Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Beannachtaí!
Greetings, dear reader.
A very happy St. Patrick's day to you!
This is one of my favorite Holidays.

How familiar are you with the story of St. Patrick?
I'll start off with some fun facts!

1. St. Patrick wasn't Irish; he was born in either Scotland, or Wales.
2. His real name was Maewyn Succat, changed to Patrick after becoming a priest.
3. St. Patrick didn't even wear green, but wore "Saint Patrick's blue"!

Check this out to learn about this saint and the holiday that celebrates him:

https://drivethruhistoryadventures.com/st-patrick/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=The+History+of+St++Patrick+s+Day+-+Free+DTHA+Video%21&utm_campaign=Saint+Patricks+Day+Side+Road 

Traditions
They say, "Everybody is Irish on St. Patrick's day".
Now, having Irish heritage in my blood, I do love to celebrate this holiday by wearing a bit o' Irish green, and this year, I shall add a bit of St. Patrick Blue too!

Music:
I like to listen to as much Irish music as I can, since it's not only one of my favorite genres of music, but it adds to the feel of Irish on the holiday!
Some of my favorite groups are: Celtic Thunder, Celtic Woman, and High Kings.
And my favorite Irish tenor: Emmet Cahill.
He not only sings the lovely Irish classics like Danny Boy, or When Irish Eyes are Smiling, he also sings beautiful renditions of hymns like; Be Thou My Vision and How Great Thou Art.

Foods:
Have you tried Irish Soda bread? It's super simple to make, and delicious too! Of course, I like mine with raisins, (which aren't used traditionally), but this is a tasty recipe I like to use:

content://com.sec.android.app.sbrowser/readinglist/0302220025.mhtml

Some delicious Irish foods include Shepherd's Pie, (fun fact: it's only considered "Shepherd's" if it contains sheep meat. Otherwise, it is called "Cottage Pie"!), Corned Beef, and of course, a hearty Irish Stew!

I think that's it for this post!
So what are some things you enjoy doing (or eating!) for St. Patrick's Day?

Thanks for reading!
I shall leave off with a lovely, (and my personal favourite) Irish Blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Until next time,

God bless!

 Megan

On the 4th Day of Christmas...

Greetings! Tis I, Joshua Peterson.
Merry (four days after) Christmas, everyone!
Well, I was going to write about my latest Christmas, but...Amy kind of beat me to that...so...
How about I just share my favorite Christmas drinks and foods with you?
Since my dream is to own my own pizza joint when I finish culinary collage, I have a handful of great recipies to share!
(Don't worry. They're not pizzas. Though...A turkey sandwich pizza sounds really cool right now...)

Drinks
A very important part of any day is drinks, am I right?
So two of my favorite things are Hot Cocoa, and Eggnog.

Hot Cocoa:
2 Tablespoons Cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons Sugar
And enough Milk to fill your favorite mug. (as long as it's not one of those ginormous cups...Then you'll have to add more cocoa and sugar...)
A half teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Mix those, and heat them up on the stove. Once it's hot, but not boiling, pour it back into your mug and add two big Marshmallows, and a Candy Cane.
Viola! Vuwalla!...V....phooey.
And there you have it! A delicious Hot Chocolate!

Eggnog:
6 Eggs
A Half Gallon of Milk
3/4 to 1 cup Sugar (depends on how sweet you like it. I suggest starting with 3/4 and working your way up.)
A teaspoon Nutmeg
And a half teaspoon Vanilla
Blend the eggs and sugar in a blender until totally mixed together, then add flavors, mix until completely blended, then add milk. Blend again. You can't overdo it. Always overblend than underblend your eggnog. Trust me on this one...
Once done, pour into a tall glass and add a tiny sprinkle of Nutmeg on top for decoration.
Enjoy!

Not Drinks:
Very important, this.
And by not drinks, I mean food.
Now these aren't my very own recipies, but I recommend them:

Peppermint Cookies:
https://preppykitchen.com/white-chocolate-peppermint-cookies/#

Chocolate Fudge:
https://foodieandwine.com/3-ingredient-easy-fudge-recipe/

You may not have known, but my father's side all comes from the Scandinavian countries, so we have quite a bit of Scandinavian influences on our Christmas meals!
The above recipies aren't Scandinavian...That I know of...
But here are a couple delicious things we enjoy during the Christmas season:

Spiced Cake:
https://www.redonline.co.uk/food/recipes/a501507/spiced-christmas-cake/

A Yummy Roast:
https://www.finecooking.com/recipe/roast-pork-with-crisp-crackling-red-currant-gravy

Mom isn't too into fish, so we don't have many of the fishy things that Scandinavians usually eat during most of their meals.

There! Now that I'm totally hungry from talking about all this food...
I think I'll go grab myself some fudge I think is still leftover in the fridge.
Hasta la Pasta!

Great recipies Josh, thanks for sharing.
Hope you enjoyed this post, and maybe will try out some of these tasty recipies!
(I highly recommend the fudge!)

Until tomorrow,

God bless!

Megan