Lucky Little Leprechauns

 Are you team "Irish I was Irish" or team "what's with all the green"? I grew up in a town with a very heavy Irish Catholic populations, so we celebrated St. Patrick's Day big time. We got out of school early for the St. Patrick's day parade, and main street was decorated in green for weeks. St. Patrick's Day Mass was the second largest Mass of the year, that's how important it was to my home town. So I was shocked when I graduated, went away to college and learned that it isn't huge everywhere! So obviously I'm team celebrate big! Wether you're Irish or not, it's still fun to get into the celebration.

And as previously discussed, celebrating things with kids is my jam, and it's way more fun than grown up celebrations! Our tradition is pretty simple. When the kids go to be the night before St. Pat's (St. Patrick's day is always March 17th) the leprechaun runs wild. He dyes the milk green (2 drops of food coloring), leaves rainbow candies, gold coins, and lucky charms cereal as their surprise. 

The leprechaun also "tattoos" the kids while they sleep. This is the hardest thing about our tradition! I get the temporary tattoos really wet and place them on their little arms while they sleep. I do my best to pat them on, but I have one light sleeper who makes it more of a challenge. The surprise on their faces when they notice them is the best! Even my non-believer still thinks it's cool.

For breakfast they get to have Lucky Charms, a fresh fruit rainbow, and green eggs. To make the green eggs I put a handful of spinach and 1/4 cup of milk in my Vitamix, blended until smooth and then added 6 eggs. Blend until smooth and make as normal scrambled eggs, I added some thick sliced ham and white cheddar.  The kids love having special breakfast, it really makes the day more fun.

And of course you've got to have Corned Beef for dinner! I make mine in the slow cooker, which is pretty fool-proof.  But my favorite thing to do with corned beef is to make corned beef hash breakfast for dinner the next day! Fine chop some potatoes, 1/2 an onion, and some corned beef, fry it in a cast iron pan until crispy.

 Top it with an over easy egg and it's pure perfection.

However you choose to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I hope the luck of the Irish is on your side. 

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Cranberry Sauce with Orange Zest

I love Cranberry Sauce! It's tart, tangy, and the perfect thing to bring balance to an overly salty Thanksgiving meal.  And bonus, it's so easy to make!

The Deets
1 lb Fresh Cranberries
1/4 Cup Sugar (1/2 cup if you like them really sweet)
Zest from 2 Clementines
Juice from 2 Clementines
Pinch of Salt
Zest for garnish

The How To
Add sugar, zest, pinch of salt, and celementine juice to a sauce pan over low heat until it turns to a light syrup. About 3 minutes.

Rinse and add cranberries, stirring every few minutes. Cooking time depends on how smooth you like your cranberry sauce. I prefer mine more of a relish style with chunks.

Here's what it looks like about 5 minutes in.

And at 10 minutes. This is how I prefer mine - still chunky, but no intact cranberries. Top with additional orange zest for garnish.

It's the perfect easy side dish for your Thanksgiving meal.

Happy Thanksgiving!