03-17 - March 17th - St. Patrick's Day

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) - at Cook's Vanilla

St. Patrick's Day History

Celebrated on March 17th in Honor of the life work and passing of St. Patrick, St. Patrick's Day has now become a popular holiday the world round. Born as Maewyn Succat, to an Anglo-Roman family in Wales, he was captured by an Irish pagan warlord at the age of 16. After six miserable years, he escaped to France. After studying Christianity, he returned to Ireland to share his believes, using a Shamrock to help explain the Trinity (God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Which is why the Shamrock is the national emblem for Ireland.

On March 17th 1737, The first St. Patrick's Day Parade was celebrated by the Irish Society of Boston, located in the colonies of the new world. Instead of celebrating, they were making a political statement about their low social status and their difficulty obtaining jobs. Today, on the other hand, St. Patrick's Day is widely celebrated by Irish as well as non-Irish alike, by wearing green colored clothing and items (as those caught who are not wearing green are [affectionately] pinched).

St. Patrick's Day Recipes - Lucky Irish Mist Brownies

Ingredients

Brownies

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp Cook's Choice Vanilla Extract
• 2 eggs

Filling

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3oz. (softened) cream cheese
• 3 Tablespoons (softened) butter
• 1/2 tsp Cook's Peppermint Extract
• 1 tsp Cook's Choice Vanilla Extract

Topping

• 1 square of (melted) unsweetened baking chocolated

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F
2. Melt 1/2 cup butter, 2 squares chocolate in saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly until smooth (approx. 5 minutes)
3. Stir in remaining brownie ingredients until well mixed.
4. Spread into greased square baking pan.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until brownie begins pulling from the side of the pan.
6. Remove from the oven and cool.
7. While cooling, Combine filling ingredients and beat at medium spreed until creamy then spread over cooled bars.
8. Drizzle melted chocolate over filling and cut into bars.
9. Enjoy!