Shamrock Shakes and the man known as St. Patrick.
While we don’t need a holiday to have an excuse to create a green drink, St. Patrick’s Day weekend affords a good one! There’s no real connection between St. Patrick and green drinks other than in celebration of Ireland, the “Emerald Isle,” said to be the country of 40 shades of green. Also, St. Patrick’s day is very close to the start of spring, so it’s a fun way to welcome in the new green of the year while putting winter behind us.
Here is a simple and fun recipe for a “Shamrock Shake” which you can make for the whole family.
Shamrock Shake Ingredients:
Plain sparking water
Limes, lemons, or lime juice and lemon juice to taste
Cucumber slices – Mint sprigs – Simple syrup or maple syrup
Mint chocolate chip ice cream (I used the plant based brand, Cado)
Decorative “shamrocks” or clovers/wood sorrel and violets (this can be a fun activity to send kids foraging for)
Optional: a shot of rum or gin for the adults
Optional: 1 drop of green food colouring or a bit of chlorella or spirulina to turn it green if your ice cream (like mine) was white instead of green.
1. Pour sparkling water into your glasses of choice and sweeten to taste.
2. Add 1 drop of food colouring or a bit of chlorella/spirulina to colour your drink.
3. Add your shot of rum or gin if that’s your choice.
4. Add the lemon and lime juice and cucumber slices.
5. Add a generous scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
6. Finally, garnish with your foraged clovers and mint sprigs.
7. ENJOY!
Enjoy this shake while sitting on some moss in a patch of sun and reading up on this little summary of just who was this mysterious St. Patrick and why he was so cool. Now, folklore of leprechauns, rainbows, pots of gold, and casting out snakes aside; none of which have anything to do with St. Patrick’s day, Patrick himself was a very fascinating person.
He was born a British Roman citizen named Maewyn Succat and lived in Britain (potentially Scotland or Wales) on the coast. His family were nominally Christian but it seems that his family’s religion didn’t mean much to him personally. At the age of 16, Maewyn Succat was kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. His captor treated him as disposable and had him working as a shepherd in the mountains for months on end in all sorts of weather. It seems he was mostly naked and suffered exposure to the elements most of this time. His suffering eventually pushed him to cry out God for help and so began his own faith journey. He spent a lot of days alone in prayer. One day 6 years into his slavery, he had a vision that God was telling him to escape to the coast. So he ran away and walked over 200 miles to the coast where a captain on a ship allowed him passage back to Britain. After an incredibly difficult period of time that included near starvation and another captivity, he was reunited with his family. (Somewhere along the line he came to be known as Patricus which means ‘a nobleman’). Soon however, he had a second vision where he was handed a letter from the Irish people begging him to return to them and share the friend he had in Jesus who was his hope, help, and joy in times of need and times of plenty. Much to the chagrin of his family, he left for a monastery in France where he studied the Bible for 12 years before returning to Ireland.
Patrick returned to Ireland as a friend this time. His immense success in sharing the good news of Jesus with the proud Irish people was largely due to his deep respect for them. He was completely confident in his mission and had a deep love for the Irish people. He spoke the language, he understood the culture and their beliefs. He shared his knowledge of Jesus through symbols of nature and traditional rituals that he knew would be understood and embraced. For example, the concept of the Trinity: one supernatural being in three persons, he explained using the common Irish clover (the shamrock). Patrick was diplomatic and worked within the cultural norms of the Irish people. He asked permission from the High King of Ireland, King Lóegaire, to preach Christianity and debated with druid leaders to win the right to speak. He created monasteries and universities all over the island and promoted literacy for the population as well as welfare and dignity for the poor. He championed the rights of women and children as well. Patrick was not the first person to introduce Christianity to Ireland. He was just very adept at explaining it and helping to popularize it. He was so successful that in turn, Ireland became a hub from which many Irish went on to share the good news of Jesus all over Europe. His legacy is huge and there’s so much more that could be written about how he changed not only Ireland but the world. However, this will have to do for now!
Words & Photos by Lydia
