Leprechaun Hat

Looking for a simple project for the kids this St. Patrick's Day? This one is easy-peasy and will get you some wonderful time with your kids (or 15 minutes of break time, whichever you need more at the moment!)

1) Cover an oatmeal or tall baby formula can with green paper.
2) Add strap and buckle, if desired.
3) Decorate any way you want. I did a quick search for free printables and we cut those out and glued them on. Crayons, stickers, plastic doodads...they'll all work.

Last year, my son and I left ours out for the leprechauns to find. They made a bit of a mess as they left!

Irish Soda Bread

I know that St. Patrick's Day was yesterday, but this bread is yummy any time of the year. A slice for breakfast is simply divine! There are a gazillion recipes out there on the interwebs, all claiming to be from someone's Irish nanny, just pick one and you'll probably do just fine. Here's the one I used; my Nanny's not Irish, but the bread was good anyway!

**Yes, I know that, traditionally, this bread does not have fruit in it. But, I like it with fruit. So, I added it. I'm crazy like that.**

Irish Soda Bread
Serves 8
Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsps baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup whiskey-soaked currants (substitute raisins if you'd like)**
• 2 tsps caraway seeds
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup sour cream (I was running low, so I used 1/2 sour cream and 1/2 plain yogurt)

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 inch baking pan or cast iron skillet.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, currants and caraway seeds.
• In a medium bowl, mix eggs, buttermilk and sour cream.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix only until moistened.
• Put batter in prepared baking pan, pat down and score with a deep 'X'.
• Bake for 65-75 minutes until firm and golden brown.
• Let cool and remove from pan. Completely cool before serving.

**Whiskey-soaking is not necessary, but it adds a nice flavor to the bread. If you wish to do it, just put your 1 cup of currants or raisins in a small bowl, add enough whisky to cover and let soak overnight. Before adding them to bread, drain off whiskey and discard (or save for later if you're into that kind of thing).

Give this bread a try some time. With no rising or kneading, it's a cinch for every baker!

Mischevious Leprechauns

On Wednesday, at both preschool and gymnastics, my son reported that Leprechauns were causing some trouble. I had to explain how sneaky and mischevious the little guys can be.  Before bed on Wednesday night we left this hat and some "treasure" (green construction paper that my son cut up) in my son's bedroom to see if we might be able to see a Leprechaun in action.

Wouldn't you know it, my son fell asleep and missed whoever made this mess in the night.

Oh well, maybe next year!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

On Saint Patrick's Day we celebrate the patron saint of Ireland, Saint Patrick. Many stories have been embellished, or just plain made up, about Saint Patrick over the centuries, but I found a good synopsis explaining some of his history.

This account comes from Kaboose.com.
Who Was Saint Patrick?

Even though Saint Patrick the patron saint of Ireland and one of the most celebrated religious figures around the world, the factual information about his life and times is quite vague. Most information about St. Patrick has been twisted, embellished, or simply made up over centuries by storytellers, causing much ambiguity about the real life of St. Patrick. However, there are a some elements of his story about which most scholars accept to be true.

According to Coilin Owens, Irish literature expert and Professor Emeritus of English at George Mason University, Saint Patrick is traditionally thought to have lived "between 432-461 A.D., but more recent scholarship moves the dates up a bit." At the age of sixteen he was kidnapped from his native land of the Roman British Isles by a band pirates, and sold into slavery in Ireland. Saint Patrick worked as a shepherd and turned to religion for solace. After six years of slavery he escaped to the Irish coast and fled home to Britain.

While back in his homeland, Patrick decided to become a priest and then decided to return to Ireland after dreaming that the voices of the Irish people were calling him to convert them to Christianity.
After studying and preparing for several years, Patrick traveled back to Ireland as a Christian missionary. Although there were already some Christians living in Ireland, St. Patrick was able to bring upon a massive religious shift to Christianity by converting people of power. Says Prof. Owens, "[St. Patrick] is credited with converting the nobles; who set an example which the people followed."
But Patrick's desire to spread of Christianity was not met without mighty opposition. Prof. Owens explains, "Patrick ran into trouble with the local pagan priesthood, the druids: and there are many stories about his arguments with them as well as his survival of plots against them." He laid the groundwork for the establishment of hundreds of monasteries and churches that eventually popped up across the Irish country to promote Christianity.

Saint Patrick is also credited with bringing written word to Ireland through the promotion of the study of legal texts and the Bible, says Prof. Owens. Previous to Patrick, storytelling and history were reliant on memory and orally passing down stories.

Patrick's mission in Ireland is said to have lasted for thirty years. It is believe he died in the 5th century on March 17, which is the day St. Patrick's Day is commemorated each year.

The first year St. Patrick's Day was celebrated in America in 1737 in Boston, Massachusetts. The first official St. Patrick's Day parade was held in New York City in 1766. As the saying goes, on this day "everybody is Irish!" Over 100 U.S. cities now hold Saint Patrick's Day parades.

Are you doing anything special today? I plan on trying my hand at corned beef and cabbage. My son and I also hid a leprechaun hat and some treasure for the leprechauns to find. I'll let you know later if we saw any!