9 Ways that We—and Our Readers!— Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, which can only mean one thing: we are all about to be inundated with the color green and the smells of Irish cooking!

Green outfits, green nails, green hair, and green beer are all staples on March 17th, not too mention the loads of yummy traditional food and drinks that are happily consumed.

Yep, St. Partick’s Day is one of those holidays that’s great for all kinds of people, whether you’re a drinker, a foodie, a fashionista, or even a kid partying it up in class!

Because we know that you love the special day just as much as we do, we recently reached out to all of you readers and asked how YOU like to celebrate the holiday. Lucky for us, you did not disappoint…

Here are 9 of the best ways both we–and our readers!– observe St. Paddy’s Day. For recipes and tutorials, be sure to follow the links below.

  1. We acknowledge that Irish food is the name of the game

    Reader Mindi Kilty wrote that she likes to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a helping of corned beef and cabbage. Guess what? We do, too!

    There are plenty of wonderful recipes for the dish, but this one is the simplest and, we think, the most delicious. Of course, if corned beef and cabbage isn’t really your thing, you can still pay homage to Irish cuisine by cooking up some of these other traditional dishes.

  2. We make sure that all the food we eat is green

    When we saw that reader Bonita Ross mentioned her love for slurping down Shamrock Shakes on St. Patrick’s Day, we got an instant craving for the sugary drink, so, we walked into our kitchen and whipped up a batch of the green goodness right in our blender. That’s right, we have a recipe that yields minty results that rival McDonalds’ original.

    The shake makes for the perfect late-night dessert! And, if you’re still feeling festive the next morning, you can always make these emerald green pancakes. Hey—who said every day couldn’t be St. Patrick’s Day?

  3. We make sure that everything we wear is green

    Reader Mary LaPalme says she likes dressing for the occasion. We do, too—mostly because we don’t like the idea of facing a nasty pinch! So, deck yourself in green from head to toe, but don’t forget those nails. With this revolutionary green-marbled polish application technique, even your manicure will be festive!

  4. We pig out on sugary Irish treats

    Didn’t get enough of a sugar rush from that Shamrock Shake? No worries, because there are plenty of other traditional Irish desserts for you to munch on! Our top pick? This delicious and totally displayable leprechaun hat cake.

  5. And expand our knowledge of them, too

    Did you know that meringue roulades are traditional Irish treats? This particular roulade doesn’t feature any green bits, but it does include fresh bananas and warm butterscotch. Pick that tongue up from off the floor and start baking!

  6. We make our carbs more festive

    Nothing says “Irish pride” like cutting into a piping hot, freshly-baked loaf of soda bread. If you’ve never had the pleasure of noshing on the bread, you’re in for a real treat; not only is it satisfying, it is also super simple to make as it doesn’t call for any yeast. This means that it only takes about 45 minutes to bake! A perfect choice for a last-minute St. Paddy’s dinner party.

  7. We pour Guinness into our stew

    Let’s face it, most people who take part in St. Patrick’s Day celebrations end up drinking as much Guinness as humanly possible. If you are one of these people, make sure you don’t lose out on the opportunity to drink it in your beef stew. We promise, it’s yummier than it sounds.

  8. And into our cake mix, too!

    Yep, this one is yummier than it sounds, too!

  9. We trick our kids into eating greens

    Last, but not least, we use St. Paddy’s Day as an opportunity to trick our little ones into eating as much healthy green food as we can. Not sure where to start? Our kiddos can’t get enough of these emerald green spinach dumplings!

We’d love to hear your take on these St. Patrick’s Day celebration tips! Which idea is your favorite? Do you have a great Irish recipe that you would like to share? Have you ever visited Ireland on the holiday before?