March 15, 2025

WEEKLY MENU 03.16.25

We’re busting myths of the Irish variety during the Weekly Menu 03.16.25~

You know why we’re eating Irish-based foods during the Weekly Menu 03.26.25: Saint Patrick’s Day is here again! This annual harbinger of spring is a fabulous time to celebrate the awesome Irish and their Emerald Isle. This week, at least, everyone has a little Irish attitude. DOLD was of 100% Irish heritage, so despite the fact that Mom had 100% German heritage, he always said we kids were also 100% Irish-based.

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I come from a large Catholic family. Four girls and four boys was DOLD’s idea of planned parenthood. As I said, Mom was German in heritage, and Dad was Irish—a mixed marriage, if you will. The two ancestries share many of the same traits but vary in the biggies: Mom was more stoic and reserved, and Dad… wasn’t.

Mom identified her children as either German or Irish, with little mixing of the two. I thought that was a bunch of hooey until I tried the 23 and Me DNA Test and discovered my genes were 67% Irish instead of 50%. So I’ve got that going for me. It turns out that Mom was right—at least about me.

I identify as Irish.

My beer of choice is Guinness, potatoes are my spirit food, and Ireland is my most favorite place in the world. This week was made for me.

TWSMom raising a pint at the Guinness Factory, Dublin Ireland

There are lots of myths associated with the big day:

St. Patrick might be the patron saint of Ireland—but he didn’t always live in Ireland. Patrick was born in Britain in the fourth century and didn’t arrive in Ireland until he was 16 years old, when he was sent to work in the country.

St. Patrick was a real person, but some of the traditions associated with him and the holiday are actually myths. For instance, you’ll often see the four-leaf clover on St. Patrick’s Day. However, according to legend, Patrick used a three-leaf clover, or shamrock, as part of his teachings. Even though it’s possible for a shamrock to grow a fourth leaf, a four-leaf clover is just considered a symbol of good luck.

Another legend says that Patrick chased all the snakes out of Ireland. The problem? These creatures never actually lived in the country. In fact many animals found throughout Europe and North America don’t live on the island of Ireland—the ocean keeps the critters away.

The fact that Ireland is an island—as well as green with leafy trees and grassy hills—means that the nation is sometimes called the Emerald Isle. But the color that people originally associated with St. Patrick was blue! (Some ancient Irish flags even sport this color.) Green was finally introduced to St. Patrick’s Day festivities in the 18th century, when the shamrock (which is, of course, green) became a national symbol. Because of the shamrock’s popularity and Ireland’s landscape, the color stuck to the holiday.

Green is also the color that mythical fairies called leprechauns like to dress in—today, at least. But tales about leprechauns date back to before green was in: The fairies were first described as wearing red.

Leprechauns are actually one reason you’re supposed to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day—or risk getting pinched! The tradition is tied to folklore that says wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns, which like to pinch anyone they can see.

National Geographic

What’s for eats during the Weekly Menu 03.16.25?

Sunday dinner is a repeat of last week’s, except for dessert. It sounded great, but we ended up out of town, so it didn’t happen. Chicken Riggies are our soon-to-be DIL’s birthday dinner, so we had to make it up to her somehow. I’ll make my normal Pasta Sauce Recipe, but I’ll zhuzh it up a bit with a shot of vodka and some cream before letting it bubble for a few minutes. Rigatoni gets tossed in the sauce before serving. Baked Cornflake Chicken takes our cutlets over the top.

On Monday, we’re using what I think of as the step-down Saint Patrick’s Day Menu. It’s a Monday, and the full Saint Patrick’s Day Dinner treatment is just not going to fly, so we’re having corned beef melts (with deli corned beef.) Potato Leek Soup is an amazing sandwich accompaniment for this week, especially since it has a tinge of green to it.

Taco Tuesday is coming to us via the crockpot with Fire Chicken. The hot sauce and two different peppers seem like they would make it crazy spicy, but it’s just not. It’s mellow and perfect inside a flour tortilla.

We’re sheet-panning Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Broccoli on Thursday. It’s crazy easy and different from our usual go-to sheet-pan dinner.

A note about the Date Night Mac & Cheese: I created the recipe so that Norb and I could feed the boysies while we had a date night out. Could you make it for a date night? Absolutely – that just wasn’t the initial purpose.