Karine’s “Trivial” St. Patrick’s Day Picks

When you need to work on March Break and have kids at home, it’s kind of inevitable that they become merged in some capacity, especially when your work involves writing for your favourite family food blog. So when I volunteered to do a St. Patrick’s Day–inspired post for SPC, I immediately asked Wyatt and Theo, my 11yo twins, to put down their electronic devices (#momtruth) and help me.

Their method of assisting me was typical: They bombarded me with questions, most of which I did not know the answer to.

Theo: “Why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Canada?”

Wyatt: “How did St. Patrick die?”

Theo: “What does a Shamrock shake taste like?” (Ahem, I may know the answer to this one….)

Wyatt: “Why do people drink green beer?”

Theo: “I thought we were Irish.”

Wyatt: “Papa is Scottish, not Irish.”

Theo: “Oh. Then why do we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?”

So, in my search to find answers for them (thank you Professor Google), I uncovered a few interesting tidbits I thought you might like to share with your little ones — and don’t worry, none of them have anything to do with my Scottish relatives.

St. Patrick’s Day Trivia

• St. Patrick’s Day is a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat

• Green is associated with St. Patrick’s Day because it is the colour of spring, of Ireland, and of the shamrock

• One of the longest-running and largest St. Patrick’s Day parades in North America occurs each year in Montreal (and did you know the city’s flag includes a shamrock in its lower-right quadrant?)

• The Toronto Maple Leafs were known as the Toronto St. Patricks from 1919 to 1927, and they wore green jerseys

• The Chicago River has been dyed green in honour of St. Patrick’s Day for over 50 years. (The environmentalist in me had to look up what chemicals they use to do this: Thankfully, it’s reportedly a harmless vegetable dye.)

• Saint Patrick was actually born in Britain

• A leprechaun is a type of fairy

• “Luck of the Irish” means — I still have no idea. It’s apparently a very complex phrase and it’s origin and meaning are not clear, at least, not to me. Some resources say it means good luck, other say it means the opposite. (If anyone wants to explain it, please feel free to comment below!)

When I shared all of these facts with my two sons, Theo had one last, important question: “Are we ever going to have green macaroni and cheese?”

If Laura and Ceri can develop a healthy recipe, we will next year. In the meantime, I hope you like our round-up of seven (get it? Luck of the Irish/lucky number seven?!) St. Patrick’s Day-inspired recipes.