Mom | Keira's Place

This Blog by Cher’ley Grogg

Don’t pinch me, I’m not Irish. St. Patrick’s Day is just another day to celebrate, and I never miss the opportunity to have a celebration or a feast. For Christians, St. Patrick’s Day commemorates the arrival of Christianity in Ireland.

Drinking green beer, eating cabbage and corned beef, and looking for shamrocks are all fun things to do. But, my favorite St. Patrick’s Day activity when I was a child (and maybe now too) was pinching the people who didn’t wear green. I looked high and low for anyone who forgot to wear green, and of course found a few. Basically, the wearing of green was to make a person invisible to leprechauns who would run up and pinch anyone who was not wearing green, so, I being a little imp, imitated the leprechauns. The cabbage and corned beef actually started out as cabbage and bacon, but bacon was so expensive in the United States, they changed it to corned beef. The drinking of the green beer, well…what can be said about that?

Do I feel lucky?

In the springtime, my mother and would sit for hours in a clover patch searching for a four leaf clover, she could spot them so quickly that I would be in awe. Eventually we would tire of searching for the Shamrocks, and if we were lucky enough to find a four-leaf clover , we’d take our treasure inside and press it in a big book for good luck. Legend says that each leaf of the clover means something: the first is for hope, the second for faith, the third for love and the fourth for luck.

Some Fun St. Patrick’s Day facts:

My brother-in-law was born on St. Patrick’s Day, which is March 17, and that is the same day that St. Patrick died in 461 A.D.
The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in Boston in 1737
Many young people dye their hair green on this day
Many bars in the United States served green beer to celebrate St Patty’s Day
34 million Americans have Irish ancestry that is almost 9 times the population of Ireland which is 4.1 million people
If You come to visit me in West Virginia perhaps we will go see the town Mount Gay-Shamrock, West Virginia

Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes
Clovers and Blue moons
Pots of gold and rainbows,
And the red balloon

That’s the luck of me lucky charms!
Their magically delicious!

Writing instructors say you should never use luck to solve your mysteries, but should a writer use luck in his stories?

How has luck affected your life? How do you celebrate St. Patrick ’s Day? And for an extra bit of luck– name the US River that is dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day.

Sta mp Out Murder”.

“T he Secret in Grandma’s Trunk” This is an especially good book for your Tween Children and Grandchildren.

And please join me on my Facebook Fanpage, that’s managed by one of my most faithful fans: Cindy Ferrell

This Blog by Cher’ley Grogg

Food is an important part of our lives and we all have favorite recipes we have been raised with. There were 5 kids and two adults in our family and often we children would bring in visitors and Mom would always say, “Stay to eat. We’ll throw another potato in the pot.” Some of my favorite foods were the soups that Mom made. She had many different kinds of soups, and one of my favorite was hamburger soup.

INGREDIENTS

1 finely chopped onion
1 pound lean ground beef
4 celery stalks, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
2 cups potatoes, cleaned, peeled, chopped
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes (we always had home-canned)
1 6-oz can tomato paste (to thicken quicker)
Pepper and salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Brown hamburger and drain. Transfer to a pot, add chopped carrots, celery and potatoes. Continue cooking over medium heat for about 5 -8 minutes. Add diced tomatoes and tomato paste (do not drain the diced tomatoes). Blend. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are cooked. Bigger families, “Just throw another potato in the pot.”

My mom could create something that taste good from practically nothing. When my children were younger, I too picked up some cheap and far-reaching dishes. When times were tight, the cook would always find ways to stretch the budget just a bit. But, I find that I miss my mom’s simple recipes and since my children and grandchildren aren’t around much for meals, I’m still trying to learn to not cook for an army, but most of the older recipes tend to taste better when “super-sized”.

Aunt Linda is the main cook in “Stamp Out Murder”, people visiting McKeel’s Bed and Breakfast want good old-fashioned, West Virginia style food and Linda doesn’t disappoint them. In fact, many of the return guests do so because of her wonderful, mouth-watering recipes.