it ain't easy being green

Happy St. Patrick's Day, and top o' the mornin' to ye, and all that. I've always sort of liked and not liked this particular holiday. I do have quite a bit of Irish ancestry, so I'm entitled to participate. I'm just not quite sure what to do with it.

As a kid, there was that terrible dilemma of finding something green to wear so as not to be pinched at school. As far as I know, I've never ever owned a green garment of any kind. And I never though to plan ahead, so I'd always end up with a green ribbon or a sticker or some lame thing like that. Later I started wearing turquoise jewelry and proclaiming it "green enough". By then, any of the mean boys who would pinch me knew I'd probably punch them in return, so green was green, just because I said so. A few years later, green beer seemed to be enough for most people. If it turns your tongue green, I guess that's as good as wearing it.

Then there's the food... Irish food is not my favorite, especially since I became a sort of vegetarian (actually, a pescatarian because I do eat fish sometimes). It all seems to be heavy on the meat, and the soggy wrung-out vegetables really don't make my heart sing either. Around here we have a heavily Hispanic culture, which means nobody knows or cares much about anything Irish. You want green? Try some green chile on your enchiladas. That's about all you're gonna find here. Rick and I were thinking about going out tonight, but there's not much going on except at Ogilvie's, and we've never had a good meal there, so forget that idea. I guess we'll stay home... sigh... At least we have some Green Tea Vodka in the freezer. Oh my.... yum. It beats a green beer any day!

And back to food, because along with beads and love, it's a very important of a balanced day. How about if I make that good Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli Thing? Want some? Here's how you make it: Cut some fresh broccoli into nice little bite-size trees, and steam them until they're bright green, but still quite crunchy. Next, make some mashed potatoes. Real ones. No cheating. We like Yukon Gold potatoes for this. When you boil them, throw in a bunch of cloves of garlic, so when you mash them the garlic gets mashed in too. Then while you're mashing be sure to add lots of butter and cheese, some salt and pepper, and if you have any pesto or basil, throw that in too, along with a blop or two of sour cream. Now spread that in a big 9x13 baking pan, and plant the little broccoli trees all over the top of the potatoes. Then grate a bunch more cheese over the top of everything, and bake it for a while until it's nice and hot and melty. It's also good with a sprinkle of sunflowers seeds for crunch and protein. For us, it's a meal, but if you're making corned beef too, this will be a helluva lot better than soggy cabbage and carrots along with it!