Happy St. Patrick's Day!

[LSPoorEeyorick]

I was just telling this story at work, and I realized it might behoove me to start a wearin'-o-the-green thread for purposes of telling it here.

So. I got Irish for Christmas.

We'd been trying to get ahold of our family tree from my paternal grandparents. But unpleasant as they've generally always been, they wouldn't let us touch it or make a copy or anything.

My brother--so sneaky!--made friends with our grandfather's sister. She gave him the kit and caboodle.

And it turns out that, a few generations back, about the time that being Irish in this country was a sentence to drudgery work and struggle, the long-since-immigrated Irish part of the family covered up their heritage!

This means that tomorrow is my very first "Kiss me, I'm actually Irish" St. Patrick's Day!

Anyway, this thread could certainly go (at least) two ways. Blueerica and I discussed the concepts of hiding, discovering, and "owning" one's heritage, as related to World War II and the current war, hoping that the sunni/shi'ite/kurds who feel as though they have to hide or squash their cultures can rediscover and be proud of it these days.

Of course, there's also the whole "green beer!" way this discussion could go. And in light of that...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/powerswaterworks/St-Patricks-Day-Green-Beer--C103750.jpg

[Alex]

Irish people don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Only non-Irish people who want to get drunk.

Or so said my Irish coworker today, sick of people asking him what he was doing tomorrow.

[mousepod]

I'm having an Irish breakfast tomorrow. Just an excuse to eat black pudding. Yum.

[tracilicious]

That's really interesting, H. My great grandparents changed their last name from Becker to Baker so it would sound more American when they came over from Germany in the early 1900's.

[wendybeth]

I'm French and French Kanuck- not a speck o' Irish, but I love Irish lit, folk tales and whiskey. If ever I get to Europe, it's to see the UK. I've a mild interest in Italy and Germany, but the french have been so damned obnoxious over the years that I have no desire whatsoever to visit their country. No wonder my ancestors left.

[Jughead P. Jones]

Oh yeah...I'm celebrating by going to work for 8 hours. Bleh.

(At the very least though, I'm decked out in green.)

[Matterhorn Fan]

Now you've got me craving soda bread. I wonder if I have time to go buy the ingredients and make some.

[scaeagles]

I'm celebrating by....

Going to lumber liquidators and picking up 1100 sq feet of laminate flooring and all associated trim and padding...

Cleaning out the fridge to move it to the garage in preparation for the delivery of the new one this afternoon....

Moving files from my work at home computer to the new work at home computer (being delivered courtesy of my on-the-side client)....

Ripping out carpet in preparation of the tile guy coming Thursday to install it....

Ripping out carpet so I can put down the laminate flooring I am picking up today....

Pruning three ficus trees damaged in the hard freeze of 6 weeks ago....

Fertilizing the lawn....

Ripping out two bouganvilla plants killed by the hard freeze of six weeks ago....

I can't wait until Monday so I can go to work and get some rest.

[Stan4dSteph]

I bought some Dubliner cheese to eat.

I think my mother's side is English, although there's no detailed genealogy done as far as I know. My father's side is German. He reconnected with them back in the 80s and I've visited my distant cousins a few times. Our most recent trip was very interesting as there was a very long family tree that allowed us to trace just how far back we go to the common relative.

[blueerica]

I have a bit 'o the Irish in me, too! One-quarter, to be exact!

While most Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day by getting blitzed out of their mind, I've always seen the day as a celebration of heritage - given what the Irish have gone through. And boo hoo to your humbug co-worker, Alex - you should let him know that they celebrate it in Ireland with festivals, and the like - he can google it, or just follow this super easy to find link (http://www.stpatricksfestival.ie/cms/home.html) about a festival. It seems at a first glance they celebrate with parades and feasting with a bit 'o beer.

I should add, my favorite St. Patty's Day tradition: Corned beef and cabbage. Who's gonna make me some?

[Matterhorn Fan]

The Irish Soda Bread is cooling on the stovetop as I type.

[Stan4dSteph]

The Irish Soda Bread is cooling on the stovetop as I type.I love soda bread. Do you make yours with fruit in it?

[Matterhorn Fan]

I love soda bread. Do you make yours with fruit in it?Currants. The recipe says "or raisins," but it's just not the same.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I had pastrami and kraut for lunch. It's the eastern European Jew version of corned beef and cabbage, close enough. Still not sure if we're going to go out to find some green beer or anything.

[Strangler Lewis]

Begorrah! I had the Not-so-mini-Reuben last night at Max's Opera Cafe. Pastrami, not corned beef. Big enough for full-on Ditka heart attack.

[Alex]

And boo hoo to your humbug co-worker, Alex - you should let him know that they celebrate it in Ireland with festivals,

He's from Ireland, and lived there up to about 3 years ago (that would be approximately 45 years), so I'm sure he's perfectly aware of how they celebrate the holiday (secular observation of the day is much older in the United States than in Ireland).

What he meant is that for him, growing up, St. Patrick's Day was a religious holiday and not the monstrosity (his word) that America has made it and now because all the tourists expect it to be so, it is only in the last decade that it has really been promoted as a party holiday within Ireland itself.

I have no idea how accurate it is, just sharing his view. Personally, as with Valentine's Day, since I'm not Catholic (and I don't drink beer) I ignore this one too.

Just checking Wikipedia now I found this paragraph:

Christian leaders in Ireland have expressed concern about the secularisation of St Patrick's Day. Writing in the Word magazine (March 2007), Fr. Vincent Twomey stated that, "it is time to reclaim St Patrick's Day as a church festival". He questioned the need for "mindless alcohol-fuelled revelry" and concluded that, "it is time to bring the piety and the fun together".It would appear my coworker is in agreement.


I had chicken tacos for lunch and saw enough of the San Francisco St. Patrick's Day parade to remind myself why I don't go to parades (unfortunately for the traffic I had to endure I had a screening this morning three blocks away).

[Prudence]

I always seem to forget this holiday. Didn't even wear green. Ate neither corned beef nor cabbage. Alas.

[RStar]

I had to endure I had a screening this morning three blocks away).

What'd you screen? If you don't mind saying that is....

[Alex]

The Last Mimzy

[wendybeth]

And? What did you think of it?

[Ghoulish Delight]

Begorrah! I had the Not-so-mini-Reuben last night at Max's Opera Cafe. Pastrami, not corned beef. Big enough for full-on Ditka heart attack.

Ah someone else unable to resist the allure of pastrami and kraut. It's just good eatin'.

[innerSpaceman]

I question the need for "mindless alcohol-fuelled revelry
I celebrated by attending an Ides of March/St. Patrick's Day Toga Party. It was all Green Roman (which is different than Greco Roman), and it was a hoot with people in varying degrees of beautiful to comical toga costumes and such.

It was not mindless alcohol-fueled revelry, but I did drink whisky, mint-filled mojitos, and green tequila shots.

[Snowflake]

Begorrah! I had the Not-so-mini-Reuben last night at Max's Opera Cafe. Pastrami, not corned beef. Big enough for full-on Ditka heart attack.

Oh dear God, so did I, on Friday night. I did not finish it, but it was as yummy as I remembered. I had corned beef, however.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I've never felt motivated to do stuff for St. Pats. First thing I think of regarding the day is how I always forgot to wear green to school and was tortured for it. I'm also not much of a barhopper and don't often get ridiculously smashed.

We were thinking of going out but gave up on it. Eh.



Should have thrown the Purim party we keep talking about...

[Kevy Baby]

I've never been a St. P. person either. Though I do have a small amount of Irish ancestry (VERY small), I have no connection to it. Like Cinco de Mayo (which is NOT the Mexican Independence Day and is quite actually a relatively small event in Mexican history), this day has become predominantly a reason to go out and get blotto.

The only meal I had yesterday (besides some noshing earlier in the day) was a bowl of French Onion soup, steak with blue cheese and steamed broccoli with a sprinking of cheddar cheese (and it wasn't until I just typed this that I realized how much cheese I had for dinner last night).

[CoasterMatt]

I didn't have any green beer, but I had green biscuits last night at Saddle Ranch Chop House (and the best damned bacon cheeseburger I've had in MONTHS - the kitchen forgot the bacon initially, so the server went to the back, and came back with 4 BIG crunchy strips of very flavorful bacon).
:D

[Mousey Girl]

Nickolas and I didn't do a darn thing last night. We put in a movie and played with the girls. Any remote thought I had about going out, even to the Chuy's on the corner, was squashed yesterday morning, when on my way to work, I saw no fewer than 5 police cars. This is a 10 minute drive.

Top this with me going through my quarterly insomnia battle and an ehausting Friday, I was in no shape to go anywhere.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I played a gig yesterday so there wasn't much energy left for festivities afterwards. However, this morning Matthew was saying that he wished we could have had corned beef and cabbage. I decided to see what it would take to pull it off tonight and surprise him.

Went to the store and got everything I needed for under $6. It turns out that this is a very good day to buy corned beef. I got a 2.5 LB slab for less than 2 bucks. So, we will celebrate a belated St. Patricks Day tonight and it will hopefully (since I've never made this before) be pretty yummy.

[Kevy Baby]

Cabbage (IMO) stinks and tastes aweful.

I like corned beef though!

[wendybeth]

You're such a carnivore.;)

[Kevy Baby]

Yep

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I don't blame the Catholic church for being pissed about St. Pats in the US. Why isn't there a Jewish holiday that's become ruined by drunk Americans? I almost wish it were so.

Purim. Next year. Though Jews have already made this a drunken holiday, so it's ready to go!

[BarTopDancer]

Well I spent the evening with my Irish friends celebrating good friends and good times. We only had 1 bottle of Guinness because everyone thought that everyone else would bring the Guinness. Garage pool tables rock.

[blueerica]

I may check out the stores today for some corned beef - maybe I'll make it tomorrow night or Tuesday. Mmmm... It may be late, but I can still get my fix!

[Cadaverous Pallor]

We watched the Good Eats on corned beef. Turns out that corned beef was introduced to the Irish when they came to America - by Jewish delis, of course. They don't eat it in Ireland.

[Kevy Baby]

Garage pool tables rock.Usually re-tightening the nuts and bolts will take care of that. :D

[BarTopDancer]

Usually re-tightening the nuts and bolts will take care of that. :D

:p

[Kevy Baby]

hee hee