The Luck of the Irish; Happy St. Patty's Day

St. Patrick's Day is a pretty big deal in my family. I won't go as far as to say that it rivals Christmas in significance or importance, but in terms of festivities it's pretty close. My mom's family is directly from Ireland so growing up my mom decorated the house, had green pastries decorated with shamrocks for breakfast, cooked a big feast for dinner, and celebrated the day in honor of a man who returned to Ireland after being held captive as a slave there for many years in an effort to convert the masses to Christianity and who also supposedly rid Ireland of all snakes.

When my husband and I were first married and I proceeded to decorate our house in preparation for St. Patrick's Day, he was not really sure what to think. In the 6 years since it has become a given and has only gotten more elaborate as we have had children. So, I spent the past couple of days making loaf after loaf of bread, I'll make potato soup in the morning that will cook all day, filling up my house with a delicious smell, and cook sausage for the meat eaters later in the evening (despite all the Irish in our family, very few of us enjoy corn beef and cabbage, so this year I am leaving it off the menu....oh, the horror!). There will be beer, cake, and wonderful music filling our house as we pass on the importance of this day to our children so that one day they can instill in their own children the significance of St. Patrick's Day and honoring the nation from which their maternal side and some of their father's side hails.

So, what are your plans for St. Patty's Day?