Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Well, it's the "week of" St. Patrick's Day. As I was driving through our small town this weekend, the streets were closed for our annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. I was thrilled to see folks lining up, dressed in green and SMILES ear to ear! It's so nice to see everyone smiling again. With the mask mandate - I missed seeing others smiling. Smiles are contagious, don't you think?

“The luck of the Irish" is probably a saying you've heard time and time again, most likely around St. Patrick's Day! I always thought the meaning had something to do with the extreme good fortune of the people of Ireland, but originally the Irish phrase had a different connotation. During the gold and silver rush years in the second half of the 19th century, a number of the most famous and successful miners were of Irish and Irish American birth. . . .Over time this association of the Irish with mining fortunes led to the expression “luck of the Irish.” Fun fact!

Meantime, being an American, I find we are all extremely lucky! I love that we can celebrate all of these wonderful holidays, simply as our right of passage, being Americans together! On St. Patrick’s Day – we all are Irish! Throw on your green sweaters and soak up some green sudsy beer! At least this is my opinion on how being an American has some really great, not-so-obvious privileges. This incredible melting pot of unique cultures and heritages offers us the ability to be “all in” whenever there’s anything to celebrate! Isn’t that wonderful?

However, my grandma from Florence, Italy would roll over in her grave right now if I didn’t mention this important fact: although many assume that St. Patrick is of Irish descent, he was actually not born in Ireland! No one really knows where St. Patrick was actually born, but historians believe he was born in Kilpatrick, Scotland. St. Patrick’s parents where Calpurnius and Conchessa who were Italians living in Scotland. So technically, he’s an Italian! 

A fun Irish Recipe in honor of St. Patty’s Day:
Ingredients:
-1 1/3 oz (2 parts) Irish whiskey,
-whipped cream
-1 tsp. PERKS FOR PASTRIES
-2 2/3 oz (4 parts) Hot coffee
Preparation:
Heat the coffee, whiskey and sugar; do not boil.
Pour into glass and top with whipped cream; serve hot.

Other ideas:
Try this with HOT COCOA, no alcohol or coffee
and finish with chocolate syrup for a kid-friendly
non-alcoholic  treat!

 I've been feeling the need to connect with others these last few months. I'm sure it has everything to do with COVID-19 and all of us being cooped up for such an awful, long time! I also noticed how much I am NOT wanting to be on social media. I try my best to post regularly on SALTOPIA's Instagram and Facebook pages - mostly because I feel like "I have to." Yet, when I log into those apps, I notice I never see any of the people, chefs and small businesses that I choose to follow. All I see are advertisements: MORE AND MORE AND MORE!! I actually had to search for one of my favorite chefs that I follow on Instagram. I realized I had not seen a post from him in a very long time... I wanted to make sure he was still there. Imagine?! Fortunately, he's doing great, and he's been posting away! I just never see it because unless I interact with his posts by "liking" and "commenting" then I suddenly stop seeing his posts altogether. I found out the same thing is happening with my followers for SALTOPIA's Instagram and Facebook accounts. Ugh. What a drag, right?! I reached out to Facebook to complain that my followers should be able to see my posts regardless of "liking" or "commenting" - let's face it, some of us just aren't big commentors. However, that should never mean we don't want to see anything, anymore. Facebook's response was that they wanted me to pay to advertise to those very people who already follow my page. Imagine that?! You wanted to follow me and receive content from me. However, now I'll have to pay the platform to actually make sure you get to see the content you choose to follow. Boo!

Opening up a blog will be opening up some flood gates to loads of "things" online. However, I feel like SALTOPIA's community is truly our very own "UTOPIA" - which is why I named the business SALTOPIA in the first place! So let's do this together, right here. Let's chit chat and share ideas, recipes, stories and more! I welcome ideas, feedback and I'm always open to all suggestions, as well as comments. I'm not open to talking about politics or religion or any topics that are sensitive in which we all reserve our own right to opinions. Let's keep this area of the internet happy and well fed! See you in the thread...