad on the farm and was a surrogate grandfather for us children.  He took his meals with us and rented a room from a neighbor.)

Mother cooked corned beef and cabbage, with boiled potatoes, onions and carrots, one of Dan’s favorite meals.  Often Mother baked a cake and colored the icing green.

She had a close friend, Aunt Pat, whose maiden name was Kirkpatrick.  Pat always sent us cards on this holiday.  When these friends were in their 80s, Pat still sent a St. Patrick’s Day card, even when she didn’t mail one for other holidays.

When I was substitute teaching the other day in kindergarten, the teacher’s plans called for me to read a story about leprechauns, to use coloring and counting sheets with a St. Patrick’s Day theme, and to discuss the holiday during circle time.

Do you have any St. Patrick’s Day traditions your children will remember?

Post from: Blisstree

St. Patrick’s Day Family Traditions

In my family, one of the best things about St. Patrick’s Day is the tradition of eating corned beef and cabbage. If you don’t eat it all in the same day, the best thing about the day after St. Patrick’s Day is a nice corned beef sandwich. So, how do you make corned beef? Well, it is pretty simple, especially since most corned beef packages include a spice packet.

We make corned beef by boiling the corned beef in water with spices for three hours and then baking it in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes with a glaze of about a tablespoon of mustard and a half cup of brown sugar on it. While it is baking in the oven, we put the potatoes, carrots and cabbage in the pot that we boiled the corned beef in and cook them. The broth flavors the veggies and makes everything taste terrific.

Looking for an even easier recipe? One of my friends puts everything in a crock pot together and then cooks it all for as long as eight hours. She doesn’t bother with the browning in the oven step either. However, I’ve eaten her corned beef and I can safely say it tastes good, too.

Post from: Blisstree

How to Cook Corned Beef for St. Patrick’s Day

Post from: Blisstree

St. Patrick’s Day Recipes: Corned Beef and Cabbage