Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Just South of North!

St. Patrick's Day: The myths and facts of St. Patrick

Fox News being the right-wing, Catholic propaganda machine that they are, came up with a list of myths and facts about St. Patrick. So before you tip back a pint of green beer, check out these little nuggets of info.

1. The potato crop was traditionally planted in Ireland after March 17. 

Whereas potato chips are on sale year round!

2. Blue not green is the color originally associated with St Patrick. “St Patrick’s Blue” is used on Ireland's Presidential Standard or flag, while the Irish Guards sport a plume of St Patrick’s blue in their bearskins. The emphasis on green is thought to be linked to “wearing the Green”, a symbol from the 18th century on, of sympathy with Irish independence.

What if St. Patrick went for a more flamboyant look, like plaid or sparkles. That would have changed the very make up of our society.

3. St Patrick is patron of fishermen in the Loire, where a legend associates him with a blackthorn bush. The saint is said to have slept beneath it, and when he awoke the next day, Christmas, the bush flowered, and was said to have continued to do so every Christmas until its destruction during the First World War.

Okay, what idiot destroyed the bush is what I want to know. Was is an overzealous gardener or was someone having a little too much fun with a blow torch. (Casey will tell you all about playing with blow torches)

4. A regiment of the Mexican army in the 1846 -8 War between Mexico and America was named after St Patrick. Members of the Batellón de San Patricio included Afro-Americans freshly liberated from the slave plantations of the South, and the soldiers were granted Mexican citizenship afterwards.

What if your regiment was named after Tax Day. Would you not be the most maligned unit in the entire army?

5. The first St Patrick’s Day parade took place in 1737 in Boston, followed in 1762 by New York. George Washington allowed his soldiers a holiday on March 17, 1780 as “an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence.”

And we're pretty sure traffic was lousy in Boston back then too.

6. Until the 1970’s, all pubs were shut in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day, and the sole venue selling drink the annual dog show. Lenten fasting – and the obligation to abstain from meat – were lifted on the day, which most families would begin with Mass.

No word yet on if they went for the double cheeseburger or the Whopper. I'd go with the Whopper.

7. St Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in Ireland and also in Monserrat "the Emerald Isle of the Carribean,” so called because it was settled in 1633 by Irish migrants from St Kitts.

Label that under "places on Earth I had no idea existed."

8. According to legend, on the day of Judgement, while Christ judges all other nations, St Patrick will be the judge of the Irish.

Well I mean, that sounds like a busy job. I'm sure he needs help. And by the way if you need somebody to judge 20-somethings just out of college with plenty of student loans to pay off - Casey and I would be more than willing to pitch in and pardon everybody.

9. Since 1962, tons of green dye are tipped on St Patrick’s Day into the Chicago river, although the quantity has reduced, for environmental reasons, from 100 to 40.

How could tons of green dye be bad for the enviroment? Where do you think Casey got his sixth finger on his right hand?

10. Should you wish to carry on celebrating St Patrick after March 17, in the United States, you might visit the four Shamrocks in the USA including Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va or the nine cities named Dublin, including Dublin, Ohio (the largest Dublin in the U.S.) and Dublin, Georgia.

And why isn't there a Dublin, Wash? I mean, it is the EverGREEN state. Lame. 

Countdown to St. Patrick's Day: What the heck is corned beef?

It's not Spam, despite the very Spam-ish looking can of it to the right here. However, with St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, I wanted to shed some light on this very mysterious meat.

And if you really want to know why I got on this tangent, I opened up MSN today and they had a picture of some corned beef and now I've been thinking about food for the past three hours.

Yep, I'm fat.

Corned beef is basically beef (duh) cured or pickled in brine. My own personal opinion is that it's beef with character. Although largely considered to be a traditional Irish dish, the truth of the matter is that most Irish people do not eat corned beef (because that type of meat is somewhat scarce in Ireland) but Irish-Americans started eating the dish in the late 1800s when they first came to this country and were looking for a cheaper alternative for Irish bacon. 

And since Corned beef has a similar texture and taste to it, they went for it. And the rest is Irish-American history - and the reason Charlie Weiss is fat.

Now many people will eat this dish on St. Patrick's Day for tradition regardless of their nationality, but the dish is hardly a once a year occurrence. Corned beef is also a staple of the Reuben Sandwich and corned beef hash. Corned beef hash is basically corned beef mixed with potatoes and it's pretty delicious. If it's on the breakfast menu at a restaurant, I usually get it. How do you think I got this red hair?

One issue with St. Patrick's Day though is that it occurs during the Lent season, and it falls on a Friday some years. If you're Catholic like I am, you probably don't go to church, but you know that Catholics don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent. 

So you can't have the corned beef. Boo.

Luckily some Bishops are waiving the sacred tradition (apparently they can do that, I wonder where I get my "waiving sacred tradition" card at) for St. Patrick's Day - which means that the next time St. Patrick's Day rolls around on a Friday during Lent (2016) I'll be bellying up to the table for this dish. 

Let's hope I don't look like Charlie Weiss by that time.