Happy Monday and St. Patrick’s Day! I love Mondays. They’re my 52 Chances a year to share Memories of My Mom with you.
As I mentioned last week, Americans love to celebrate just about everything. And March is, among other things, Irish-American Heritage Month. Plus, today is also National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day and St. Patrick’s Day. Yesterday, Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood celebrated it early with their 67th annual parade and festival.
Corktown, which was named after Ireland’s Cork County, and the Irish Hills region in southeast Michigan are known for their strong Irish heritage and settlement history. According to Census reports from the late 1800s, many Irish immigrants also settled on Michigan’s Beaver Island, in northern Lake Michigan. It was later nicknamed Michigan’s Emerald Isle.
Most of the customs with which we commemorate this holiday didn’t come from Ireland, though. These so called traditions began here, in the U.S., with the Irish Protestant immigrants who “Americanized” their homeland’s religious observance, turning it into a celebration of their Irish heritage, as a whole.
From the 17th to 20th century, Ireland only observed this day with a special meal or “feast”, to honor the saint. Now, due to the Americanization effect, Ireland has expanded its festivities for this day (mainly for the sake of tourism) but they’re still not as elaborate as the ones here, in the U.S.
Big tourist towns, like Dublin and Armagh, now host parades, festivals, and other special events across their communities. What started as a religious observance with just a “feast” to honor the saint that brought them Christianity has evolved into a celebration of Irish heritage and culture – with American twists, of course, because that’s how we roll.
In the U.S., this holiday is a “pot of gold” for bars and restaurants, as it’s their highest grossing day of the year – higher than New Year’s Eve, Super Bowl Sunday, and Valentine’s Day. Guinness, being Ireland’s national beer, is the most popular drink choice today. Meanwhile, bars (and most businesses) in Ireland are closed, to honor this sacred day.
They (whoever “they” are) say we all have a bit of Irish in us, even if it’s only for today. Most Americans (and businesses, as well) love to celebrate this holiday, even if we’re not Irish. The Americanized festivities certainly bolster the economy and help make the winter blahs disappear, too. Incidentally, Thursday is the “vernal equinox”, when Spring Begins.
Due to our melting pot environment, every holiday from elsewhere tends to get Americanized and commercialized when it’s celebrated here. We love to have festivals and parades, parties, music and dancing, food and drinks. Did you know that the very first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in New York City, not Ireland?
Major cities with large populations of Irish-Americans, such as Boston, Chicago, and New York City host big parades to honor the holiday. New York City’s parade tradition dates back to 1762. Boston claims that they had the first American celebration of the holiday, in 1737. And, since 1962, the Chicago River has been famously dyed green for the holiday.
Americans’ favorite “Irish dish” for St. Patrick’s Day is corned beef and cabbage. However, corned beef isn’t even Irish. It’s actually Eastern European. The favorite dish in Ireland is bacon (which is similar to Canadian bacon, not American bacon) and cabbage.
In the 19th century, America’s Irish immigrants discovered corned beef was cheaper than their traditional bacon (and cabbage). That’s when corned beef and cabbage became the new Americanized tradition. In Ireland, they prefer to feast on traditional soda bread and slow-cooked stew made with potatoes, onions, and either beef, mutton, or lamb.
Our St. Patrick’s Day parties usually feature a variety of what we assume are Irish foods and drinks, sometimes further Americanized with green food coloring [but green food and beer are not Irish either]. Somewhere along the way, the color green came to represent Ireland, in general, as its nickname is “The Emerald Isle”.
On the Irish flag, the white, center stripe symbolizes the peace between the Roman Catholic majority (represented by the green stripe) and the Protestant minority (represented by the orange stripe). The “battle” of Christians vs. Protestants split Ireland’s people for centuries.
Oddly, the celebrations for this holiday, which we’ve come to enjoy, were originally started here by the Protestant immigrants from Northern Ireland. However, it’s considered taboo to wear orange in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day because it honors the Catholic saint, even though it has evolved to honor all of the Irish heritage.
St. Patrick’s Day décor is primarily green, with an array of Americanized “Irish symbols” for luck – shamrocks, rainbows, and pots of gold – and tomfoolery (as with the Leprechauns, from Irish folklore). “Luck of the Irish” originated in America’s “old west”, in the mid-1800’s “Gold Rush” era, when a large number of successful gold miners were of Irish decent.
According to Irish folklore, leprechauns were cranky little cons, who lived alone and passed the time mending the shoes of the Irish fairies, when they weren’t performing acts of trickery. These fabled leprechauns were Americanized, into fun and good-natured pranking, little rascals.
The old Irish legend, about kissing the Blarney Stone (in Blarney Castle), claims that’s how one gets the “Gift of the Gab”, which is, by definition, eloquence or skillful flattery for persuasion. In fact, “blarney” actually means skillful flattery, as well as nonsense and cajolery.
I don’t know if our family has any Irish ancestry but I do know that several family members have been known to be relatively “lucky” and others are quite talented in the art of blarney, as well. I don’t think I have either trait but I’m sure Mom had more than a bit of both! Here are some samples of her blarney and story-telling talents.
FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…
As seen in…
My Cup Runneth Over and I Can’t Find My Mop (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; Dec. 1989, p. 119)
MAKING FRIENDS
LUCK, AS THE CRITICS said, really had nothing to do with our success, unless the definition of LUCK is when preparation and experience meet opportunity. That is, indeed, a blessing worth counting twice, also.
However, I have learned from my very wise mother, whose advice was always inspiring and encouraging, that rather than count my BLESSINGS, I should carefully count my OPPORTUNITIES!
In my kitchen, where all of these famous recipes are developed and tested and prepared for publishing, I have one significant problem. The ‘Good Hands People’ are about to declare my kitchen an accident going someplace to happen!
My sense of organization is not what Heloise would enthusiastically endorse. So, even when my cup runneth over and over and over, I can’t always find my mop!
It is with appreciation that, in spite of my lack of organization, Mary Ellen Pinkham, the famous household hints author, took an interest in our recipes… I really should get together with Mary Ellen and learn exactly how to become better organized but, somehow, time keeps getting away from me.
I am either in the kitchen, cooking up something for the next book [or] the next issue of the newsletter; or I’m writing about what I’ve been cooking – with time in between to do two, sometimes three, radio shows a day, on a regular basis, running anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours.
No two shows are ever alike – with the exception of the [wonderful] hospitality and warm response from the listeners. I have had very few unhappy experiences on the air… Some of the highlights of these radio broadcasts will probably remind you of the first time you heard of me, through one of these shows…
This is where most of our family of readers have come and they continue to listen with as much enthusiasm and as many challenges [for me to decipher] today as they did the day I spoke to my first radio audience and became affectionately dubbed by them ‘The Recipe Detective’. I thank them!
MORE FROM MOM’S MEMORIES…
As seen in…
No Laughing Matter (circa 1970s)
JUST A HOUSEWIFE AND A PRO!
AS A ‘SUBURBAN HOUSEWIFE’, I fail to see how anyone could classify my routine as ‘dull’! For one thing, everyone knows that the mother of an active family has no routine! We’re LUCKY if we can get our slippers on the right feet first thing in the morning.
In fact, we’re LUCKY if we can even find those slippers; having to, first, plow through an undergrowth of Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs on the way to the kitchen, where we must witness testy debates over who gets the [prize] in the box of [cereal] and why a 40-year-old man refuses to take the Donald Duck Thermos in his lunch…
What’s wrong with a quest for a roll of Scotch tape that’s your very own or having the phone ring and the call is for you instead of your teenager? [Margaret Mead’s] working definition [of a ‘first-class’ woman, not being a housewife or homemaker,] is a ‘trained, competent, professional woman’.
Now, I’d be the last one to contradict an expert, but in defense of women who become wives and mothers… we have had training (although much of it’s on the job), are extremely competent and are professional [according to Webster’s dictionary] in that we have ‘a vocation requiring knowledge of some department of learning or skill’…
If you don’t think it takes learning or skill to varnish a complex-of-disorder with enough love and efficiency that husbands and children grow up with security and comfort, drop around my kitchen some Sunday night [or Monday morning]…
LAST THOUGHTS…
Thanks for visiting! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my memories of my mom, her memories, and other related things. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at [email protected]. You can also find me on Facebook: @TheRecipeDetective.
IN CLOSING…
In honor of Irish-American Heritage Month and today, being National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day and St. Patrick’s Day, here are THREE of Mom’s famous “shortcut recipes” – “Corned Beef” (4-Ingredient), plus 2 options, including “Corned Beef Broth with Cabbage” and its option for “Cabbage With Smoky Links”.
All three recipes are from her self-published cookbook, Gloria Pitzer’s Mostly 4-Ingredient Recipes (Secret RecipesTM, St. Clair, MI; April 1986, p. 14). As always, I’m asking only for proper credit if you care to re-share any or all of them.
P.S. Food-for-thought until next Monday…
March also observes… National Caffeine Awareness Month, National Celery Month, National Craft Month, National Flour Month, National Sauce Month, and National Women’s History Month.
Unofficially, it’s also Maple Sugaring Month in Michigan. It’s not a national/federal holiday but making maple syrup is a big event in the northeast quadrant of the U.S. mainland and Canada, too. See Michigan State University’s Extension’s article, called March is Maple Syrup Season in Michigan.
Today is also… somebody’s birthday, or anniversary, or other special occasion.
Tuesday, March 18th, is… National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day and National Sloppy Joe Day. Plus, as the third day of the third full week of the third month (for 2025), it’s also… National 3-D Day.
Wednesday, March 19th, is… National Chocolate Caramel Day, National Let’s Laugh Day, and National Poultry Day.
Thursday, March 20th, is… World Flour Day and National Ravioli Day.
Friday, March 21st, is… National California Strawberry Day, National French Bread Day, and National Single Parent Day.
March 22nd is… National Bavarian Crepes Day and National West Virginia Day. Plus, as the first Saturday of March Madness (for 2025), it’s also… National Corn Dog Day.
March 23rd is… National Chia Day, National Chip and Dip Day, National Melba Toast Day, National Puppy Day, and National Tamale Day. Plus, as the fourth Sunday in March (for 2025), it’s also the beginning of… National Cleaning Week.
Have a great week!
…11 down and 41 to go!
