St. Patrick’s Day is a pretty popular holiday here in the US. It’s not much like St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, which I understand is a pretty typical religious minor holiday. Here, it’s mainly an excuse to have fun.

Many Americans wear green on March 17th, and at some schools the other kids will pinch you if you don’t. There will be parades and parties, where people eat corned beef and cabbage and soda bread. In Chicago they dye the river green.  Here in the Twin Cities, we kind of go nuts. I’ve been told that more people claim to be Irish in St. Paul than in Ireland, although I don’t know if that’s true. Both Minneapolis and St. Paul have parades.

Kids enjoy the fun too, learning about leprechauns and four leafed clovers and that kind of thing. You can also plan an Irish lunch or dinner for the whole family. Here’s a link to a page with craft ideas and recipes: http://spoonful.com/st-patricks-day.

St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are much more American than Irish, so don’t expect too much green food if you ever do spend it on the Emerald Isle. Just sayin’….