If you're enough lucky to be Irish....

.... you're lucky enough!


St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite days of the year. The spirit of green everywhere, my mom's corned beef and cabbage dinner, and taking pride in my extremely Irish heritage are all things that make this holiday so much fun. My great-grandparents on my mom's side came from Ireland to Boston during the potato famine when they were a mere fifteen years old. I never had the privilege of meeting my great-grandparents, but my mom remembers them quite fondly. She has so many wonderful memories of time spent with them, in particular her grandmother Marty and her full-on Irish brogue. I so wish that I could have had even one conversation with her, to hear her stories of life in Ireland and to adore what I'm sure was a truly endearing accent as she told them. My mom grew up in Boston and lived there until she married my dad and moved south, and although we don't make it up there as often as we used to, "bean town" holds a special place in my heart to this day.

Scott also has quite a bit of Irish in his blood as his father's mother was 100% Irish. So, what do you get then when you put two pairs of Irish eyes together? A teeny, tiny package of red-headed Irish cuteness!

This was Emma's first St. Patty's Day and she did not disappoint! Is it possible that she looked cuter today than ever before? I might be a little biased, so I'll let you be the judge:

As I mentioned before, one of the reasons I most look forward to this day is the chance to savor my mother's corned beef and cabbage dinner, accompanied by sweet baby carrots and tender, buttery potatoes. <drool> My sister Krissy is quite the baker (I am constantly telling her to open her own cake business because her culinary creations would sell like hotcakes), and tonight she treated us to a deliciously festive dessert--Irish Cream and Mint Chocolate Trifle. <more drool> Not only was the minty chocolate flavor enough to satisfy anyone's sweet tooth, but the trifle itself was so pretty and perfectly layered that I almost felt bad digging in!

Irish Cream and Mint Chocolate Trifle

Ingredients:

1 box of devil’s food cake mix

3 eggs

1 ¼ C milk

½ C applesauce

¼ C Hershey’s chocolate syrup

½ C Irish Cream liqueur (may use more if you like J)

2 large boxes of instant chocolate pudding

6 cups of milk

1 (12 oz) container of Cool Whip

Green food coloring

20 Andes Mints, chopped

Directions:

1. Beat cake mix, eggs, 1 ¼ C milk, applesauce, and Chocolate syrup in bowl until completely combined. Pour batter in 13 x 9 in pan and bake according to directions on cake box. Cool Cake completely. 
2. Using a fork, knife, or wooden skewer, poke holes all over cake (approx. 1-2 in apart). Pour Irish cream on top of cake and leave for about 30 min. 
3. In a large bowl whisk 2 pudding mixes and 6 cups of milk until thick. Refrigerate until use.
4. Add green food coloring to Cool Whip container and stir until desired color is reached.
5. Cut cake into 1 inch cubes and place 1/3 of them in bottom of trifle dish or glass bowl. Top with 1/3 of the pudding, 1/3 cool whip, and 1/3 of the Andes mints. Repeat layers twice. Store trifle in refrigerator. Enjoy!! J