You’re probably not going to believe this, but there are still some people in this modern-day and age who do not have any green to wear on the greenest of days, St Patrick’s!
My husband, such a little leprechaun really gets a kick out of giving you a pinch if you don’t sport green on St. Patrick’s Day
“Aye, my lassie, do not forget to wear your green tomorrow,”said my husband, his eyes shining.
“Oh, you’re cute, honey. What is in your closet that is green?” I said smugly.
He scrutinized me closely, squinted his eyes, and appeared with a closed box.
“What’s in the box?” I asked.
He was silent for a moment. Then he lifted the lid threw back his head laughed and punched me playfully on the arm.
I looked in the box.
I looked at him
I looked back in the box at last year’s clip-on cloverleaf design battery operated green bow tie that blinks incessantly.
Ouch! How could I have forgotten? Holidays, our family abuses them. We do not settle for a one-day landing. We make all 30 days of the holiday month a crazed madness.
We decorate the house, eat only foods in holiday colors, and wear matching outfits.
The closets in our home each hold boxes marked with a holiday month.
‘Be careful up there on the kitchen chair!”
“It is way in the back,” my husband hollers, then turns around and hoops the box into my arms.
‘Settle down everybody.” I shout and rummage through the box, pulling out our daughter’s sun-bleached green three leave clover cutouts she made in pre-school.
“Oh, Mom, you’re not going to hang that up,” she pleads.
“Surely you jest,” as I point and gesture to hang them on the dining room chandelier.
Next came the accordion paper dancing leprechauns. They decorate the coffee tables. The green shamrocks go on all the windows. The pot of gold is the table centerpiece. Then there is the door decoration, the Kleenex holder, the Irish piano music, and finally, the box is empty; the house is radiant.
Some people say there is no need for all this hooten n hollering. I used to react to that remark. 1. by clearing my throat. 2. shielding my face with my hand and 3. slithering out of the room.
But no more.
I will admit it. Yes, I am a holiday over doer. I cannot just serve shamrock cookies and be done with it.
And this is where we’ve come to the heart of the matter.
Noone suffers more and is appreciated less than us Holiday Overdoers. There’s a lot of theories on why the American family has divided this way: those who Do and those who Don’t.
But in defense of those that Do, it is like this: figuring that there are 10 (only 10!) major holidays out of 365 days of the year, well…Okay, a little teensy bit more if your throw in one-day holidays like birthdays and like Cinco De Mayo (May 5th, for those of you who don’t know) because you cannot keep eating that delicious food day after day without the consequences of a new dress size.
It’s true we have a strange power that overcomes us. I have talked to other Doers, and they all agree, it is natural.
So, even though we will be dining on corned beef, cabbage, and soda bread, I did not forget about you souls who acknowledge holidays quietly and with dignity.
I have the perfect recipe with just a dash of madness…Irish Coffee.
Irish Coffee serves as a pleasant punctuation mark to the evening.
But please remember to have compassion for the rest of us on St. Patrick’s Day and ….please, wear green.
Slainte!
IRISH COFFEE
1 cup chilled whipped cream
¼ cup confectioners sugar
One teaspoon vanilla
4 cups hot, fresh coffee
4 ounces Irish whiskey
4 to 8 teaspoons granulated sugar
In a chilled bowl, beat cream, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla until stiff. Place in the fridge.
Heat coffee cups with boiling water, rinsed, and drain. Add one ounce (two tablespoons) whiskey and one to two teaspoons granulated sugar to each cup; stir.
Pour hot coffee into each cup. Top with the whipped cream. Serve Immediately.
This extra-rich and creamy after-dinner beverage is best served in your finest goblets.