Tips for Today: St. Patrick’s Day
St. Patrick’s Day is coming soon… on March 17th. We want you to enjoy celebrating the day with your customers and employees. Read on for inspiration for the “luckiest” of holidays.
St. Patrick’s Day Traditions
Food
Serving traditional Irish food on or around St. Patrick’s Day is a great way to celebrate the holiday with your customers. Here are some of our favorite traditional dishes and beverages:
- Corned Beef and Cabbage – while not authentically Irish (it was the American interpretation of Irish immigrants’ pork and potatoes in the 18th century), this dish is forever linked to St. Patrick’s Day.
- Shepherds Pie – this traditional meat and potatoes dish is a special item to have on your menu in March. Mix it up for your customers by offering chicken or vegetarian Shepherds Pies.
- Beef Hand Pies – savory hand pies make it easy for customers to grab their lunch and go!
- Irish Soda Bread – a great option for bakeries or cafés! Perfectly pairs with morning coffee or tea.
- Guinness – one of the most popular Irish beer brands, Guinness is the right beer to have on draft at your bar or restaurant for St. Patrick’s Day. But don’t stop there – you can mix it into baked goods for stout bread or cool it down by making it into ice cream.
- Whiskey – can’t have St. Patricks’ Day without some authentic Irish whiskey! Why not host a tasting for your customers?
Music
St. Patrick’s Day celebrations would be nothing without lively Irish folk music. Irish music sounds very much the same today as it would have two hundred years ago. Irish music is a diverse genre of folk music which has many regional variations. Traditional instruments include: the fiddle, flute, tin whistle, pipes and the harp. While most music is meant for dancing, there are other ballad or spoken word-type songs. If you can’t arrange for a live band to come play at your location, put together a playlist of traditional Irish music to fit the mood of your business!
Color
Did you know that blue was originally the color associated with the holiday? But, due to Ireland’s nickname as “The Emerald Isle,” the green in the Irish flag and the clover that St. Patrick used in his teachings about Catholicism, green became the color most associated with the holiday. There’s an Irish legend that wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns that will pinch you if they can see you. Even more reason to encourage your employees and customers to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day!
We hope these ideas give you inspiration for planning your St. Patrick’s celebration!
