St. Patty's Day Prep

Henry measures time by the distance between each holiday. Any excuse to celebrate, and he's on board. I've never really celebrated St. Patrick's Day before, but it comes much sooner than Easter so I've been doing my part to get him up to speed on all the details: shamrocks, wearing green, leprechauns ("I know what a leprechaun is," he says "it's like a tiger, but white with black spots")
Wearing green so you don't get pinched is of utmost concern.  To ensure that no pinching takes place, we felt it would be in Henry's best interest to make sure he had a little green to wear in the form of a personalized shamrock pin. And his friends needed ones, too. So this afternoon after a nice welcome home lunch with pops, and a quick trip to Joann, we were ready to set to work on all this shamrock business. The shamrocks were made from craft felt and then blanket-stitched around the edges. I couldn't find my fabric glue to glue the letters on, so I tried Elmer's- which didn't work at all. Finally a hot glue gun worked, but I wished I would have just hand stitched them on. There is always next time. The pins that went on the back had a peel & stick adhesive which made things even easier. They were delivered, with pride, to the friends as soon as that glue dried. Badda boom, badda bing. A shamrock pin.

The McKissicks are coming over for Saint Patrick's Day Dinner. I was going to make corned beef, but it sold out almost as soon as it went on sale, so now I'm a bit stumped. I think I saw some Irish Hand Pies in the March issue of of Martha that I might give a whirl, there may be some Irish Soda Bread. What is a good dessert? I'm still figuring it out. If you have any idea's send them my way. I've never made a St. Patrick's Day dinner, so any suggestions (on such late notice!) would be greatly appreciated. I am not going to the market until tomorrow.

xo