Monday, March 16, 2009

tomorrow is...

St. Patricks day! One of my favorite holidays. Weird I know, but my mom always made it a big deal, and we've continued on the tradition with our kids, so they love it and look forward to it too.

I thought I'd share my favorite traditions of the day..

*the kids wake up to find tiny leprechaun feet dancing across the entire house. They must follow the tiny feet to find their treasure.



*at the end of the leprechaun feet they find a package full of green. Every year I find and collect different green things, this can range from bubbles to candy to toys to clothes. It just depends on what strikes my fancy...



I never leave out the Mister, some years his package is with the kids', some years it's at his office, last year it was waiting for him in his car.


My mom did this for us every year, and just as we've continued on the morning tradition, we've continued on her evening tradition as well. The St. Patricks day dinner! Everything is green and the kids go crazy. They love it!

We usually have corn beef and cabbage as the main coarse with green mashed potatoes, green bread, green salad, peas, grapes, green jell-o, green drink (this varies from year to year but the favorite is lime sherbet and sprite) and some kind of green dessert (this could include key-lime pie, green frosted sugar cookies or cupcakes, green donuts, etc).


image via flickr.

And of course what would the day be without wearing green? We always wear green.

What are your favorite St. Patrick's Day traditions?

8 comments:

  1. What a fantastic idea! We always have green pancakes and orange juice, but this takes it to a whole new level!

    Thanks for the great idea!

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  2. I just love this!! Growing up our good friends mom made a big deal about St Pattys day. She made green bread and made PB&J then cut them out in clover shapes! So fun!! I m going to start the tradition with my family as well! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  3. I love your ideas! My children are making a Leprechaun trap in hopes of catching one!

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  4. My birthday is the 18th so I've always loved St. Patrick's day too...plus my favorite color is green. My favorite is just wearing green, really.

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  5. We love this yummy soup:

    Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup

    2 TB Oil
    1 1⁄2 Cup Chopped Onion
    1 TB Minced Garlic
    3 Cups Sliced Carrots
    3 Cups Diced Red Potatoes
    8 Cups Chicken Broth
    1 tea. Caraway Seeds
    1⁄2 tea. Black Pepper
    2 tea. Spicy Brown Prepared Mustard
    2 Bay Leaves. Whole
    3⁄4 pound Deli Corned Beef, sliced thick and cut into medium dice, or 2 cups leftover Corned Beef cut into medium dice
    3 Cups Green Cabbage. Cored and diced large

    Heat oil in a large soup pot, add onions and garlic. Sauté until soft. Add all ingredients except for cabbage. SIMMER 15 minutes. Add cabbage and simmer additional 10 minutes or until vegetables are done. Taste and adjust seasonings, remove bay leaves. This can also be made in a crock pot. Serves 8-10 people. Horseradish could also be served on the side. Great served with rye bread.

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  6. I LOVE this idea! I may start it next year since my little guy will be old enough to get it.

    And I love the idea of leaving a special something for the hubby in the car.

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  7. You have fabulous ideas here! I wanted you to know that I wrote about your ideas on my post today, and even though I didn't do the leprechaun footprints (although they are soooo cute), I did run out to Walgreen's over lunch today and pick up an assortment of "green things" for my 3 boys and my hubby! I think I'll try to hide their surprises somewhere for them tonight, and we're also going to have green cupcakes and green punch. You've inspired me! :)
    http://boogersandburps.blogspot.com/2009/03/attention-fellow-st-pattys-day.html

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  8. When Brittany was young I used to cut out all the foot prints by hand. I got smarter as the children got older and bought a foot shaped punch. This allowed me to quickly punch out many matching green foot shapes. It makes leaving the trail quick work!

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