ST. PATRICK'S DAY IS A DAY FOR GREEN!
Wear green clothes, cook and eat green food. Drink green beverages. You can tint your food and drinks green with food coloring gel or food paste coloring. Serve your meal on green dishes or paper plates. If you do, the Luck of the Irish will be with you, and if you don't you just might get pinched.
GREEN CHOCOLATE BOWLS AND FRUIT
Blow up some small round 9-inch balloons and tie the ends. Melt some green Candy Melts in the microwave and stir them until they are smooth. Dip the balloons in the melted candy coating the entire bottom half of the balloons. Sit them on some waxed paper to harden. When they are hard, take the stem of the balloon and holding it carefully snip the stem with scissors so you can control the expelling of the air inside. Let the air escape slowly so it wont destroy your bowls.
Fill the bowls with seedless green grapes or sliced kiwifruit. Chill until served.
LEPRECHAUN LOGS
Slice celery stalks into 3-inch pieces and fill them with Guacamole Dip or peanut butter or Mrs. Miller's Kiwi Jelly or Pepper Jelly you can buy online. Serve as appetizers. Keep chilled until served.
CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE
Buy a beef brisket and cook it with the spice packet that comes with it in your crockpot overnite on low.
In a large pot cut up two heads of cabbage and cover them with water. Boil for 30 minutes. Add 1 stick butter, salt and pepper to suit your taste.
Slice the corned beef and put it on a platter.
Serve the cabbage in a large bowl.
IRISH STEW
1 pack pre-cooked beef tips
1 can tomato sauce
4 cans beef broth
2 cans diced potatoes, drained
2 cans sliced carrots, drained
1 jar pearl onions, drained
2 Tbsp. celery flakes
1 tsp. tabasco sauce
salt and pepper to taste
Mix everything together in a Dutch oven pot, and cook for 20 minutes. Serve with buttered bread.
IRISH SODA BREAD
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg, beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
Butter spray one 9x5-inch loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Blend beaten egg and buttermilk together, then add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in melted butter. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake for approximately 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool. Wrap in foil overnight for the best flavor.
CORNBREAD
You can tint this green if you want with green food coloring gel. In a bowl mix 2 cups self-rising buttermilk cornmeal, 1 cup buttermilk, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and 2 eggs until smooth. Pour into a butter sprayed skillet and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until golden brown. Cut in eight wedges and serve hot.
MAGIC IRISH POTATOES
Dice 8 potatoes and place them in a pan. Cover them with water and cook for 15 minutes. Add 1 pint heavy cream, 1 stick butter, 1 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. pepper. Stir well. Reheat and serve hot in a bowl. To tint this recipe green, just add a few drops of green food coloring and stir well.
IRISH TEA
Make a gallon of iced tea by placing 12 tea bags in cold water and microwaving it for 12 minutes. In a gallon pitcher, place 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp. green food coloring, the brewed tea, and mix well until the sugar is dissolved. It should be a green color to celebrate the day. Fill the pitcher with water and stir. Pour in tall glasses filled with ice. Serve a slice of fresh lime to go with each glass of iced tea.
You can color any beverage you like with green food coloring for the day.
RAINBOW PARFAIT
In tall parfait glasses, layer the following:
Place some seedless green grapes for the bottom layer, then add 1 scoop lime sherbert, then 1 scoop lemon sherbert, then 1 scoop orange sherbert, and last 1 scoop raspberry sherbert. Top with tinted green whipped cream and a green cherry. Keep frozen until time to serve.
ST. PATRICK'S PUDDING PARFAIT
Mix 1 pkg. instant pistachio pudding according to directions on box and chill. Tint some Cool Whip with green food coloring. Slice some kiwi fruit.
In tall parfait glasses, layer all three repeatedly until glass is full. Garnish with some pistachio nuts. Serve with some green tinted lemonade or limeade.
