St. Patrick’s Day lands on a Wednesday this year therefore save the Guinness beer and Irish coffee until the weekend since you do not want to show up to class or work hung over.
Fortunately, there is one thing to do on St. Paddy’s Day and remain clean and sober. Have a small party by celebrating the Irish culture or to simply have fun with friends.
Be sure to tell your guests that they must wear the color green or the flag colors of Ireland (green, white and orange). Or make it a costume party by having guests dress up as leprechauns or famous Irish people like Conan O’Brien, U2 singer Bono (or any member of U2), Oscar Wilde and Rosie O’Donnell.
To the guest who has the most creative costume, award them a goody bag filled with treats like green M&M’s, green gummy bears, shamrock cookies and a “Kiss Me I’m Irish” pin.
Decorate the place with store-bought decorations or hand made shamrocks, four-leaf clovers and leprechauns. On plain, white poster board draw out the Irish flag with the colors green, white and orange and display it in an area where people will see it. Use green Christmas lights to brighten up the room.
For kitchenware you can find green plates, green cups and basically anything in green at Party City and the 99 Cent store for reasonable prices.
When guests are arriving, play a random mix of music by Irish musicians like U2, The Cranberries, Flogging Molly, Thin Lizzy, Dropkick Murphy, Van Morrison and anything else that you can find. For slow and mellow music choose artists such as Enya and Sinead O’Connor. If you want to keep the music traditional, try downloading Irish classics and Celtic folk songs.
An Irish traditional meal usually consist of corned-beef and cabbage but since the word “cabbage” does not sound too appetizing to some people there are other Irish dishes that are popular. Some of these foods are Irish pancakes also known as Scotch pancakes and soda bread. These recipes are easy to make and can be found all throughout the Internet.
For non-alcoholic drinks make lemon-lime punch using green Kool-Aid mix and offer anything else like soda or water as long as it is poured into a green cup, the spirit of the holiday will stay alive.
Make the party a movie night by watching the two horror films “Leprechaun” and “Leprechaun 2,” the movies are about a leprechaun who goes on a killing spree when anyone goes near his gold. The movies have nothing to do with Irish culture but it can be fun to watch these “classics” to scream and laugh with others.
If you are not into horror films, then check out the action films “The Boondock Saints” and its sequel “The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day.” The movies are about Irish-American fraternal twins who set out to bring justice and get rid of crime and evil in their Boston town.
After your guests finish the main course put out snacks while they mingle or watch the movies. To keep up with the party theme of green, pick out vegetables, fruits, candy, and desserts that are green.
Green vegetables: Cucumbers, pickles, celery, avocado dip and edemame. Green fruits: Grapes, honeydew melon, kiwis, and sour apples. For candy pick out the green M&M’s, gummy bears/worms, and skittles. Desserts that are green are lime gelatin and shamrock shaped cookies.
In the end, have fun with your friends celebrating St. Patrick’s Day by pigging out without worrying about waking up the next morning feeling
