Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you are having a great St. Patrick's Day! I gave up meat for lent, so it is not quite as fun for me as it usually is, but I am making do. I'm currently working on an Irish Soda Bread recipe that I should have up in time for next year.

Here are the Irish themed recipes I have put out to help you enjoy the "spirit" of the holiday!

My St. Patrick's Day shake is a great drink for parties, especially if you are enjoying better weather then I am right now.

While my Irish Redhead is not strictly speaking Irish or green, it is Irish themed and that seems to be enough reason to drink it in America!

St Patrick's Day

Tomorrow is the day when Americans dress in too much green, put on some ridiculous hats, and get really drunk. Fortunately it's on a Saturday this year so we can all take some time to recover tomorrow.

As Americans, we never pass up an opportunity to use another culture's celebration as an excuse to day drink.

A certain burger chain has a seasonal beverage that looks the part, but does not help with the whole getting drunk part of St. Patrick's Day. To that end, if you are a responsible adult, I present my solution, The Viking Chef's St. Patty's Day Shake!

St. Patty's Day Shake

A few years ago I got to try a Guinness shake and I decided I was going to serve that at every St. Patrick's Day party I would ever have from then on. But, I decided I wanted to make them green so I took the opportunity to add a little more flavor, and a little more alcohol, by adding creme de menthe. Thus was born one of my favorite cocktails, a light green dessert, perfect for St Patrick's Day parties.

Ingredients:

2 C of vanilla ice cream*

⅔ C of Irish stout

1.5 fluid oz of creme de menthe

Directions:

Add all ice cream, Guinness, and creme de menthe into your blender, and blend until smooth. Pour into your favorite glass and enjoy with a Guinness.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

*You can use any vanilla ice cream you want, but I would suggest a premium vanilla because the higher fat content and higher density makes for a smoother, tastier shake.