March 2010
Posted on 12/01/2009 09:59 am by manx
St Pat's Celtic Cross
Its March…already, are you ready to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?
St Patrick has an interesting history – stolen from Britain as a child, sold as a slave in Ireland – eventually escaping and returning to England where he entered the church. Later he returned to Ireland as a missionary. So “think “green” in celebration or feast day to St. Patrick. I have posted an article on traditional Irish foods-most include potatoes or cabbage. The Irish are such enthusiastic folk – they even make up songs to go along with their food. Several cities have massive celebrations to St. Patrick – Chicago even dyes a river green in salute!
March is the official beginning of spring. Here in Utah the signs of spring are starting up – robins are gathering, rooks are pairing off, conifers are starting to “sweat” showing sign of awakening after winters long grip. My thoughts are turning to my garden – will be planting snow peas and cole crops by the end of the month. This months recipe of the month isn’t very “green” but it is a tasty and economical version of the classic Italian “caccitore”. My version uses skinless chicken thighs and features a yummy sauce. Very easy to put together and a tasty alternative to spaghetti. The recipe is built for two but one could add a couple of extra portions of meat if you wanted to expand it for four.
I have added a cheese and onion soup recipe to the mix – its a lovely warm, smoothing soup – perfect for the last of the winter chill. You probably have everything you need already in the kitchen to make this soup (onion, flour, milk, cheese). For information about onions, see the VOM (vegetable of the month) page – amazing variety and culinary uses from the Allium family.
March is also the month for the Vernal Equinox (where the sun crosses the equator signifying that the northern hemisphere starts to melt and the southern hemisphere goes into autumn) is March 20th this year. Did you know that equinox means “equal night”, so that day and night are each 12 hours? The vernal equinox is also significant because Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the full moon post equinox.
