Welcome to The St. Patrick's Day Party!

~An Irish Wish for a Friend~

Wishing you a rainbow

For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

To kick the 2011 St Patricks Party off here are a few {rather green} posts:

Click links under photos to view posts:

For your celebrations or just for fun, I made up some Printable Cupcake Toppers

Listed more than 30 Green Foods in this post {most with no food color} for a day of eating 'green'.

A fun St. Patrick's Day Tablescape for my 'leprechauns'.

And between now and St. Patrick's Day I will be posting some St. Patricks Day history, how to catch a leprechaun, a recipe, and some rather green decor so make sure to check back before the party ends!

Now it is your turn:

*Anything St. Patrick's Day goes! Recipes, decor, stories, crafts ~whatever you blog about. (Family friendly) 

* Add links directly to your posts instead of in general to your blog. 

* Please link back to Holiday Haven so everyone can find the party. You can use the party button, by copying the code in the side bar, but a simple link is ok. 

* As Holiday Haven parties are ongoing please stop back from time to time and visit some of the new entrants.  

* Share this party, tweet it, facebook, tell your cousin - or whatever, not required but appreciated. See the full rules here.

Your links will appear in my side bar too!

Holiday Haven's home page.

Feburary 28th is National Chocolate Souffle Day!

Want a reason to celebrate today?

It is National Chocolate Souffle Day!

Souffles, meaning "fluffed up" or  "blown up" in French, are a light, fluffy cake. And despite their problematic reputation are easy to prepare at home. See how easy in this great post from Home Cooking Rocks.  And I found another great recipe at The Food Network.

Make today a holiday!

{And a little reminder, join us for the St. Patrick's Day party! Linky opens today at 4pm pacific}

::The Holiday Challenge::
Holiday Haven's home page.

St. Patrick's Day Party {Reminder}

{Just a little reminder}

The ongoing St. Patrick's Day party starts on March 1st (which is Tuesday already!) and continues 'till St. Patrick's Day. The linky will be open around 4pm Pacific the night before.

 Link up any posts about St. Patrick's Day

~decor, crafts, history, recipes, etc.~

 whatever you blog about as long as it is about St. Patrick's Day. Still have questions? See the blog parties tab for all the rules.

<br /><a border="0" href="http://www.aholidayhaven.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_yl8_YGl-No/TWVJ_QwAUyI/AAAAAAAAE3M/9sFvu8YWpAM/s1600/st+patricks+blog+party.JPG" /></a><br />

And a few of my FAVORITE St. Patrick's Day posts from last year:

First how about a Shamrock Pizza?

And a simple St. Patrick's Day Tablescape to!

Or, for a little fun, our sure fire way of catching leprechauns.

I have added this to Sunday Favorites at HappyToDesign.
Thanks again Cheri for your wonderful best of the best parties!
(Hope you don't mind the party promo)

::The Holiday Challenge::
Holiday Haven's home page.

When is spring break?

I have children in school so I like to take a moment this next week to plan spring break. And I make sure my husband knows as well so if he wants to take a little time off from work he has a heads up. Getting the dates nailed down on this fun little break is the first step and then making a plan. Everything from fun meals to small outings. I take a moment too to consider any projects I want to share with my children, any books I would like to make sure to read them.  In our family I find just a little structure with lots of flexibility is best. Though some years we have taken complete vacations and loved it. (And because my mom reads this blog I feel I should say to the Grandparents out there, that spring break is a wonderful time call or visit with the 'grands',
hint... hint... ;)

See last weeks challenge HERE

and the full ::Holiday Challenge:: here.

Holiday Haven's home page.

Green Foods For St. Patrick's Day

A list of 30 healthy and green foods for St. Patrick's Day (most with no food color required)


Making green meals is one of the traditions in my home, from green kiwi/strawberry smoothies at breakfast, to green lunches sent to school with kiddos, to a plate of green food next to a corned beef brisket at dinner so I have gathered all of the healthy greens I could think into one spot, please feel free to add to my list in the comments. 

grapes

green olives

green beans

spinage

artichoke - photo above 

( StoneGable has a wonderful artichoke tutorial)

avacado

green bell pepers

jalapeno and other peppers

brussel sprouts - photo above

green apples

split pea soup

shelled pistachios

unhusked corn

kale-photo above

(kale chips are delicious see recipe at beccasperspective)

pears

green tea

parsley

broccoli

kiwi fruit - photo above

(just slice in half and spoon out)

green onions

leeks

(which are like a giant green onion)

lettuce and other green leafys

shelled and unshelled peas

arugala

(cook like spinach and serve with vinegar)

papaya are kind of green

celery

naked juice -the green machine

tapioca pudding

lime jello

(healthy if made from scratch with real ingredients)

Jones green apple soda

(ok not healthy, but fun)

green spinach wraps

And on the table or in the lunch bag green:

 napkins

 plates

 forks, spoons, knives

 cups

lunch bags

Add to the list! What green foods can you think of?

**I have added this post to:

Janmary.com
Recipe Swap Thursday 

Foodie Friday 

SomewhatSimple
The think green, think spring party

Visit these wonderful sites!

::The Holiday Challenge::
Holiday Haven's home page.

High Tea Time

Thanks to Decor to Adore it is is high tea time in blogland. 

Since being introduced to high tea this last summer, tea time has become a cherished tradition in our home.

We set up this tea scape to share high tea with our children and we invited my mother-in-love. (aka Grandma).

Many of you have already seen my tea set for a Valentines tea post I did last month. This is my first, and only 'real' tea set, as I am still new to this.

A heart shaped tea infuser that my sweet hubby gave to me.

Teavana tea from the Belle Luna tea collection.

Lavender dreams tea with crystallized sugared lavender pieces made up our first pot. Swiss Vervaine Melange tea, which has adorable dried rose buds, was used for the second.

A tea pot warmer. Made from a coated cast iron that is safe on porcelain and deep enough that the tea light will not blacken the tea pot.

Old country roses tea cup.

And plates with gold chargers.

Our tea tray,

Set with green plates, lace and roses to match the tea set.

We pulled the table out and set a small setting for our youngest two from the inexpensive tea set we bought second hand. (See it here).

Top tier, some traditional tea biscuits and wafer sticks.

Second tray, green apples and coastal cheese slices.

And bottom tray tea tomato and mayo tea sandwiches with avocado spread in spinach wraps.

The table is set, candles are lit, time for one of my little ones to smell the roses.

And share a little conversation with a lovely lady.

A little history: (at least according to legend) the Duchess of Bedford, one of Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting, is credited as the creator of afternoon teatime. The Duchess suffered from "a sinking feeling" at about four o'clock in the afternoon. She invited friends to join her for an additional afternoon meal at five o'clock in her rooms at Belvoir Castle. The menu centered around small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and tea. This became so popular, the practice of inviting friends to come for tea in the afternoon was quickly picked up by other hostesses.

High tea was a concept I was first introduced to as a child and just this past summer I had the joy of sharing it with my husband as well when we took tea at the Empress hotel. (You can see my post about our experience HERE.)

A warm thank you to Decor to Adore for hosting high tea in blogland.
Visit to see more high tea posts and other lovely posts.