Corned beef and cabbage! Better wear green or else you’re getting pinched!
OK, it’s time for another reminder that the US is out of sync with the rest of the world. And as St. Patrick’s day looms, we get our annual reminder that corned beef and cabbage is not a real tradition in the ould sod, which isn’t a particularly old reference to Ireland anyway.
But whatever! USA! USA! We know better than Ireland anyway!
My city doesn’t have a huge Irish population, but you still see a number of Irish flags. You can see the wrinkles in a bunch of them that indicate they’ve been folded up all year until now.
What’s more, you’ll see leprechauns and shamrocks here and there.
And of course plenty of things that are green are completely unconnected to St. Patrick’s Day and Ireland.
There’s a house almost a mile from me which was converted from the old Evergreen Church, founded in the 1800s, after its congregation faded away. It once served a number of Methodist Protestants.
Like many Protestant sects, the Methodists saw many schisms, with the Methodist Protestants, Southern Methodists, and African Methodist Episcopalians among the different groups going their own way. When this church was shuttered, it was sold and converted into a private residence, and the owners kept the name out front. You can see the old brass or bronze letters, turned green with age, out front to this day.
And not far way, there’s a house which has an unusual display in its front yard. The owners found an old fire hydrant, and they also installed a working traffic light. All through the night it cycles through red, yellow, and fitting for this time of year, green.
At the Gunny Hall where my dad hangs out they are cooking 600 lbs of corned beef. Come and get your sammich and sides, for $15!
…how much soda bread will there be, though?
…warm from the oven…with a bit of honey…I’m not hungry…you’re hungry
I’ve been to delis where 600 pounds of corned beef would be about enough for two sandwiches.
In fairness, it’s more about the drinking, and that IS very traditional on both sides of the Atlantic.
St Patrick’s Day is huge in St Louis, despite our French name.
In theory there’s a parade downtown (55th year), but the big deal is on March 17th itself down in Dogtown in South City. St. James the Greater parish and the Ancient Order of Hibernians run that parade and there’s just all sorts of music and food and a shit ton of alcohol. That’s the real event.
Edited to add Dogtown is the Irish neighborhood in St Louis. That probably helps to include.
Growing up we had an Irish neighbor who taught my grandma to make corned beef and cabbage and soda bread. She also had a granddaughter my age with red hair and freckles who went to the same Catholic school as me and was my first girlfriend, so I had the best of both worlds. In fact, when I go to Chicago in May I will see her again at our school reunion.
Here’s a good Saint Paddy’s Day story:
https://www.askamanager.org/2017/03/my-assistant-quit-because-of-st-patricks-day-pinching.html
ive seent the dubliners experience perform for a crowd of 60 in a small town named diever
i figure that means im probably irish
but man you lot have a wierd thing going on about ancestry over there
non americans are halves….based on their parents
americans are 64ths
based on every fucking thing they could find about their ancestors
it annoys me……its not technically wrong tho……but by that logic i could probably claim everyones being racist against me coz im part brown too….you know…12 generations ago
…..anyways…i probably needed to get that off me chest
But do you dye your river green?