St. Patrick's Countdown: Ten Days until St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day falls on a Saturday this year; giving fans of the holiday -- Irish or those who are just Irish for the day -- extra time to celebrate and wear green!   

We do know that everybody is Irish on St. Patrick's Day.. Actually though, tens of millions of people in the United States have Irish heritage.. including many millions who are unaware of their Irish roots.

There's another reason that so many celebrate the Saint:  St. Patrick's Day means that Spring is just around the corner and that's reason enough to celebrate, even if you don't have a proverbial drop of Irish blood.  But it is usually still pretty darned cold in Chicago, so we still need to wear coats when we watch the parade, watch the Chicago River being dyed green, or engage in some bar-hopping or pub-crawling or green-beer-drinking.

No idea where this vintage St. Patrick's Day card came from, but I found it at one of my favorite Facebook pages, Nanalulu's Linens and Handkerchiefs

Irish parades in various cities:

Chicago:  Listings for Chicago St. Patrick's Day festivities can be found HERE and HERE.

Atlanta touts Savannah as preparing for the "Nation's second largest St. Patrick's Day parade" HERE.  (If so, I had no idea.)

Boston:  Well, we know that people in Boston celebrate St. Paddy's Day.  Try this link for more information.

I'll add information about celebrations in various cities as I come across it. 

Irish (or kind of Irish) food and drink:

I've got some great recipes for homemade Irish cream liqueur, Irish Stew, several varieties of Irish Soda Bread, and a few others.  So check back. 

I've already published this very faux-Irish (but very green)

dessert that will make a colorful addition to any St. Patrick's Day celebration:       

Original of this from Taste of Home, recipe reproduced HERE.