"shamrock" news and stories

It's that time of year - a week of green-tinted beer, green-tinged bagels, and an overabundance of green streamers and shamrock-shaped accessories and five dollar Old Navy shirts with clovers prominently displayed on the chest.

What would St. Patrick's Day be without our bizarre, Americanized version of a culture we apparently know very little about? It is our job, as Americans, to mock and exploit the Irish culture by upholding commonly-held stereotypes. And the best way to do this? Through these five products.

Oh: and as a person with a good amount of Irish heritage in her blood, I'm proud to say that I've never ingested that green goo-like substance that McDonald's sells every year around this time. And now I'll brace myself for the inevitable barrage of hate comments from Shamrock Shake devotees...

We've been celebrating Irish beverages all day, so it is probably time we got some food in our stomachs, right? Elise at Simply Recipes has worked her magic once again, this time in honor of St. Patrick's Day with a hearty Irish Beef Stew.

The addition of Guinness and red wine changes the overall flavor of the dish from simply being a plain old stew into something magically delicious, (ok, ok, I couldn't resist that one) but really, who wouldn't want a bowl of this served up to them for dinner, even if it wasn't St. Paddy's Day? Loaded with beef, carrots, garlic, onions and spices, I'm sure this hearty stew is enough to fill the hungriest of diners. You can find her entire recipe via the link below.

Source

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Slashfood readers!

While we here at Slashfood did the majority of our St. Patrick's Day preparation yesterday, we don't want to forget that today is the actual day to wear a bit of green, indulge in a pint of Guinness, and have a couple of shamrock-shaped sugar cookies! These are simple cookies made from dough sugar cookie dough dyed with green food coloring - use more than a few drops or else they'll be a little pale, like mine were - and piped with white chocolate. Make sure to drink your Bailey's on the rocks after you finish the piping, too, otherwise the lines will be a little squiggly like mine.

So what's the story behind the shamrock anyway? "Shamrock" is derived from the Celtic word "seamroy" for a three-leafed clover. It is considered a sacred plant because it symbolizes the arrival of spring and the idea of re-birth. The shamrock has long been associated with Irish culture because it is believed that St.Patrick used the three-leafed clover to symbolize the Trinity.

The idea of the lucky four leaf clover comes from a legend that the three leave of a regular clover each symbolize hope, faith and love. A fourth leaf on a clover symbolizes luck.

I'll take all the luck I can get, so I made a cookie with four leaves for myself.