It’s the day after the wearing of the green, and you’re wondering, What will I do with all of this corned beef? You’re not alone in those thoughts.  While it made a great dinner last night, most likely no in your house wants corned beef and potatoes again tonight.  Fear not!  You don’t need to discard your leftovers, they can be put to good use.

Corned Beef

1.  Make reubens.  All you need is some rye or pumpernickel bread, sauerkraut (or leftover cooked cabbage), swiss cheese, thousand island dressing, and corned beef.  Assemble the ingredients between two slices of bread, butter the outer sides of the bread, and grill in a frying pan until both sides are golden brown and the cheese is melted.

2.  Make hash.  This is a great side dish for breakfast.  Not only does this use some of your leftover corned beef, it also uses leftover potatoes.  Click here for the recipe.

Potatoes

1. Make potato pancakes.  Place leftover potatoes in an appropriately sized mixing bowl and add a small amount of milk.  Mash potatoes, adding more milk if needed.  Season with salt and pepper.  Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat.  Form 2 tablespoons of mashed potatoes into a patty, coat pan with a small amount of oil or butter, and place pancake in pan.  Cook until golden brown on both sides.

2. Make homefries.  Cover bottom of nonstick frying pan with canola oil, and place over medium heat.  When oil is hot, add cubed potatoes.  Cook until brown and crisp.  Drain on paper towels, if desired.

Long story short:

Official Website: St. Patrick’s Day Parade – South Boston
Location: Broadway, South Boston, MA
Date: Sunday, March 14, 2010
Hours: Parade starts at 1:00pm
Ages: Toddlers, Kids, Teens, Adults
In/Outdoor: Outdoor

Are you getting excited for St. Patrick’s Day? Now that the pinks and reds have been cleared from stores all over the country, the green has started its infestation. As a young girl, I usually tried to catch leprechauns in homemade traps. I must say, some of my traps were pretty ingenious, but I still have yet to capture one!

Myths and decorations aside, an event that Greater Boston Area residents should attend is the St. Patrick’s Day parade. This parade has been making history ever since it started back in 1901, and every year it draws more than 500,000 visitors to Boston. It is a ton of fun for children, teenagers, and adults. Everyone is always so dressed up, the parade is awesome, and there are festivities going on everywhere!

The parade starts at the Broadway ‘T’ Station and ends at Andrew Square, South Boston. To see the parade at its finest, you probably are going to want to watch the parade from a spot anywhere along Broadway. As written above, the parade starts at 1:00 pm. It will feature marching bands and pipe bands from throughout North America, food, drinks, and more. The festivities, of course, are not just during the parade; Boston celebrates prior to the day of and continues after the parade as well. What also helps is that it is the Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day– rather than the one after it. However, I doubt that celebrating the holiday would not really be an issue in the city of Boston.

Visit this site to learn more about a couple of events that you should try to attend this St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Some of their attractions include Irish Punk music brought to you by the Dropkick Murphys at the House of Blues, an Open House hosted by the Irish Cultural Centre, and St. Patrick’s Day at the JFK Library and Museum. These are just some of the events that the city of Boston is bringing to you!

St. Patrick’s Day is actually a feast day celebrating one of Ireland’s most prominent saints. People from most English-speaking nations (mainly in Ireland and the United States) celebrate this distinctly Irish holiday. But you don’t have to be of Irish descent, or even religious, to take part in a St. Paddy’s Day celebration, as this is a good time to have some quality family fun.

Tasty Food and Drinks
Green colored cakes, pies, and cookies are always a great option, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box! Try Irish soda bread or toffee shortbread, both of which are authentic Irish recipes. These recipes are fairly easy to make plus your kids will probably want to help you bake. You could plan an entire Irish themed meal for dinner or lunch. Think a corned beef pizza (which would be a child-friendly version of the classic corned beef and cabbage), coddle (made of potatoes, bacon, and sausage), and a key lime pie. Just add a tall glass of iced limeade or perhaps a green mint milkshake.

Fun Crafts
Since St Paddy’s Day falls on a Wednesday, give your kids something fun to come home to after school or the weekend before. Try having them make green shamrocks out of construction or stock paper. Another great idea is to purchase some blank wooden frames, non-toxic artist pants in various colors, including green, and some paint brushes so they can paint their own frames to keep and use.

Game Ideas
Try a fun Irish themed treasure hunt. Buy a large green box with a lid (or a large wooden box that you can decorate yourself), and store a few gifts inside. The gifts can be small, and don’t necessarily have to be Irish related. You can use toys, books, or candy. Hide it somewhere in the backyard. Write clues on green shamrock shaped Post-it style notes, and hide them in various parts of the backyard. Have the children look for the hidden treasure box and find the clues that will lead them to it. If you want, you can invite some neighborhood kids to join in and make a party of it. At the end of the party, you can serve them something special like a slice of Irish soda bread and a glass of limeade.

If you are like me, then you like to know as much as you can about a holiday in order to celebrate it to the fullest. Before you don your greenest outfit and brew up a green concoction, read on for some interesting nuggets of information about the Irish holiday!

• Individuals of Irish heritage wear green on Saint Patrick’s Day as an ode to the lush green countryside of Ireland. They participate in festivities in order to honor the memory of Saint Patrick and also to show their love of Ireland to the rest of the world.

• The largest (and longest in duration) Saint Patrick’s Day parade in the world is held in New York City every year. Leading the parade are the mascots of the New York National Guard infantry regiment (also known as the Fighting 69th), which are two Irish wolfhounds. The dogs are followed by more than 100 bands and 100,000 marchers.

• The Chicago River is dyed green on Saint Patrick’s Day as a tribute to the holiday.

• In Dublin there is a Saint Patrick’s Day festival that runs from March 15 to 19 and features a parade, a dance, family carnivals, treasure hunts, theatre, etc.

• Boston, Massachusetts, has held a parade every year since 1737.

• The longest running Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Canada is held in Montreal, Quebec. This parade got its start in 1824.

• The symbol for Ireland is the harp. The color green has become synonymous with Ireland, as it is often referred to as “the Emerald Isle.”

• The flag of Ireland is made up of three colors- green, orange and white. Green stands for the people of the south while orange represents the people of the north. White stands for peace and unity as a nation.

• The population of Ireland is 4.1 million.

• An estimated 34 million American citizens have Irish ancestry.

• There are many towns in the United States that have Irish names. Some of these include Shamrock, Oklahoma, Dublin, California, and Shamrock Lakes, Indiana.

• According to legend, every leaf on a clover stands for something. The first leaf is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for (No surprise here!) luck.

• It is estimated that for every four-leaf clover (the lucky one) there are 10,000 three-leaf clovers in existence.

When it comes to Saint Patrick’s Day, are you up on your trivia? If you could use a brush up then keep reading …

-Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th every year.

-In Ireland it is a holy day and a national holiday.

-Although it is standard to wear the color green on Saint Patrick’s Day in the United States, the color was long regarded as unlucky in Ireland because it was the color favored by the Good People (also known as faeries). Faeries often stole from citizens, and folklore held that individuals who wore too much green would be stolen by the faeries (in particular children).

-Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide as a tribute to Irish culture and history.

-The first Saint Patrick’s Day parade in the world was held in New York City on March 17, 1762.

-Although Dublin (the capital of Ireland) has a Saint Patrick’s Day parade every year, often touted as the Irish Mardi Gras, the one held in New York City is the largest.

Who was Saint Patrick and why is there a holiday named after him?

Saint Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland who brought Christianity to the Irish people. St Patrick (Patricius in Latin) was born in Britain in 385 AD. When he was 16 years of age he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. He escaped six years later at the age of 22 and went to Gaul (present day France). He eventually returned to his parents’ residence in Britain. It was here that he had a vision that he would preach Christianity to the Irish.

Saint Patrick studied theology for 14 years and then returned to Ireland in his mid-30s and began to spread the word of God to the Irish people. He built many churches throughout his years of service and helped many people by bringing Christian faith into their lives.

Legend has it that the shamrock became synonymous with this Irish holiday because Saint Patrick used it to help teach people about God. Looking very much like a clover with three leaves on each stem, he used it to describe the Trinity in that it was composed of three divine beings- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost).

Saint Patrick died on March 17, 461 AD, and is buried at Downpatrick in Northern Ireland.