With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, what better time to share a cup of Irish Tea? I have tried many different brands and finally decided I would try my own blend. I use about 2/3 assam and 1/3 ceylon tea and brew it rather strong. This tea is wonderful with milk and like most of the Irish, I use more milk than I do with an English Breakfast tea. Then having some Irish Potato Scones with butter…a great start for a St. Paddy’s morning. The Irish actually are the world’s number one tea drinkers. They drink more tea than the English, over 6 cups per day!
I think there are some very interesting stories about St. Patrick, but did he drink tea? I think so, but you decide after hearing this version of how St. Patrick’s day came into being.
The original patron saint of Ireland was called Maewyn. He was said to be born in Wales about AD 385 and applied for the job of bishop of Ireland. Since he didn’t have the requirement for the job, he was actually sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders. He was not in any way a saint, but acutally considered himself a pagan. While being held a prisoner, he found that he was very drawn to a closer relationship with God. After six long years as a slave in the prison camp, he escaped and went to a monastery and realized his calling to convert pagans to Christianity. After much difficulty, he eventually was sent to Ireland as a bishop. He was quite successful at his calling of converting pagans and this was quite an insult to the Celtic Druids. He had several brushes with the law, but managed to travel throughout Ireland and established many schools, churches and monasteries. He remained a bishop in Ireland for over 30 years and then retired to Country Down. He died on March 17, AD 461.
There are lots of other stories regarding St. Patrick, including the one of him raising the dead, and also of having given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Not much credit is given this folklore, as no snakes were ever allowed in Ireland! Originally, St. Patrick’s Day was a Catholic holy day, but has evolved into a secular holiday. Shamrocks remain the icon of the holiday for the following reason. St. Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to give an explanation for the Trinity, with each leaf representing the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, yet all existing as seperate but still the same plant. His followers began to wear a shamrock on his feast day. St. Patrick’s Day came to America in the 1730’s and remains one of the most popular celebrations all over the country.
So, no matter what part of the U.S. you live, brew a pot of Irish Tea, make a batch of Irish Potato Scones and celebrate!
Irish Potato Scones
2 cups flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup cold mashed potatoes ( no butter or milk)
3/4 cup milk or buttermilk
cream for top
Sift dry ingredients, cut in softened butter and potatoes. Stir in flour. (Add more flour if too sticky)
Stir in milk. Less handling of dough makes fluffier scones. Pat onto floured surface to 3/4 inch thick.. Cut with cookie cutter into desired shapes, dip cutter into flour after each use. Brush tops lightly with cream. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet or baking stone for 12 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Cut open and serve with butter or Jam and Devon Cream If desired, add 1/4 cup currants before adding milk.
Enjoy and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!!
“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.” Numbers 6:24-26
Great article & recipe. I never knew the story of St. Patrick’s day, so thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing, Penny! You provided more details about St. Patrick that I didn’t know about.
Following is something silly that was forwarded to my email. I’ll paste it in below – feel free to delete it if you want.
“I am passing this on to you because it definitely works and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives.
By following simple advice heard on the Oprah show, you too can find inner peace…
Dr. Oz proclaimed, “the way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and never finished.”
So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn’t finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finishd off a bottle of White Zinfandel, a bottle of Tequila, a package of Oreos, the remainder of an old Prozac prescription, the rest of a cheesecake, a bag of Doritos, a box of chocolates, and some old Halloween candy.
You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now.
Pass this along to anyone you think might be in need of inner peace.”
Oh, and I thought about all the opened boxes of tea, but finishing those off would have me bouncing around with too much caffeine!
What a charming idea to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by making Irish tea and potato scones from scratch!
Can you tell us what brand of tea do you use when you make your own teas?
Hi, Penny;
My home has been decorated for St. Pat’s Day for about 3 wks. w/ my decoration tree adorned w/ Irish Santa & Leprechan & Shamrock ornaments & plenty of green glass and Irish coffee mugs surrounding it. Wore a very cute green outfit, prepared corned beef sandwiches, cabbage slaw, & potatoe chips, along w/ green jello squares for little boys who stayed overnight. Liam, in kindergarten, built a Leprechan trap and left it @ school. When the kids returned to class the next morning, the Leprechans had turned the class room into a topsy turvy mess and left fools gold coins and nuggets throughout the sandbox. Baked Irish Soda Bread this week which was just about the same amount of work as yeast bread so think I’ll stick w/ that since the lighter consistency is preferred 🙂
You are part of the pot of gold at the end of my rainbow 🙂
Great article and thanks for the recipe. You are the BEST! M.M.
Dear Penny,
This is so YOU! I love the tidbits about St. Patrick, and know he was a great missionary, turning his world upside down…you are “a cupbearer” for the King, and do it very well. Thanks for writing this on my birthday! You are so gifted, and such a gift to me!
i always use Ceramic Coffee mugs because they are quite tough, i dropped them on the floor without breaking`*`
What’s Happening i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve found It absolutely helpful and it has helped me out loads. I am hoping to contribute & aid different customers like its aided me. Great job.
Hi there, all the time i used to check weblog posts here in the erly hours iin the morning, since i love to find
out more and more.
Quality articles is the main to interest the users to go to
see the website, that’s what this website is providing.
Hello admin, i must say you have very interesting articles here.
Your website should go viral. You need initial traffic only.
How to get it? Search for: Mertiso’s tips go viral