St. Patrick’s Day is on Saturday, are you getting into the festive spirit?
The holiday is named for the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick, who was at one time a prisoner in Ireland. He escaped to Briton but his prophetic visions made him return to spread his faith throughout the country. March 17th is the day of his religious feast.
Why all the green? It’s customary in the United States and is believed to be the favorite color of Irish faeries. So go have fun and celebrate this weekend!
Here are my three favorite ways to be green:
Food Coloring
One of the best ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day is simply to add a little green food coloring to anything you happen to make for the day. Cookies, frosting, and even ice cream can have some green dye added to it to make it more appropriate for the celebration. One way to get the day started right for your family? Green pancakes in the morning! Add a little green dye to the batter and your kids will gobble them up. Green bagels are also a fun tradition and most bagel shops will carry green bagels on St. Paddy’s day. You can also go with tradition and add some green dye to your beer! But save that until after the kids go to bed…
Natural Green Foods
If you want to celebrate in a healthy sort of way, there are a lot of green foods out there that make it easy to go green on St. Patrick’s Day. Vegetables like green peppers, broccoli, green onion, lettuce, and the traditional favorite, cabbage, can all add some green to the occasion. You can mix in some green fruit as well, with grapes, kiwi, and honeydew. One fun way to incorporate green into your kid’s day is to pack them a lunch filled with green foods. Green apples, pears, veggies, and dip. You might actually get them to eat it today! If you sneak in a fun green treat, like a St. Patty’s sugar cookie, they’ll certainly be in the spirit.
Green Wear
Wear green, or else! The tradition of pinching those who forget or refuse to wear the favorite color of the good people (faeries) is enough to make anyone search their bottom drawer for even a hint of green. If you don’t have any, or you’d just like to have more, party stores are great destinations to load up on green wigs and other St. Patrick’s Day apparel. Put a green bow in your daughter’s hair or let your little guy try something fun, like wacky green suspenders! It’s a great day to be a little goofy!
Happy Saint Paddy’s Day!
