St. Patty's Green Lunch

St. Patrick would have smiled..... we had a great lunch today with K & B, C & R, and J & S. Everyone wore something green and brought something green. When C & R walked in, C was holding the foods they cooked, and R had a bag filled with "props," as she called them.

R is full of surprises-- like for our Harry Potter dinner, when she brought her Tarot cards and came dressed up in her Renaissance gown. For today's lunch, her "props" were two dancing costumes from when she was a young girl and was a member of an Irish dancing group-- not only the costumes, but the dancing shoes as well, plus all the medals she won over the years.

The green and white costumes were handmade by family members, and beautifully embroidered with designs and crests and emblems of her dancing group. We hung them up in the archway between the living room and the dining room, and R displayed her medals on the piano, along with black & white photographs of the dancers. What a great surprise that was-- and of course, appropriate for the day.

The foods were amazing, as they always are when we all get together. C & R brought green rice, plus tomato slices topped with basil and mozzarella. K & B brought sag paneer, which is an Indian spinach dish baked with a mild goat cheese, along with naan, traditional Indian bread. They also brought dessert-- a rich pound cake frosted with green icing and green sprinkles. J & S brought shrimp quesadillas with a green salsa.

I made the Irish soda bread, which I sliced and arranged on a vintage green platter and used as the centerpiece for the table. Around that, I had shamrock-shaped candy dishes filled with pistachio nuts and green pumpkin seeds. Shamrock-topped plastic picks were studded with green grapes and chunks of kiwi, with a dipping sauce of key lime yogurt. I made spinach and cheese pastries, and my husband made mashed potatoes with cheese and bacon (not green, but potatoes seem to be a staple in Irish cooking). I also had fresh spinach leaves stuffed with mozzarella cheese and sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and slivers of pistachio nuts.

All the ladies got rhinestone shamrock pins, plus green tea and chocolates in their favor-bags (which were green silk bags decorated with tiny green flowers). The guys got cellophane bags covered in shamrocks and filled with green tea and chocolates.

Our lunch started at 2:00 and didn't break up until 7:00 this evening. We took our time with all of the food, then enjoyed dessert with K & B's cake, and the pistachio gelato that I bought at the supermarket.... plus green tea and coffee (not green). We're such a great group when we all get together.... lots of interesting conversation that never seems to hit a low spot.

We're going to try and arrange a dinner at the Moroccan restaurant downtown.... with the 8 of us, we can reserve one of their small private rooms, which should be a lot of fun. We've been there with K & B twice before, but the other two couples haven't tried that restaurant yet.

Nearly 11:00pm now... and it's been a long day. A fun one, but a busy one....... and tomorrow will be also. I'm trying to remember the last un-busy day....