Happy St. Patrick's Day

I love St. Patrick's Day in all its drunken revelry as much as I love the hoards of inebriated Santas roaming the streets during the annual delightful day drinking event, SantaCon.

I know now based on the Facebook updates of my peers, my opinion is not the one that is widely held.

Apparently most if not all of my middle aged friends want to avoid the trains, the streets and everywhere else that the youth of America might be puking while celebrating. I get it. I hear you. But still. There's something to me completely endearing about young people who might otherwise have nothing in common finding just that in these celebrations of questionable merit.

And for that reason, I'll always love St. Patrick's Day and SantaCon. Even if no one else does.

As for me, I was home making Leprechaun pudding for my children, because that's how I roll these days. As may or may not come as a surprise, it did not turn out as planned.

You can find out all about how (not) to make Leprechaun pudding at my home-away-from-home, CraftFail.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Photos from our Family Vacation to Ireland

Thanks to my brother Ethan for letting me lift these photos from his blog, American Vernacular Landscapes.

All photos taken 12 years ago next month, which seems like a very long time ago but also sorta like it was just yesterday.

If these pictures look familiar, it's because I also posted them last year.

For more St. Patrick's Day posts from the Random Handprints archives, click here.

Lemon-Lime Pudding Recipe from my Irish Grandma

My Irish grandma was as my mom so nicely put it "a dreadful cook," but she did make delicious Lemon-Lime Pudding. And even though it's not green, or Irish, I'm making it in her honor for St. Patrick's Day.

Here's my family recipe, which if you like this version, is similar to Lori Longbotham's My Favorite Lemon Pudding.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 1/2 cups whole milk

3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled to room temperature

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, mix together the sugar and cornstarch.

2. Add the milk slowly, mixing until smooth.

3. Add the egg yolks and the lemon and lime zest, and continue to stir over medium heat. As the pudding warms, it will thicken.

4. When it is no longer liquid and has become pudding consistency, remove the pan from heat and quickly mix in the lemon and lime juice and the cooled butter.

5. Pour it all through a strainer and let it cool until it is room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours until it sets.

 

Pudding will stay good for up to three days in the refrigerator, but let's be honest: this is an eat-it-all-in-one-sitting kind of dessert. Enjoy!

What's your favorite St. Patrick's Day recipe?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My kids are celebrating by coloring leprechauns and taking an after-school trip to the local ice cream parlor.

At first I said, "Why would we get ice cream for St Patrick's Day? That's not exactly Irish."

They replied, as if I had never celebrated St. Patrick's Day before in my whole entire life (uh, kids - you do know I lived in Boston for six years, right? In my twenties?), "we'll get green ice cream."

OK, then. St. Patrick's Day ice cream it is.

I'm also insisting on making an Irish dinner, and I will once again be using the inspired holiday recipes from If You Can Make That You Can Make This - Colcannon Cakes and Irish Soda Bread. Mmmm.

Baby Celebrates Her First St. Patrick's Day!

Back when I was a more irreverent mom and was enjoying the fun of having a wee little lass to call my very own, I took these hilarious St. Patrick's Day photos of my baby girl to email to all my friends.

Baby in the morning...

Baby at noon...

Baby at night...

A dear friend - as we reminisced about our drunken twenties when we lived in Boston and celebrated St. Patrick's Day as a straight-out high holiday (seriously, the schools and government are closed for Evacuation Day) - unearthed these pictures I had sent her seven years ago and sent them back my way. 

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about them. And I can't even imagine staging these photos now. But I love that I once did.  Happy St. Patrick's Day, Magpie... seven years later.

P.S. And Magpie? That's a Flogging Molly onesie you're wearing. 'Cause - that's right - mama used to be punk rock.

I'm not sure that I think these photos are in good taste, so if you think they aren't, you're not alone.

Inappropriate or not, I do think the photos are kinda funny, so I'm linking this post up to Finding the Funny.

Handprint Crafts for March - St. Patricks Day, Purim & the Spring Solstice

I really, really hope to love the month of March this year. After the winter we had in New Jersey, I'm more than ready for spring.

If you want to commemorate March coming in like a lion and out like a lamb, here's a cute handprint craft for making the animals from Little Fun; Little Learning:



Photo from Little Fun; Little Learning

March also brings St Patrick's Day on Thursday the 17th, that glorious day when everyone can be a little bit Irish (which I get to be all year-round thanks to my grandma from County Cork) There are no shortage of ideas for Handprint Shamrocks and Handprint Leprechauns online but my favorites are from By Stephanie Lynn who has fun projects including rice art and finger painting. She also has directions for great crafts exploring how to make different shades of green.

And of course, you can never go wrong with a handprint rainbow and the proverbial pot of gold.

Photo from KinderTeacher.com