Top o’ the Morning: St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations

I think I’ve finally decided that I just don’t like corned beef and cabbage, and I won’t be making it again this year.

I think this year I’m going to try my hand at this delicious sounding soup from The Skinny Fork.

Crock Pot Guinness French Onion Soup & Irish Cheddar Crouton

And we may or may not have purchased some Lucky Charms cereal to celebrate the holiday.

source unknown – lost in the vortex of Pinterest. If it is yours please let me know!

and don’t miss these adorable St. Patrick’s Day printables from My Sister’s Suitcase:

And how cute is that rainbow fruit kabob!

And if you’re looking for a magical movie, try The Secret of Roan Inish

or the old classic, The Quiet Man.

Here are some highlights from several St. Patrick’s Day posts I’ve shared through the years:

A Vintage St. Patrick’s Day

A collection of inspired vintage St. Patrick’s Day images.

Recipe: Homemade Crasin Scones

Yum! Make them. With the honey-butter. NOW!

My favorite St. Patrick’s Day songs

Haha! The Muppets version of “Danny Boy” cracks me up EVERY time!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Do you have any special plans?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone!

I’d like to thank everyone for all the comments, “likes” and subscribes. In all honesty, I had no idea what being “Freshly Pressed” even meant. Suddenly I had 200 emails in my inbox from WordPress… what is going on!??!?”. But I figured it out pretty quickly! So, thank you for all your messages! I hope you visit again.   : )

Anyways, back to Irish-Pride day! To make today a little extra special (Besides wearing lots o’ green and listening to Irish music all day) I made some delicious scones and honeybutter.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen
• 1/2 cup raisins and Crasins (I use more than 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg

Directions (Preheat oven to 400 degrees)

Mix flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cube butter into small chunks. Work in butter until mixture is the size of peas, then stir in raisins. In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.Add to mixture.

Press the dough against the bowl into a ball. (The dough will be sticky in places, and there may not seem to be enough liquid at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.)

Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick.

Sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp. of sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet.

Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

(Recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com)

To make the Honeybutter – Just mash up room temperature butter with honey. I actually used Organic Agave Nectar.

And the finished result?

Delish!! Pair that with a nice cup of tea and a book and I’m one happy Scot-Irish lass.

Did you do anything fun to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

The St. Patrick’s Day Countdown

24 Hours! Here are a few videos to get yourself acquainted. : )

1. Gaelic Storm’s “The Ferryman”

Awwww yeah! (Al, this is for you!) Sorry for the lame sunset photo. It’s the only version of this song on YouTube. Does that no one listens to Gaelic Storm? What does that say about me!?

2. Dropkick Murphy’s “Shipping up to Boston”

This was our entrance song at our wedding! I thought everyone knew this song, but maybe it’s only a Boston thing? Our DJ had never heard of it.

3. Riverdance. I still want to be a Riverdancer when I grow up. I remember watching this with my parents when it first came out on PBS.

4. Lucky Charms.

Although I have NO idea what makes this cereal associated with leprechauns. The marshmallows are supposed to be treasure? But where in the rainbow? It’s not pointing into my cereal. And my cereal bowl is definitely not a pot of gold.

4. The Muppet Leprechaun Brothers

One word. Amazing. Two more words. Danny Boy. (HAH! I think this is hilarious. We definitely sang this in my women’s choir for competitions. We were not nearly as amazing as Beeker, the Swedish Chef and Animal.)

5. Nerd Alert! I’m putting Gaelic Storm on here twice. I love this song too. So here is one more! Gaelic Storm’s “She was the Prize”

Vintage St. Patrick’s Day: 4 leaf clovers are a-shining on me

St. Patrick’s Day is only 2 days away! Are you ready!? While CVS has plenty to offer if you’re looking for shamrock-glasses, Lucky Charms t-shirts or red, paper beards you tie to your face with an elastic band, it doesn’t really capture the nostalgia that I usually like to celebrate holidays with. (Although those paper beards were mighty tempting.)

I’ve gathered together a few images that are reminiscent of old-time St. Patrick’s Day.

1. A beautiful clover scarf pin – isn’t this stunning!? I just want to wrap a scarf around my head and ride around in a green convertible with big white sunglasses. I foresee driving towards a very large rainbow. ; )

2. A vintage 1960’s Vera Neumann hand-painted scarf from Etsy. I believe this could be my scarf from the aforementioned St. Patrick’s Day fantasy. Yes? In all seriousness, I love this pattern. It’s gorgeous. I have a box of old scarves from my Granna. They just don’t make textile design like they used to. *Sigh

3.Vintage 1890s Victorian lithographs of Irish sheet music – I love vintage prints! Jigging is required.By the way, there is an amazing old antique store my good friend Abs and I love to go to. They have tons of old sheet music. I could spend hours looking at them! The classic vintage design of the pieces are so unique and fun to look through. Also the titles of the songs are always hilarious – like “Clementine, You Butter Up my Heart”, “I’m Locking My Wife in the Closet” or  “That Old Irish Mother of Mine”.

4. Clover Bottle Cap Charm. I feel like this is what a Leprechaun would give me if we met on the side of the road.

It’s just so sweet. It also reminds me of the Ellie Badge from “Up” and that movie makes me cry. Maybe that’s why I like it so much. (See Ellie’s Grape Soda badge below.)

Images from:

1. http://www.rubylane.com/item/617897-0451/10kt-Yellow-Gold-Scarf-Pin
2. http://www.etsy.com/listing/68869921/monochrome-clover-a-vintage-1960s-vera
3. http://www.etsy.com/listing/69072201/vintage-1890s-victorian-lithograph-irish
4. http://www.lollysmith.com/allshgi.html

Now just to clarify what kind of rainbow I’m talking about, see this photo below. I’ve never seen another rainbow like it! (Yes, that is me down in the bottom. Rockin’ my hoodie and jeans circa sophomore year in college.)

I must have found a four leaf clover today because today (the Ides of March no less!) is perfectly beautiful!! After all the snow Boston has gotten this year, I thought I’d never see the sun, ground, grass, gravel, dirt… anything underneath the 8 feet of snow and ice we had this year.)

Proof: