We all know that the holiday calls for wearing the color green, but their are also some other interesting traditions, such as eating corned beef and cabbage. Corned beef and cabbage is a classic dish created by Irish immigrants in the United States.

The immigrants used the corned beef rather than other types of meat such as pork or bacon. The dish contains the corned beef along with cabbage and some vegetable such as carrots and potatoes.

It is perhaps ironic that corned beef and cabbage is linked with St. Patrick’s Day since the dish is not from Ireland.

As often happens, we lost our since of history, and simply adopted the dish for St. Patrick’s Day since it was created by Irish immigrants. Corned beef and cabbage remains quite popular in the New England region of the United States as well as parts of Canada in that same geographic area. Maybe it is the fact that the dish contains very simple foods that makes it so popular even to this day. That question may never be answered, but one thing seems clear, this dish is here to stay.

Corned Beef and Cabbage: A St. Patricks Day tradition

Irish sayings are notoriously full of nostalgia for the home land and also full of wisdom. The Irish, however, have made today, March 17, 2010, especially memorable by teaching us also a little of the Irish language, a Celtic twisting of the tongue and one can sound like the Irish, if occassion warrants.

Did you know that “Ireland Forever” in Irish is “Erin Go Bragh”. Ireland is actually Erin in the native tongue of the Irish. More Irish humor and wit is part and parcel of the myth that the Irish are born lucky. There favorite saying is, “If you’re lucky enough to be Irish, then you’re lucky enough.”

Wisdom that profound has more meaning of the love of Erin for Erin despite the hardships of living on Erin.
St. Patrick’s Day was celebrated with festivities and revelry and not one mention to the Pope about an Irish blessing on March 17, 2010.

Happy St. Patrick's Day: Irish sayings

An idea is to gather friends for the rest of the week and weekend, those you missed seeing on St. Patrick’s day and use up the delicious remaining corned beef & cabbage. The corned beef & cabbage can also be donated to food banks for the less fortunate, if you take care in the preservation process.

The corn in corned beef does not refer to corn, but corn were the large kernels of salt used to preserve the corned beef. The word corned has been part of the English language for over 1,000 years. Ireland used to be the largest exporter of corned beef until 1825. Corned beef & cabbage are not necessarily Irish. The English were consumers of this delicacy too. However, “corned beef” is Irish to the core.

Many new recipes will be added to the older ones, for the left over corned beef & cabbage. New recipes for soup and other foods are popular this time of year, coinciding with St. Patrick’s Day.

Corned beef and cabbage on st patrick's day

St. Patrick used shamrocks as a visual aid to teach the pagans Celts about Christianity. When only a youth St. Patrick was kidnapped from his native Scotland and brought to Ireland. He later escaped and returned to Scotland. But, he always yearned to return to Ireland in order to teach his religious beliefs in Christianity to the Irish people.

In the 4th. century this famous individual became a priest and headed back to Ireland and converted the people. March 17th. will be St. Patrick’s Day. The only problem not resolved is the shortage of shamrocks. This is a real crisis, not quite on par with the Health Care crisis, but the situation is hitting home. This year President Obama might not even receive the traditional shamrock; at least not an authentic one. This is yet another chapter of sadness to add to Irish history.

Ireland's Shamrock Shortage

Some older clocks do not have these features built into them of setting the time ahead for us. It would be a good idea to take a walk around your house or place of work and take a look at all of the clocks to double check that all of the clocks are representing the same time. If you skip this step there could be a flurry of confusion in the future.

Turn The Clocks Ahead: Spring Time Change 2010

One of the solid indicators of the coming spring season is the time change that comes with daylight savings time.

It is a great pick me up to know that the days are getting longer and we are emerging from the winter and getting more glorious sunlight in our days. In order to keep the time on our clocks and the sunrise in good balance it is important to set our clocks ahead one hour.

If you have not sprung forward your clocks yet today it would be a good idea to do so. Daylight savings time is on Sunday, March 14th and the best time to set all of your clocks ahead would be in the morning as to avoid any sort of embarrassing situation or rushing around. During this daylight savings time set all the wall clocks, shelf clocks, and watches in your possession that are not digital one hour in advance. Many digital technologies, car clocks, phones and computers already have the included feature of setting the time ahead for you so you do not have to do it manually but it is wise to double check and make sure that the time has automatically reset itself.

What Time Is It? Daylight Savings Time 2010

~Give the gift of time. Time spent together on Valentines Day is far more meaningful than any bouquet of roses. Make time for the person you love on Valentines Day. Do something special or out of the ordinary to make the day memorable. Time is much more of a gift, especially if the two of you have little of it together.

~Arrange for a babysitter. If your spouse or loved one is always the one who makes the babysitting arrangements they are sure to appreciate if you do it this time. Get her a nice card and inside of the card write a little note that tells her you took care of the babysitter. Let her know this is a rein check for a child free evening.

~Make dinner at home. Instead of going out in the cold and braving the Valentines Day crowds why not make dinner at home together. Quiet nights at home are underrated.

~Get a plant instead of flowers. Flowers are beautiful but they don’t last very long. Plants on the other hand can have years of shelf life. Instead of the traditional flowers why not buy a houseplant that can serve as a nice addition to the home. A plant that can be grown inside then replanted outside is a great gift for the Gardner or your special outdoors enthusiast.

Remembering the true meaning of Valentines Day can inspire you to think beyond the prepackaged expensive gifts and find one that is meaningful to the person giving it as well as the one receiving it.

Valentines Day Ideas

Here’s a clue – unless you’re a die-hard Star-Trek fan, It’s not “qaparha,” which is Klingon for “I love you.”

According to a London based poll of 320 linguists the most romantic word in the world is the French word “amour,” which narrowly beat out the like-sounding Italian word “amore.” It should be noted that as a whole, however, that even though the notoriously romantic French took first place for individual word, Italian was named the world’s most romantic language overall.

Rounding out the top six places were “Bellissima,” both Italian and Spanish for “very beautiful,” and
“tesoro,” which means “treasure. It, too, is the same in Spanish and Italian. The Italians also took fifth and sixth places for “dolcezza,” (sweetness) and “innamorata (enamoured.)

After Italian the experts found the second-most romantic language was French, easily ahead of Spanish and English in joint third place.

And the least romantic-sounding way to say, “I love you” in any language?

The winner was Japan’s “watakushiwa anata-wo ai shimasu,” followed by the Welsh “rydw i’n dy garu di.”

In other words, there’s a reason languages such as French, Italian and Spanish are known as “Romance Languages.”

Valentines Day: The Most Romantic Word

If you’re not confidant enough to simply sharpen your pencil and grab a rhyming dictionary you can fire up your keyboard, pull up your favorite search engine and check out any number of web sites which offer timeless tropes for all stages and ages of love written by word-masters such as William Shakespeare and Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Writing your own verse is optimum, however. Be tender or tough,,silly or serious, be witty or wise but above all, be yourself. Shakespeare once penned the immortal line “And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks” and Andrew Marvell has a delightfully wicked poem entitled “To His Coy Mistress” which has to be read to be believed so there is no reason to shy away from sharing your most secret self.

You need not be a lit major to write verse. A little bit of courage and lot of love is all it takes.

Valentine's Poems

The movie, which is set in Los Angeles, is based largely on the theme and importance of love. The film follows many LA based couples who are of different social and economic standings, all of whom are tied to each other in one way or another. Kutcher portrays a florist who is engaged to Jessica Alba. Jennifer Garner is married to Patrick Dempsey, who plays her unfaithful husband. Anne Hathaway plays a struggling phone sex operator who is falling in love with Topher Grace.

The movie is also geared to teenagers as teen sensations Emma Roberts, Carter Jenkins, and Tyler Lautner make appearances in the film. Music sensation Taylor Swift makes her feature film debut, when she co-stars as a lovable airhead who cannot settle on one man.

Other characters, such as Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel, Eric Dane, Katy Bates, and George Lopez make appearances in the film as single men and women struggling to deal with the love-filled holiday.

Just as in real life Hollywood relationships, many of the film’s stars play musical chairs with characters other than their in-film spouses. By the end of the movie, all the characters come to the realization of who they truly love and want to be with.

Valentine's Day ideas