Wednesday Weekend Windup {Comic Con, Dinosaurs, Maple Tapping, Virtual Bauhaus and More}

Plenty of weekend fun coming up including maple tapping and syrup events, dinosaur fun, St. Patrick's Day merriment, Comic Cons and more! Here are my picks:

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Wednesday Weekend Wind Up {St. Patrick's Day Fun and More}

We have made it half way through the week! Woo hoo! Looking ahead at the weekend, here are my picks for family fun in the Chicago suburbs:

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Wednesday Weekend Windup {Maple Tapping, St. Paddy's Day, Orchids and More!}

More maple syrup fun this weekend and much more! Here are some fun suggestions:

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5 for St. Patrick's Day: A Little Trivia, No Blarney

Today is one of our favorite days of the whole year: St. Patrick's Day!
I am sure that a lot of you are ready to celebrate and some of you have even been celebrating over the past weekend. Here is a little trivia to get you started today:

• The status of the four-leaf clover, the brilliant green symbol of St. Patrick's Day, as a sign of good luck goes way back. Like wwwaaaayyyy back. In fact, the four-leaf clover was originally a symbol of good luck for the ancient Celtic druids.
• Why green? Green became synonymous with St. Patrick's Day after green clovers were worn to ward off the devil during the Irish Rebellion.
• St. Patrick would combine Celtic rituals with his teachings of Christianity. For example, he incorporated the Celtic use of bonfires to honor gods into Easter celebrations.
• There already was a small number of Christians in Ireland when St. Patrick arrived.
• The first St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin was not held until 1931.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Sources of fun: St. Patrick's Day Trivia in Real Simple
St. Paddy's Day Trivia from New Jersey 101.5
Who was St. Patrick on History.com

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St. Patrick's Day Menu Ideas: Make a Meal Worthy of a Four-Leaf Clover

My first year blogging, I shared my favorite St. Patrick's Day recipes for Corned Beef and Irish Lemon Sponge Pudding. These two are truly my gold standards--I have been using them for about 15 years. {Scary, I know!} I thought that I would share them again as well as some new ones that I have uncovered online. I am always tempted to make more for St. Paddy's Day but, with a family of three, the Corned Beef and Irish Lemon Sponge Pudding always seem to be enough. {Plus, I am sure my daughter will put in a plea for scones as well!} If you are working on putting your St. Patrick's Day menu, take a peek at some of these ideas:



Irish Lemon Sponge Pudding

Our family's traditional recipes:

• St. Paddy's Day Corned Beef
• Irish Lemon Sponge Pudding
• Scones

Inspirations from Irish Abroad:

Irish Abroad, a networking site for Irish abroad and in Ireland, has quite the collection of Irish-inspired dishes. Here are some ideas:

• Turnip and Potato Casserole
• Lamb Shanks Braised in Stout
• Roasted Salmon with Leeks
• Red Onion Tart with Cashel Blue Cheese
• Strawberry Fummery

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Pot O'Gold Windsock {Craft}

In the spirit of the day, we decided to make a Pot O' Gold Windsock. My intention was actually to make it earlier in the week. However, I was pretty ill, so it did not work out! In the end, I think that it was quite fitting that we made it on St. Patrick's Day!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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Shamrock Hands for St. Patrick's Day {Craft}

St. Patrick's Day is almost here, so how about a simple craft for the little ones? I love making a craft for each holiday. It adds a little something special for my daughter and I to do together. Since the weather was less than desirable today, it was fun to work on something special together!

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Shamrock Centerpiece Craft

Today, my daughter and I worked on a quick, easy shamrock centerpiece craft.  Here is how it came out:

The materials needed for this craft are a toilet paper roll, 2 green pipe cleaners, green construction paper, black construction paper, glue, a shamrock template, tape, scissors, and a silver paint pen for flare.

Before we started the project, we found a template for shamrocks online.  (Thanks to my husband for the idea.)  My daughter cut out one of the shamrock templates.  She traced four shamrocks on the green paper and cut them out.  Then, she whipped out the silver paint pen to add a little flare.  Next, she cut each pipe cleaner in half.  Then, she glued a pipe cleaner piece to each shamrock to serve as a stem.  The glue did not work as expected, so we reinforced the stems with a little tape.

To make the vase, all we did was cut an appropriate amount of black paper and glued it around the toilet paper roll.  Then, we stuck the shamrocks in and, voila, a cute, easy centerpiece for St. Patrick's Day!

I love little crafts that are manageable for kids but really get them into the spirit of the season.  This one really fits the bill!



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Erin Go Bragh Menu

With St. Paddy's Day around the corner, it is time to get together my menu for the day's feast.  Every year we look forward to some corned beef and cabbage.  I honestly don't eat very much beef, but I am all about it on St. Patrick's Day.  The recipe that I used for my base is the New England Boiled Dinner recipe from Better Homes and Gardens.  I have used the same recipe for 12 years!  Here is the recipe with my modifications through the years:

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