Naturally Stoned

11 Things You Didn’t Know About St. Patrick and His Day

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:21:23 +0000

Read on to find some little known St. Patrick’s Day facts. Some you may know but I bet some will surprise you

To turn the Chicago river green it only takes about 40 pounds of green vegetable dye

The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in the United States on March 17, 1762, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City.

St. Patrick’s favorite color was blue, not green.

The person we now know as St. Patrick, is believed to be a blend of two 5th century catholic figures, namely Palladius and Patrick. It is Palladius who died in AD 460 on March 17, this is why we now celebrate st pats day on the 17th of March.

80% of Americans wear something green on St. Patrick’s Day.

Up until 1970, all bars in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick’s Day.

Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patrick’s Day dish in the USA (although surprisingly not in Ireland). Each year roughly 41.5 billion pounds of U.S. beef and 2.6 billion pounds of U.S. cabbage is sold.

There are 36.5 million U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself.

Saint Patrick was not Irish. Actually he was from England and brought to Ireland as a slave.

More empty beer kegs are stolen on St. Patrick’s Day (for their scrap value), than any other day of the year.

There are only three places in the entire world where St. Patrick’s Day is recognized as a public holiday namely Ireland, the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Caribbean island of Montserrat.

There are many ways to celebrate this St. Patrick’s day. Find out more on the origin and modern celebration from http://www.squidoo.com/OriginsOfStPatricksDay and if you want to stand out from the crowd take a look at these unique St. Patrick’s Day Gifts .

St Patrick’s Day Supplies – 3 Top Items For Having the Best St Patrick’s Day

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:18:09 +0000

What comes to mind when you think of St. Patrick’s Day supplies? Green beer? Maybe something green to wear to keep from being pinched? There’s actually quite a few things that fall into the supplies category that help make your St. Paddy’s Day celebration a great time. This article will discuss the top 3 items that can help you accomplish this.

Item #1

St. Patrick’s Day Hat. One really simple and easy way to get in the St. Paddy’s Day spirit is to wear a silly hat! There are so many different styles to choose from that it is a snap to find one you’ll love. The only problem you may have is to decide on just one! If you like a traditional or more old-fashioned hat you can pick from bowler or derby hats, top hats or a fedora. If you want to go with the silly you can get a fuzzy “pimp” hat or a very tall stovepipe hat or a minuscule top hat. There are even hats that light up or ones that are in crazy shapes like beer mugs.

Item #2

St. Patrick’s Day Beads. Why keep beads only for Mardi Gras? Having beads for Fat Tuesday is so much fun that it shouldn’t be limited to just that holiday. St. Patrick’s Day is an excellent time to break out the beads – either to wear or get the conversation flowing.

Item #3

St. Patrick’s Day Costumes or Clothing. Donning a leprechaun costume is a guaranteed way to be the life of the party! There are many other Irish costume options if being a leprechaun isn’t to your liking. Or if you want to be a bit more laid back you can find plenty of fun t-shirts, vests or other articles of clothing to put you in the mood.

There are very few limits to the variations of these three items. There are hundreds of hats alone as well as many styles of beads. If you want your clothing to put you in the St. Patrick’s Day mood then you have a bountiful number of costumes or clothing and accessories choices. Of course, if you really want to get into the spirit of things you can wear all three items at once! It really isn’t difficult to put together your own personalized look for St. Paddy’s Day! The most important thing is to figure out what will get you in the Irish frame of mind and be sure to wear that.

Want to get the scoop on all the best St. Patrick’s Day Supplies?…

It’s easy to have a great time for St. Paddy’s day with the best St. Patrick’s Day Supplies. Learn what those are and how to get them by going to StPatricksDaySupplies.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Candler

There are many ways to celebrate this St. Patrick’s day. Find out more on the origin and modern celebration from http://www.squidoo.com/OriginsOfStPatricksDay and if you want to stand out from the crowd take a look at these unique St. Patrick’s Day Gifts .

St Patricks Day Menu

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:33:43 +0000

St Patricks Day Menu
By Liz Alderson

St Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland and St Patricks Day is the 17th March. It’s celebrated not just in Ireland but around the World.

Now, if you want an excuse for a party, but don’t fancy champ and colcannon – and I don’t blame you if you don’t – then here’s a themed St Patricks Day Menu that you might like to try.

The colours of the Irish flag are green, orange and white.

For starters, try a creamy basil tomato soup, garnish with a swirl of cream and chopped basil and there you have the beginning of your theme – green, orange and white.

For main course, I would favour a poached salmon with watercress sauce, served with carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and new potatoes – that puts two orange, two green and two white items on your plate.

For dessert, try a mixed fruit salad – kiwi, mango, lychees, green grapes, orange segments and sliced pears – top it with whipped cream, chopped angelica and a shake of cinnamon or ginger – lots more green, orange and white.

Finish your St Patricks Day Menu with Irish Coffees – sweetened black coffee with a shot of Irish Whiskey and cream floating on top – delicious – and you might find you want more than one.

Continue your colour theme with a white tablecloth and green and orange candles and napkins.

White tableware would be nice – I always think food looks better served on white crockery.

Play some Irish music – if you don’t like the traditional folk music, then maybe Thin Lizzy will do as Phil Lynot was proud of his Irish ancestry and there’s normally ‘Whisky in the Jar’ on most compilation CDs Or you might even go for The Nolan Sisters or Val Doonican – only joking.

Dave Allen was an Irish comedian and there are CDs available of his shows. He was very funny, one of my favourites and it would really entertain your guests if you could find a recording.

To drink, you can have Guinness – which is very good for you, so they claim – Irish Whiskey is freely available, but of course neither of these are suitable for serving with your poached salmon.

I’ve researched heavily for Irish wines – and they do exist, but you’re unlikely to find any on general sale.

Ireland doesn’t have the climate to support large commercial vineyards – those that exist are very small – 5 acres or less and all around Cork (well, if you’re going to produce wine, you need cork).

One of the vineyards makes wines for its own restaurant and the others just supply local shops and restuarants.

The largest produces a mere 3000 bottles a year.

If you search though, you can find Irish people who have emigrated to wine producing countries and the vineyards will have Irish sounding names – the best I can do as a wine recommendation for a themed St Patricks Day Menu.

I like champagne with salmon – a nice, medium dry fizzy wine is great and it adds to the celebration to have champagne corks flying.

If you don’t like fizz – then go for a medium dry white – Nierstein, Piesporter or similar.

There are many ways to celebrate this St. Patrick’s day. Find out more on the origin and modern celebration from http://www.squidoo.com/OriginsOfStPatricksDay and if you want to stand out from the crowd take a look at these unique St. Patrick’s Day Gifts .

Liz Alderson is the webmaster of http://find-a-seafood-recipe.com which is a free fish and seafood recipe site giving advice on buying, preparing and cooking fish and seafood. She also has a herb website – http://the-herb-guide.com which has advice on growing and cooking herbs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Alderson

http://EzineArticles.com/?St-Patricks-Day-Menu&id=147057

The Origins of Easter

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:33:16 +0000

The Origins of Easter

When you think about Easter what springs to mind? You probably think of chocolate eggs, the Easter Bunny or if you’re religious maybe the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Most people if pressed will say that Easter is a Christian holiday, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Read on to discover the real origins of Easter.

Pagan Origins?

There is little doubt that the celebration of Easter is in no way Christian. Like many other holidays it has been ‘Christianized’ but it is in fact a Pagan holiday. The word Easter is not in the bible, and eggs and bunnies are not Christian emblems. In fact what we now celebrate as Easter is the ancient pagan festival of Eostar, also known as Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox, Rites of Spring or Eostra’s Day. Further proof, if it were needed, comes in the actual date that Easter is held each year. The date Easter is celebrated is tied directly to the Spring Equinox (the first Sunday after the full moon after the Vernal Equinox). If it is as the Church says, a celebration of the day Christ was executed and subsequently resurrected, then why is the date not fixed, and instead tied in with the phase of the moon. So, if the event itself is of Pagan origin what of it’s traditional iconography….

The Easter Bunny

What of the Easter Bunny? His origins are fairly easy to tie down. The rabbit, or to be more correct the hare, is the Pagan symbol for Spring or the rebirth of the sun. It’s not surprising that ancient people would choose this symbol to represent fertility and rebirth as the rabbit is one of the most prolific breeders in the animal kingdom. A female rabbit is able to conceive a second litter of offspring whilst still pregnant, and birth both separately. In addition to this they produce several litters a year, and become sexually mature at a very young age. The phrase ‘to breed like rabbits’ is as you can see very apt.

Easter Eggs

The egg is again tied in with rebirth and fertility in ancient Pagan belief. In their Spring festival it symbolizes the world egg laid by the Goddess and split open by the heat of the Sun God, hatching the world. An interesting side note as to why the Easter Bunny carries eggs in a basket is believed to originate in the ancient belief that hares laid eggs (the Easter Bunny originally being a hare). This come from the fact that hares raise their young above ground in a hollow or hare form. This happens to resemble a lapwing nest, as lapwings also nest at ground level. So in the Spring, eggs would be found in what looked like hare forms, giving rise to the belief that the hare laid eggs in the Spring.

Christian Takeover

When Christianity started to spread throughout Europe the local Pagans still wanted to celebrate their own holidays. The solution to this was to basically replace the Pagan holidays with a new Christian version, it being much easier to gently change the belief structure than to ban the original holiday and impose a new one on a different day. This gently circumvented the peoples’ natural opposition to change. Indeed Some Christians don’t celebrate Easter, believing that the Christian takeover of this pagan holiday resulted in an unacceptable adoption of Pagan themes, beliefs, and practices. Many other Christian holidays can be shown to have similar Pagan roots.

Conclusion

No matter what your personal belief I hope you found this investigation into the origins of Easter interesting, and it will add to the enjoyment of the Easter holiday for you.

We would like your opinion. What do you think? – Is Easter a pagan festival that astronomically marks the exact day of the start of Spring or a Christian festival that marks the resurrection? Take our origins of Easter poll and add your opinion too. Take a look at our language of rabbits t-shirts and other products if you want to look extra cool this Easter

7 Fun Things to Do For Saint Patrick’s Day

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:25:49 +0000

By Harold Baldwin

Saint Patrick’s Day is a wonderful holiday, whether you are religious or secular, Irish or not. It is celebrated worldwide and one of the more universally festive holidays full of good cheer. Here are 8 fun things you can do to up your level of Saint Paddy’s day cheer.

1) Go to a Saint Patrick’s Day parade. This is fun for young and old, and many communities have them. You can look in your local newspaper on online to find out about parades. I’ve been to a number of excellent parades in many communities, and some of the best were not the largest either. Size isn’t super important when it come to a fun parade.

2) Cook an Irish dish. The classic is corn beef and cabbage, but there are plenty of other choices as well. Serve to families and friends with a good Irish brew. I’m partial to Guinness myself. One year two of us who couldn’t cook decided to attempt making an Irish stew for our friends. It might have been the best stew ever, but it was hearty, well received and pretty easy to cook. It was a lot of fun too!

3) Go to an Irish pub. It is bound to be hopping with activity, and you can probably order that Irish food you didn’t feel like cooking and have a brew as well. I have a favorite authentic Irish pub I go to, where the owner and everyone who works there are from Ireland. But even if it’s an Irish flavor pub it’s fine.

4) A top choice, even if you aren’t Irish, is to throw a party! It is a traditional party holiday after all. I have two friends who throw an awesome party for the day every few years, and not only are they not Irish but they don’t even like beer.

5) Wear a costume. There are some fantastic ones available and they are not very expensive. Dress as a Leprechaun if you’d like, or choose from several other popular choices.

6) If a costume isn’t for you, perhaps just a hat will go? Whether it’s an emerald green bowler or a silly oversized Leprechaun hat, you’ll stand out as a reveler, as some one both having fun and adding to others fun.

7) If you can’t quite do the hat or costume thing, at least wear something green. Simple enough and you probably have something green in your closet anyways.

If you need any help with ideas for hats or costumes, visit St Patrick’s Day Hat and St Patrick’s Day Costumes

St. Patrick’s Day Food – Colcannon Recipe

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:05:34 +0000

Classic Irish Potato and Cabbage Main Dish Speckled with Green. Ideal and authentic St. Patrick’s Day Food put your green food coloring away!!

Colcannon is a traditional Irish recipe closely related to the British “Bubble and Squeak”. There seem to be as many different colcannon recipes (and ways of spelling it, like colcanon and kohl cannon) as there are Irish households that make it.

Ingredients:

* 3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
* 3 tbsp. milk or cream
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1/8 tsp. pepper
* 2 cups chopped cabbage
* 2 tbsp. butter or margarine
* 1/4 cup chopped onion

Directions:

1. Cook potatoes in a pot of boiling water until tender. Drain, reserving water.
2. Place the hot potatoes in a large bowl.
3. Add chopped cabbage to the reserved potato water. Cook 6-8 minutes or until tender.
4. Meanwhile, fry the onions in the butter or margarine.
5. When they are cool enough to handle, mash potates with a hand masher or fork. Add the fried onions and cabbage.
6. Add milk, salt and pepper and beat until fluffy.

Variations:

* Re fry in a touch of oil or margarine to make colcannon patties.
* add cheese and a touch of butter to the top.
* Add chopped leftover meat.

Origins Of St Patrick’s Day

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 10:35:18 +0000

The Origins of St. Patrick’s Day

The modern St. Patrick’s day is traditionally looked upon as an excuse to over indulge in drink and food. It has become associated with green beer, wearing of green, excess and drunkenness. However the traditional celebration was far removed from its modern day incarnation. Just what are the Origins Of St. Patrick’s Day?

Who Was This Patrick Fellow?

It is generally accepted that the man who became St. Patrick was born around AD 387, and was a Catholic missionary in Ireland during the second half of the 5th century. The details of his life that are universally accepted to come from two authenticated letters that were written by him. When he was around 14 he was captured by Irish raiders in Britain and taken to Ireland as a slave, where he remained until he escaped and returned to his family 6 years later. On his return to Britain he entered the church, and later returned to Ireland as an ordained Bishop. That’s about it – that’s all that is known factually other than he spent his life working in the north and west of Ireland, but little detail of this time exists. He is said to have died on the 17th of March AD 460 and this is where the date of St. Patrick’s day comes from. Whether this is true or even if this was the same Patrick is unclear.

The Legend of St. Patrick

Many stories surround St. Patrick. One of the most often told is that he banished the snakes from Ireland. The origin of this story is most likely a reference to his attempts to drive Pagan Druids from Ireland, their symbol being a serpent. It is unlikely that there were ever actually any snakes in Ireland. The colour green probably comes from the three leafed shamrock, which was used by the Catholic ministers in Ireland to teach the concept of the Holy Trinity to the people.

St. Patrick’s Day

St Patrick’s day is held on the 17th of March; the supposed date of St. Patrick’s death. On this day, after church services, the people of Ireland were allowed to feast, and was the only day in the 40 day Lent period that Irish catholics were allowed to eat meat and drink. No wonder it became popular!

Modern St. Patrick’s Day

The modern St. Patrick’s day is very much a North American invention, originally brought to the USA by Irish immigrants. Over the years it has become a day to celebrate to excess and wear green clothes and make everything green. It’s now a day where everyone, regardless of their place of birth, becomes just a little bit Irish. I hope you have learned a little of the the True Origin of St. Patrick’s Day and this will add something to your enjoyment of this 17th of March as you drink your green beer.

My Own Easy Never Fail Pancake Batter Recipe

admin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:22:58 +0000

It’s pancake day! It’s the law that today you have to eat pancakes,(or it should be). The history of this day is some sort of religious nonsense to do with feasting before lent, but we have no such motivation. Pancakes are easy to make and taste great. Top them with honey, syrup, sugar the list is endless, the following will give you an easy never fail or stick pancake batter. enjoy!

Makes 8-10 pancakes

250ml milk (approx)

120g flour

1 large egg

1tsp caster sugar

Pinch of salt

Vegetable oil for frying

My easy never fail batter mix is all down to the method of combining the ingredients! No measuring required the above is a guide only.

Add flour sugar and salt to your lightly beaten egg then add a little milk till you get a thick doughy consistency that you can just about beat. Beat this with a fork until it’s smooth and there are no lumps, now slowly add more milk until you get the thickness of double cream. That’s it, told you it was simple

To cook, Rub a good non-stick frying pan with a little vegetable oil, heat it until it is very hot (oil starts to smoke a little), then pour in enough pancake mix to coat the pan, and immediately tilt the pan so that the mixture spreads evenly. Turn pancake with a spatula or palette knife as soon as you see the top surface is dry or forms bubbles (about 30 seconds) – or if you’re feeling confident, flip it! Once turned its ready in 15 or 20 seconds, serve immediately with the topping of your choice. Rub the pan with a spot of vegetable oil on a piece of kitchen towel between pancakes.

Batter keeps in the fridge for up to two days; just re-whisk it before using.

As it is nearly spring celebrate with our new seasonal tree products. Have a great day!

Other Seasons Are Available

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2 Questions On Meeting New Singles

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 15:34:17 +0000

Valentines Day is quickly approaching and if you haven’t meet someone yet there is still time to find someone to spend that day with. By asking yourself a couple simple questions you’ll be able to find someone to spend time with in no time flat.

The first question is, what type of person are you interested in? The reason for determining the type of person that you are interested in is for example, if you’re a devoutly religious person and believe that music that isn’t about go is a sin you’d want someone else who holds this same belief as you, so the best place to frequent wouldn’t necessarily be a local dance club, as these types of gatherings are centered more towards people that are into dancing and looking for a party. And though there is a chance you may find someone at a place like this it is better to avoid the waste of time and go to where you are pretty sure other people with interests like yours would be.

The second question is, where am I going to meet this person? The kinds of people you meet will depend on the types of places you visit. When determining a location make sure it is one that is comfortable for you. It should be safe and allow you the comfort to approach others and be approached by others. Many singles, especially in their 20s frequent bars as a means to meet other singles in their area, be they small dives or larger refined spaces. Some bars have a reputation for being places for hooking up, while some have a reputation for great conversation. Clubs are another place that get lots of people looking to meet but are focused on dancing. This allows for less pressure because if you don’t like someone or haven’t meet anyone you could always occupy your time dancing. If you are into the arts, most museums have clubs centered around certain themes and often hold mixers, diners and fund raisers. If you like sports you could join a local league.

In short if you are looking to meet someone it comes down to interest and location. By determining what it is you like to do and finding a place to do it you’ll be guaranteed to meet people that are on the same page as you. So pick up the local weekly paper, or even search the internet for what ever interests you in your city and you’ll soon find a group of like minded people to meet.

For a perfect Valentines day all you need is the perfect partner to share it with, if you’re still searching for yours you should try this free online dating site! It’s the best one we have found. Have fun.

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Where to Meet Single Women During St Valentine’s Day

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:50:04 +0000

Exactly where to meet single women during St. Valentine’s Day? So Valentine’s Day is just round the corner and you still might be searching for the perfect one. Well most of us spend our lives searching for the perfect girl, but then you might even be lacking a date on Valentine’s Day. So what do you do then? Simple! You go search for one.

Even if it might seem difficult to believe, there are millions of singles out there even on Valentine’s Day. With a little bit of search, you might just find a sweet girl or a hot woman especially on Valentine’s Day. And if this becomes the date when you are able to find true love, what more can one need?

If you study in a college or some educational institution, there are bound to be many girls there. It is unlikely that on Valentine’s Day every single one of them would have been asked out. You might know some of them. Talk to them. Ask them out. If it has been that cute hottie you have had your eyes for a few months now and you don’t know whether she has been asked out or not, then now is the time to find out.

There are many other ways in which you can meet single women during St. Valentine’s Day. For instance, if you have been friends with a girl for long but have never asked her out and you find that on Valentine’s Day both of you are single, why not ask her out? Dating seems the best when both are friends. You know what to expect and there are no uncomfortable surprises.

There are some other places where you can meet single women during St. Valentine’s Day. There are many places which organize Valentine’s Day events. This can happen at some club or hotel or restaurant. A lot of single women visit these events with their friends.

Valentine’s Day does not only mean celebration for the couples, a lot of people celebrate with their friend circles too. You are most likely to meet some beautiful women in these parties. Ask them out by saying that Valentine’s Day would be much better if you could have the company of such a sweet girl. Genuine compliments pay.

Where else to meet single women during St. Valentine’s Day? Well the bar is a good place to meet single women on Valentine’s Day. With the right approach you can get a date over a drink and have a nice time with her.

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Naturally Stoned

11 Things You Didn’t Know About St. Patrick and His Day

More Stuff You May Like To Read

St Patrick’s Day Supplies – 3 Top Items For Having the Best St Patrick’s Day

More Stuff You May Like To Read

St Patricks Day Menu

More Stuff You May Like To Read

The Origins of Easter

More Stuff You May Like To Read

7 Fun Things to Do For Saint Patrick’s Day

More Stuff You May Like To Read

St. Patrick’s Day Food – Colcannon Recipe

More Stuff You May Like To Read

Origins Of St Patrick’s Day

More Stuff You May Like To Read

My Own Easy Never Fail Pancake Batter Recipe

2 Questions On Meeting New Singles

Where to Meet Single Women During St Valentine’s Day