Happy St. Patrick’s Day Week
We kicked off St. Patrick’s Day Week in our households with a rainbow scavenger hunt! Special thanks to @kelseynixon for the idea. It was a hit with Sam, Emma and Joe! Jack, on the other hand wasn’t all that interested until the chocolate “gold” coins were discovered. Just pick some rainbow colored objects in your house, get creative with coordinating construction paper and clues (e.g., “A delicious berry named after its color and picked by Sal in one of your favorite books”) and send your children on a ROY G. BIV-themed hunt. Extra points for a pot of gold (e.g. leftover Hanukkah gelt) at the end of the rainbow, i.e. treasure hunt, but any treat would do.
Speaking of treats, Mallory brought over festive Lucky Charms Treats for dessert following yesterday’s “Pi Night” dinner. Our naughty household leprechaun brings Sam and Emma a box of Lucky Charms cereal every year. As the only only sugary cereal that enters the house each year, the kids relish (read “gorge upon”) this simple St. Patrick’s Day breakfast. For the adults, we served Irish Hot Chocolate care of Food52 spruced up with whip cream and Lucky Charm marshmallows (kids aren’t the only one that appreciate the occasional handful of ). Warning, the Guinness reduction will burn if not watched carefully (a bottle of Guinness was definitely sacrificed in the name of this dessert) and tastes much better in a mug that on your leisure suit (just ask Mallory). The recipe is wonderful but SUPER rich. If you are not into dark chocolate as much as I am, you might consider swapping some of the dark chocolate called for in the recipe with milk chocolate.
Emma also very much enjoyed a cup of plain cocoa adorned with Lucky Charm marshmallows so feel free to skip the “Irish” (Guinness, whisky, and Irish cream) component.
For festive meals this week, I plan on making Ali Hedin’s Guinness Stew tonight (but in a crockpot because its Monday and back to the office I go) paired with Black and Tans.
On St. Patrick’s Day itself, we will be having the Corned Beef Tacos we made last year along with Jameson Margaritas a la Tipsy Bartender. Full disclosure, I did a test run of the Jameson Margaritas for last week’s taco night and found the recipe a bit sweet for my taste buds. I would recommend changing the pineapple juice-to-lime juice ratio by increasing lime juice to 1 ounce and decreasing pineapple juice to 1.5 ounces. Don’t miss the homemade Shamrock chips, they make the meal with salsa and guacamole on the side.
Looking to share some good luck with your friends and neighbors this St. Patrick’s Day week? Drop off a shamrock plant on their doorstep like we did for our parish seniors this weekend. Everyone needs some luck of the Irish this year!
We hope you have a great St. Patrick’s Day weekend. How do you plan to celebrate? If you try out any of our St. Patrick’s Day ideas, let us know by tagging us on Instagram using our handle @letswineaboutitsister. Sláinte!
