Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17, which to the Irish is a religious holiday and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. It was celebrated as that for hundreds and hundreds of years. Many years later, the Irish still celebrated as a religious day, but St, Patrick’s Day also fell during lent. The church waived the strict rules of lent and turned the afternoon and evening into a celebration of St. Patrick with dance, drink and all kinds of traditional feasts.

When the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in 1845 close to 1 million Irish immigrated to the United States. There was a lot of hate directed towards these new-comers. However, the American Irish began to realize that with their large and growing numbers endowed them with political powers. The Irish Americans organized the 1st St. Patrick Day Parade. On March 17,1762 Irish soldiers who came to the United States to escape from serving in the English Army marched through New York City. Along with their bag-pipes and drums, they awakened the Irish to be proud of their Irish roots.

More than 100 St. Patrick’s day parades are held across the United States; with New York City and Boston holding the biggest celebrations. Today, people of all backgrounds celebrate St. Patrick’s Day more than in Ireland. However, in 1995 the Irish realized they too would make more out of the day and promote tourism. In fact, our daughter and husband and some friends, who live in Germany, are flying to Ireland for a long weekend just to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day in Ireland. I’ll be looking forward to seeing their pictures and what they think of the food because Vicki was worried about eating lamb.

CABBAGE PATCH IRISH STEW

2 lbs. ground-beef

1 head of cabbage,

chopped

2 cans cream of

mushroom soup

2 cans Cheddar cheese

soup

2 (10-oz. cans of diced

tomatoes with green

chilies or can use plain

diced tomatoes

Place ground beef in a large stock-pot; saut until browned. Drain. Add cabbage and just enough water to cover. Simmer until cabbage is tender; add remaining ingredients. Simmer for 20 minutes. Serves 6-8.

“Earth has no problems that Heaven can’t heal.” Irish saying