St Patty's Green

Up the airy mountain,

Down the rushy glen,

We daren't go a-hunting

For fear of little men;

Wee folk, good folk,

Trooping all together;

Green jacket, red cap,

And white owl's feather!

My mother used to sign me an Irish song as a child which must have been adapted from "The Leprechaun" by Roger Dwyer Joyce. It was quite a different lullaby then most children might have gotten, but it made me proud to be part Irish and developed my love for everything green.

This year for St.Patty’s well be making soda bread, corned beef, and what else? Potatoes! Another way to incorporate a little Leprechaun green into your meal would be Spinach Pasta. Just add a little to a regular fresh pasta recipe and you’ll be speaking in a Gaelic drawl in no time :)

Spinach Pasta

1/2 lbs spinach, washed
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 egg
3 1/2 cup flour

De-stem spinach and cut into very very small pieces. Sauté ina pan with olive oil and salt. When the leaves have wilted and the water evaporated strain out spinach. You can simmer the strained liquid down until it is thick and add it back in with the spinach to retain the nutrients.

Knead all ingredients together on a flour dusted surface for 5 minutes until they form a ball which is not sticky. Wrap in plastic and let sit in refrigerator for another 1/2 hr. Using a pasta attachment or other tool roll out to 1/4 of an inch thickness on a floured surface. Cut into long strips or use fettuccini attachment. Because the spinach is ‘stringy’ you may need to manually pull the noodles apart from each other. Let dry on a rack for 1/2 hr.

Boil in salted water for 1-2 minutes or until the noodles float on the surface.

In a shady nook one moonlit night,
A leprahaun I spied.
In a cap of red and a coat of green,
A cruiskeen by his side,
'Twas tick, tack, tick, his hammer went,
Upon a weeny shoe,
And I laughed to think of his pot of gold,
But the wee man was laughing too.
Didee dee didee dee didee dee didee dum
Didee dee didee dee di day.

With tip-toe step and beating heart,
Quite softly I drew nigh.
There was laughter in his merry face,
A twinkle in his eye;
He hammered and sang with tiny voice,
And drank his mountain dew;
And I laughed to think of his pot of gold,
But the wee man was laughing, too.
Didee dee didee dee didee dee didee dum
Didee dee didee dee di day.

As quick as a wink I caught the old man,
"Your pot of gold," I cried,
"My gold?" said he, "'tis in her hand,
That lady by your side."
I turned to look, the wee man was off,
Awk! what was I to do?
And I laughed to think what a fool I'd been,
But, the wee man was laughing, too.
Didee dee didee dee didee dee didee dum
Didee dee didee dee di day.
Didee dee didee dee didee dee didee dum
Didee dee didee dee di day.