You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. Everyone's Irish on St.
Patrick's Day! Not Irish? Not a problem! No matter where your roots originate you can always join in the fun in celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Are you organizing a St.
Patty's Day party and you're wondering what special goodies to serve? Or are you going to a celebration someone's invited you to and you're not sure what to bring as a gift? Here are a bunch of unique ideas for St. Patrick's Day goodies and gifts. Mint Chocolate Chill (makes 4 servings) Want to serve a fancy drink? Try out this recipe on your friends. ½ cup chocolate syrup 3-3/4 cup milk or half 'n half, depending on how light or rich you want your drink 1 T mint flavoring or extract (peppermint or spearmint) crushed ice whipped topping (aerosol or one that you've whipped up yourself) Add syrup, milk and flavoring to a large container and mix well. Pour over crushed ice in four glasses and top with a dollop of whipped topping.
You can add a mint leaf or two, or even a piece of mint jelly leaf candy to top it off. Irish Potato Candy (made with potatoes) 2/3 cup mashed potatoes whipped with milk and made with or without butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 4 cups of icing or confectioner's sugar (approximate amount depending on how moist or dry mashed potatoes are) cocoa powder green food coloring, optional Mix mashed potatoes with vanilla. Add icing sugar a bit at a time to make sure mixture is not too dry. The mixture should become a nice soft, non-sticky dough similar to pie crust consistency. With your hands, shape balls of dough similar to little potato shapes and let dry on waxed paper. When all your 'potatoes' are formed and dried for about 30 minutes, poke a few little dents into each potato with a fork and toss gently with cocoa powder in a plastic bag until some of the cocoa powder has settled into the dents and on each potato.
Shake off the excess cocoa and place your little potatoes onto a serving dish or in a doily-lined cookie tin to give as a gift. Alternatively, you can add green food coloring to your dough before forming your little potatoes and not toss them with the cocoa. They'll just look like little green Irish candies. St. Pat Mint Chocolates 1/4 tsp peppermint extract (you can use spearmint extract instead) 2 cups chocolate melting wafers (milk chocolate or semi-sweet) Peppermints or candy canes, to make up about 1/2 cup crushed Over low heat, melt chocolate over a double boiler, stirring constantly, making sure the water doesn't bubble up and get into the chocolate. Add the mint extract and then the crushed mints.
Stir well and pour onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Cool and break up into chunks. Variation: use white chocolate and green mints. For even more St.
Patrick's Day recipes, crafts and fun ideas, visit http://www.whimsies-online.com/stpattysday.htm The luck of the Irish to you! .
By: Heather Diodati
