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 It was GREEN, GREEN, GREEN–from start to finish. We started off the afternoon bowling like the year before, thinking maybe someone would have improved their game. No such luck! We were all just as bad as we were in 2009! But I think we did have more fun! When we got home we played Tic Tac Toe using St. Patrick’s Day trivia questions. (St. Patrick drove snakes out of Ireland by playing a flute, banging a drum, or eating shamrocks? Or how about this one: What’s Irish and stays out all night? Patti O’ furniture!!) That’s why we have so much fun! Then, we always have a limerick contest where everyone makes up a funny Irish limerick. For example: A girl that my grandmother knows, Has hair that goes down to her toes. It was beautiful to see, but unfortunately; It was all growing out of her nose!
The dinner menu included lots of salads this year: Spinach & Feta Cheese Flatbread, Chicken Pizza Bagels, Pasta, Pesto & Peas, a Layered Salad, Stained Glass mold, pickles (of course), and CMP (chocolate, marshmallow, peanut) made with pistachio pudding.
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2010 recipes:
(Many more recipes below!) Flat Bread Spinach and Feta Pizza |
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| Chicken Pizza Bagels | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(This is the recipe to make 1 sandwich) 1 bagel or English muffin, cut in half Heat oven to 400. Spread barbecue sauce on muffin halves. Arrange chicken pieces on top of sauce and top with mozzarella. Bake for about 6-8 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve immediately. (Easy, fast and delicious!) |
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| Pesto Pasta & Peas Salad |
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| 3/4 lb fusilli pasta, cooked and drained 3/4 lb farfalle (small bow-tie) pasta 1/4 c. olive oil 1 (10 oz.) pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry 3 Tbls. freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 1/4 c. mayonnaise 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese 1 1/2 c. frozen peas, thawed 1/3 c. pine nuts(pignolis) (opt.) 3/4 tsp. salt 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper 1 1/2 c. pesto When pasta is drained, toss gently with the olive oil and cool to room temperature. In a food processor, puree the pesto, spinach and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and continue to puree. Add this mixture to the cooled pasta; then add the Parmesan, peas, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Mix well and season to taste. Serve at room temperature. Serves 12. |
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| Layered Salad |
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fresh spinach, torn in small pieces 1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled 4 to 6 chopped or sliced hard boiled eggs chopped lettuce thawed, uncooked peas julienne strips of cheese chopped lettuce mayonnaise salt, pepper and sugar In a large, clear glass bowl, layer the ingredients in the order given. Sprinkle salt, pepper and sugar over lettuce. Coat entire salad with mayonnaise, covering to edge of bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Note: Can also use mushrooms and water chestnuts, if desired. |
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| Stained Glass Gelatin Mold Salad |
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| 3 small boxes of lime Jello ® 3 c. boiling water 1 1/2 c. cold water 2 small boxes lemon jello 2 c. boiling water 1 c. cold water 1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping, thawed Make lime jello using 1 cup boiling water and 1/2 cup cold water for each package. Use 3 square or round baking dishes to put jello in. Refrigerate until firm. Cut each into 1/2-inch cubes. Meanwhile, dissolve lemon jello in 2 cups boiling water; stir in 1 cup cold water. Refrigerate until slightly thicken. Fold in 3 cups of the whipped topping; then fold in green jello cubes. Pour into a 9" tube pan that has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil. Refrigerate overnight or until firm. Unmold. Garnish with remaining whipped topping, if desired. Makes 16 servings. |
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| Flat Bread Feta & Spinach Pizza |
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1 loaf of flatbread or garlic bread (sliced in half the long way) 5 tbls. olive oil 2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen spinach, thawed and squeeze dry 1 tsp. cayenne pepper 1 c. feta cheese 1/2-3/4 c. dried tomatoes in oil Heat bread in oven until just warm. In olive oil, cook spinach and cayenne until hot through. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in cheese. Sprinkle evenly with sliced dried tomatoes. Spread mixture on both bread halves. Bake for 15-20 minutes in preheated oven at 375. Remove from oven and slice. Makes 10-12 servings. |
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| CMP Dessert |
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| CMP Dessert (recipe here) |
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We did something this year we've never done before...we all went bowling. It was a fun afternoon even for those of us who could barely get the ball down the alley.
This year I found several different kinds of GREEN candy at Wegmans. Since it was sold in bulk, it was easy to hand-pick the color and pieces you wanted. As you can see from the pictures, there were several bowls waiting to be devoured. For dinner we had some different GREEN food: St. Patrick's Day Punch, Green Ribbon Jello Shamrocks (cute), Broccoli Salad, Greek Chicken Pizza, Chicken Piccata Salad, Chimichurri Chicken with Asparagus, Key Lime Pie and Green Rice Krispie Treats.
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More green recipes below: Cauliflower, Peas & Dill Salad 2008 Green Dinner photos and recipes |
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Everyone showed up wearing
GREEN this year because the penalty is getting a green X on your forehead with a felt marker! It was a fun afternoon of games, writing a funny limerick, making a caterpillar the size of someone’s foot and building a house with cards (one house even had a garage!)
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Dinner was delicious, as always, as everyone contributed a GREEN dish or two. This year’s menu consisted of a Lime punch, Ham-Spinach appetizer, a plate of shamrock finger jello, pickles, Beef stir-fry with Snow and Snap Peas, Broccoli Salad, French-style green beans, Egg and Broccoli Casserole, Rice Krispie treats (green, of course) with mini chocolate chips, St. Paddy’s Dessert and our yummy pretzel and white chocolate wafer treats. |
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2008 Green Dinner Photos
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MINI SPINACH, CHEESE & HAM CUPS
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1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, well drained Heat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together except ham. Place 1 slice of ham in each of 24 miniature muffin pan cups (twist/fold the slice to fit into the round cup). Put 1 teaspoon of spinach mixture into each ham-lined cup. Bake 12-15 minutes. Serve warm. |
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BROCCOLI SALAD
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2 bunches broccoli, chopped In large bowl, mix broccoli, bacon, cheese and raisins together. In separate bowl, mix the mayo, vinegar and sugar; pour over broccoli mixture and gently stir. Better if it sits several hours or over night. |
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EGG AND BROCCOLI CASSEROLE
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1 lb. broccoli, trimmed, cut into small pieces Cook broccoli until just tender; drain well. Melt 1/4 cup butter in small saucepan. Blend in flour and mustard and cook 1 minute. Add milk and stir until thick and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Season with pepper. Set cheese sauce aside. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 7 x 12 baking dish. Melt remaining 1/4 cup butter; add bread crumbs and stir until crisp and golden brown. Arrange broccoli and hard cooked eggs in dish. Pour sauce over top; sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake until heated through, about 25 minutes. Serves 6. |
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ST. PADDY'S DESSERT
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I took this Halloween Dessert recipe and just substituted lime jello for the orange jello -- everything else stayed the same!
3 1/2 c. chocolate cookie crumbs Mix 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and 1/2 cup sugar and margarine; press firmly into bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Refrigerate. Beat cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth. Stir in 1/2 of the whipped topping. Spoon over crust. Stir boiling water into jello until dissolved. Mix cold water and stir. Refrigerate until it starts to gel. Spoon over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm. Spread remaining whipped topping over gelatin. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs. Decorate with candy corn and pumpkins. Serves 15-18. |
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| 2007 Green Dinner | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A "GREEN" dinner on St. Patrick's Day - there's nothing quite like green mashed potatoes or green bread! Last year even the dog showed up in a green shirt and hat! Our menu included Chicken and Broccoli casserole, creamed spinach, green bean salad, green bread, and Cauliflower, Peas and Dill salad (delicious!!)
Dessert was Cookies and Mint Cream Wedges, Cookie Lollipops (a big hit with the kids!) and Shamrock Sugar Cookies. We also had a basket of candy bars--wrapped in shamrocks on yellow paper or personalized with everyone's name on one. This was a simple project that I did on my printer and then cut them to fit and hot glued them on. Everyone loved finding one with their name on it! For fun, before and after dinner, we played several St. Patrick's guessing games, turned a potato into 'something Irish' and then played our own version of Jeopardy. Following that we had an auction with the play money everyone had won. Small prizes and candy was in stapled-shut paper bags, and bidding was for those bags without knowing what was in them. Great fun! |
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Green dinner photos 2007
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Click to enlarge these photos |
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| back to top | LOLLIPOP COOKIES | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Spread a vanilla wafer (on the flat side) with peanut butter. Lay a popsicle stick (available in craft stores) on top of it and then put another vanilla wafer (flat side down) on top of that. Dip the 'lollipop' into melted white chocolate or almond bark and sprinkle with green and yellow sprinkles. Lay on waxed paper to cool. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CAULIFLOWER, PEAS AND DiLL SALAD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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3 c. small cauliflower florets Put cauliflower in boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove and put in cold water to stop the cooking. Do the same with the peas. Drain well. Mix the dill, garlic salt, yogurt and mayonnaise until well blended. Add celery to vegetables and then dressing; mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight to allow flavor to develop. |
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| back to top | GREEN BEAN SALAD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1 lb. young green beans 1 tsp. mustard 2 tsp. dijon mustard 4 tsps. red wine vinegar 5 Tbls. olive or canola oil 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 c. grated fresh Parmesan cheese 3/4 c. black or calamata olives (optional) Mix mustards, vinegar, oil and salt together. Bring several quarts of water to boil. Put beans into boiling water, bring the water to a boil again and cook the beans about 3 minutes (so they are cooked, but still crisp). Drain well. While they are still hot quickly toss them in the dressing. Add olives and sprinkle with grated cheese. Should be served at room temperature. |
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| back to top | CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI CASSEROLE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chicken, cooked and boned and enough to cover bottom of 9 x 13 pan. Cut chicken into pieces. Steam broccoli til just done, but still crisp. Drain. Cover bottom of casserole with broccoli; then place a layer of chicken over this. Mix other ingredients (except cheese) and pour over chicken. Sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 30 to 35 minutes. |
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| back to top | COOKIES N' MINT CREAM WEDGES | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2 c. (24 cookies) finely crushed creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookies Combine crumbs and margarine and press in bottom and up sides of ungreased 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate. Filling: Beat cream cheese until fluffy; gradually add sugar and vanilla; blend well. Add creme de menthe -- or green food coloring, and grated chocolate, mixing well. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into chilled crust. Refrigerate at least 2 hours (or overnight) before serving. Serves 16. |
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Spaghetti with Pesto Sauce
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2 cups packed torn fresh spinach 3 Tbls. roasted pine nuts or chopped walnuts 2 cloves garlic, sliced 1/2 tsp. salt 3/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil (I use about half and half) 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Put spinach, nuts, garlic and salt into blender or food processor. Pour oil over mixture and blend about 20 seconds; scrape sides with rubber spatula and blend until smooth. Add grated Parmesan and blend again. Serve sauce at room temperature over hot pasta. (Can be made several days ahead of time. Bring to room temperature before serving). If sauce is too thick, stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons hot water. |
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Blarney Stones Cookies
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At your green dinner have plastic bags fill with the ingredients for Blarney Stones Cookies. Tie each bag with a green ribbon and then add shamrock stickers to the bag or tie a cut-out shamrock on the ribbon. Everybody (or every family) gets a bag as their ‘going home’ gift. P.S. Don’t forget to serve some for dessert so they know how yummy they are!!
Makes 5 dozen Mix all ingredients together and put in plastic bag and secure tightly. Add this note to your bag (on the back of the shamrock if it is big enough) Empty bag into a large bowl. Using your hands, mix in the following: Shape into balls the size of a walnut. Place 2" apart on greased baking sheet. Bake 375 for 9-11 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet. |
Cauliflower, Peas & Dill Salad 2008 Green Dinner photos and recipes |
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CHARTREUSE FRUIT CUP/SALAD
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This combination of fruit and the tangy dressing make this salad light and refreshing!
2 cups honeydew balls Mix the dressing ingredients together and stir gently into mixed fruit. Chill at least 1 hour before serving. |
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Grasshopper Pie
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1 1/2 c. chocolate Oreo crumbs (about 18 cookies) Reserve 2 tablespoons crumbs for top of pie. Mix remaining crumbs and butter; press into a 9-inch pie pan and chill. Melt marshmallows, milk and butter in double boiler; cook, stirring occasionally. Cool. Add whipped cream and creme de menthe and creme de cocoa, if desired. Pour into crust and chill for several hours. Can be frozen, too. (Note: this year I substituted two cups of cool whip for the whipped cream to cut down on the fat calories and it was just as good!) |
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1 graham cracker crust
