St Patrick’s Day Party 2022

It all started with these two friends sharing a pot of corned beef, and we are now in our 9th year of celebrating all things IRISH! I think only 1 out of our 30 guests claimed to be Irish, haha!

I thought a lot about family that we miss as we got things ready. That little Norwegian troll that we dress up in a Leprechaun hat for this day was from Jer’s grandparents. Many of the decorations were gifts from my sister-in-law Ashley, who I loved planning parties with. Many years ago, she told me party stuff was ready the day before, which felt like a lifetime goal for me. I wanted to call her up when this year we had the party ready before everyone arrived—and tell her it finally happened, and she was my inspiration lol! The golden yellow doily that holds a place of honor at the food table under Victoria’s show-stopping Trifle was hand-crocheted by my talented sister-in-law Chalia. Memories of our scattered family are still here!

Our Irish St. Patrick’s Day party decorations took a tropical lean this year in an effort to stay within budget. The only decorations I ended up buying were 2 plastic table cloths!

It’s amazing how many people fit in our home and feasted with us! We pulled together all our chairs and tables, enlisting our old round dining table and even the little kid table and chairs. Everyone had a place to sit, but we liked to just walk around the island to chat, too!

This get-together, which is mostly about the FOOD, keeps getting bigger even when we intend to keep it small. Jer and I had laughing fits the night before because we were up super late making two shepherds pies, followed by a double batch of inedible Irish soda bread because we kept misreading the ingredients and in general not being able to follow the recipe.

In order to remake the loaves the day of, we needed more raisins, so he went to two stores that are normally open always; turns out they were both closed after 11pm. Also turns out it was the wrong recipe… woops. Good thing all was made well the next day, even with craisins in place of raisins!

Food for St. Patrick’s Day

Jer baked a ground turkey shepherd’s pie with lots of yummy spices topped with cheede, and I made a lentil-mushroom version for our vegan guests. I learned so much:

• When a recipe says lentils will soften after 20 minutes, in my world it really means over an hour.
• Worcestershire sauce is made with anchovies (for real??), so I subbed soy sauce to make it vegan.

We also had 2 corned beefs with cabbage, potatoes, and carrots; a vegan green fruit salad with fresh kiwi, green apples, and pears; roasted baked potatoes; and Irish soda bread with craisins and butter. We had lemon water for the adults, and flavored soda for the kids. For dessert, a chocolate and mint Oreo trifle, an Irish lemon pudding, and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Activities for St. Patrick’s Day Party

My sweet L took charge of the games for the kids. We had Bingo, Roll a Rainbow, Leprechaun treasure hunt, Photo scavenger hunt with prizes and candy, and “Pin the Shamrock on the Leprechaun”. The adults also got to play games, including some Knock Knock with rook cards, and the Name Game.

Can you tell in the photos that it unexpectedly snowed all day? Jeremy helped me have a good attitude about it by saying that God blessed us with Irish lucky weather so that we can enjoy all this comfort food haha. I loved having our family and friends over in a spirit of generosity sharing some delicious eats and laughs.

I’ve got big plans for our future St. Patty’s! Imagine a boxwood greenery wall ($$$) as a statement piece that I could assemble for our annual gathering. I’d like to have a real set of brass or copper cutlery, a compote bowl with beautiful delicate floral centerpieces, a tablescape of brass candlesticks… And definitely no more red solo cups hahaha! I’d love to have Leprechaun trap building contests, perhaps even using LEGOs! I’d love a cooler with all kinds of pretty bottled drinks we can get excited about! I’d like more floor space to make it a dance party, and have some jigs and dance games going on.