Happy St Patrick's Day!

[erastes]

I used to live in Ireland, and found it very amusing that people really did give up alcohol for Lent--the pubs were a lot quieter during that time--but then they put St Patrick's Day in the middle of it to make up for it.

:)

And btw - the Irish don't drink green Guinness, why oh why does anyone?

Comments

[ggymeta.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

The tradition of Green is weird. Early Irish in American associated St Patrick's Day with the color blue - but once Ireland made green it's national color, then it just stuck!

In Chicago, they dye the river green. :)
http://www.mjcphotos.com/uploaded_images/Chicago%20River%20Retouch.jpg

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Good Lord - I'm surprised they are allowed to do that. Perhaps with the pollution, it's an improvement.

[ggymeta.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

Aw! Chicago's not THAT bad. :) It's no Thames...

^_^;

There's a funny line in the Fugitive [that movie with Harrison Ford] where one of the Marshals asked Tommy Lee Jones why, if they can die it green once a year-- why can't they dye it blue for the other 364 days.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Hey! We have salmon in the Thames now! When puppies are thrown in, sometimes, they sink!!

[ggymeta.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

HAHA! I don't even think Chicago is in the top ten anymore.

I googled and found this at Free Drinking Water.com

1. Mississippi River TN, AR, LA, MO, IL, MN, WI, IA, KY, MS
2. Pacific Ocean OR, HI, CA <--this isn't specific enough...
3. Ohio River IL, IN, OH, KY, WV, PA
4. Tennessee River KY, TN, AL 5. Houston Ship Channel TX <--I can vouch for this.
6. Ward Cove AK
7. Savannah River GA, SC
8. Delaware River DE, PA, NJ <--I can vouch for this
9.Thames River CT <-- LOL!!
10. Grays Harbor WA

--but, to stay on topic-- I'd rather swim in the Delaware then drink Guinness. 0_0

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I used to think that, but Irish Guinness is completely different. I think there are four "grades" of Guinness. They don't export grade one, the stuff we get here is grade 2, and I think in America and places like India it's grade 3 or 4. I don't like the stuff here, but would often have half a pint when I lived there, because it's so different, thick and sweet.

god the crap trivia I know. I should go on the TV.

[ggymeta.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

I don't know if you've ever seen a show called 'No Reservations'? It's a travel show featuring a cynical NYC chef who travels the world testing various cultures food, beer, and atmosphere.

He did one on Ireland - and he explained the different grades of Guinness. ^_^ - that's the only way I know about them. LOL! He drank it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Oh, and in the evening too!

My captcha is "ist Lowenbein'. I find this oddly funny.

[zamaxfield.livejournal.com]

Pfffft. I love that!

Yeah, green beer gets less bizarre-seeming the more you drink it. (as I recall) In my high school we used to do green bagels on St. Paddy's day. Apparently the Irish were thought to be a bagel-loving people...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

*LOL*

When I was there, I tried opening a stall selling proper "Cookie Company" style cookies and they didn't have a clue what they were - "are they buns?" they asked. So I doubt bagels are much more in their focus - or at least where I was, in the Midlands.

[zamaxfield.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what a 'cookie company' style cookie is. I didn't think there were 'cookies' in the UK, only biscuits.

Speaking of which, I've got corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage ready to go, but I'll be sauteeing my cabbage with onion and roasting my potatoes with rosemary, whole cloves of garlic, olive oil, and kosher salt because we're not much of a boiling family.

I understand there is a new wave of cuisine and it has created some excellent chefs in Ireland recently but it's hard to imagine.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

http://www.greatamericancookies.com/cookiesAndMore.html?cPath=31_32

I don't know if the Irish do a lot with corned beef, but if you are having kosher salt, I am assuming that boiled ham is out of the question! I remember my boyfriend coming around for sunday lunch and having no clue what Yorkshire puddings were, and hever having had roast lamb with garlic, poor country boy that he was. They serve their potatoes boiled in their skins in a big bowl in the middle of the table and peel them from the fork.

I think it is a lot more gastronomic now that it used to be, particularly on the tourist routes and Cork and Kerry way, but I don't think Leitrim has changed much, from what my friends tell me.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, edicating poor country boy boyfriends in cool things to eat, FTW!
Now there's an amusing m/m fiction idea...

[zamaxfield.livejournal.com]

Oh, cookies! I see. That's what cookies are here. I make oatmeal scotchies that are to kill for.

Yorkshire puddings are a little vague around here too, except with a standing rib roast. I keep telling people it's a giant popover with beef drippings, and that's kind of... well, that's a little intimidating isn't it?

My grandmother never even owned a piece of garlic. She was Austrian, and I think considered both garlic and onions to be peasant food. The first time someone grilled me a steak with garlic salt on it I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

No vampires in the Z.A. Maxfield household.

I keep reading about how the Irish gastronomic landscape is changing with the influx of hot new chefs, but yeah, it probably hasn't hit the country as a whole.

I've never been, and every year at this time when I watch The Quiet Man, I think, I HAVE to go.