While I am Irish everyday, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!

Forget what Ancestry.com has to say, everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day!  So get out your green because the countdown is on.  There are festive parades, everyone wears green, leprechauns are making mischief and we are all rocking those shamrocks. Some St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are more serious than others---think the greener than green Chicago River! 

Here are some fun facts that every leprechaun needs to know:

☘ What?  St. Patrick is what?

 You may need to take this news sitting down but St. Patrick was not actually Irish.  He was born in about 400 AD in Britain and kidnapped by Irish pirates as a teenager.  He discovered religion during his time in Ireland and lived as a missionary.  It isn’t confirmed but it is widely believed that he died on March 17.

☘ Dying the Chicago River green is an exclusive family event.

The Butler and Rowan family clans are responsible for turning the murky water bright green and it has been a tradition for more than 50 years.  According to the Chicago Tribune, a six-person boat crew shakes a top-secret, orange powder mixture into the river and it stays green for about five hours.  The only way to be part of this six-person crew is to be related by blood or marriage to Mike Butler or Tom Rowan.  Who knew?

☘ Shamrock shenanigans.

Legend has it that St. Patrick used the three-leaved shamrock to explain the Christian Holy Trinity.  It is a nice story but there is no proof that it actually happened. So why shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day?  According to Mike Cronin, author of Wearing the Green: A History of St. Patrick’s Day, the tiny green plant was incorporated into the Irish holiday when people wore shamrocks on their coats and ended the day by “drowning the shamrock” by placing it in a glass of whiskey before drinking.  

☘ Glasses and glasses of Guinness.

This tasty Irish stout is the hands-down drink of choice on St. Patrick’s Day.   Any typical day, Americans consume about 600,000 pints of this Dublin-based classic beer but on March 17, more than 3 million pints are downed, according USA TODAY, and 13 million pints will be consumed worldwide this holiday.   That is a lot of Guinness, friends.

And speaking of Guinness, In the Curious Kitchen has just the thing to do with it!  Check out our Guinness Beer Beef Stew.   It is comfort food at its best and you do not even have to be Irish or wear green to enjoy a bowl of it.  The Guinness adds a rich flavor to this delicious dish and our “curious twist” is to top each individual bowl with a flaky puff pastry, (Pepperidge Farm) to make it over the top delicious. Serve it with your favorite green salad and, of course, a glass of Guinness Stout.

 May the luck of the Irish be with you.

Cheers,

MK