Happy St. Patrick's Day!

While St. Patrick's Day is not a legal holiday, it is remembered and celebrated in many ways in the U.S. The day actually commemorates Saint Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, as well as celebrating the heritage and culture of the Irish. We in the U.S. are such a melting pot, that many of us do claim some Irish blood. Or claim that its just fun to celebrate this day as we hope for spring and warmer weather. 

My turn for hosting coffee time at church was this Sunday before St. Pat's day, so it was fun to find recipes and decor that reflected that theme. Do you think I spend too much time on Pinterest? 

Fruity Rainbow Snack

1 carton strawberries (halved)
4 - 5 clementine oranges (peeled and sectioned)
1 cup pineapple chunks (I used canned)
green grapes

1 small carton blueberries
red grapes
mini-marshmallows
gold wrapped candies

Arrange fruit in a rainbow on a platter. Strawberries, followed by oranges, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries, and red grapes, the order of the rainbow. Make a cloud of the marshmallows at one end and a pile of gold with the candies at the other. 
A healthy treat as well as a fun and attractive one! 

Jello Cookies

(This recipe could be an 'any holiday' recipe. Change the color/flavor of Jello and food coloring to suit the season)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 oil, canola or vegetable

1 small package lime jello + 1 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp water

1 egg

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 3/4 - 3 cups flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, oil, Jello mix, sugar, powdered sugar, water and egg. 

In a separate bowl, combine all remaining dry ingredients, mix well and slowly add to butter mixture until well combined. Start with 2 3/4 cups of flour and add more if needed to made a shapable mixture. 

Roll dough into golf ball size balls and place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet. Put 1/4 cup sugar in a small bowl and dip the bottom of a small glass in the sugar and use to flatten the cookie balls. 

Bake cookies for 9 minutes. 

Let cool and frost.

Frosting: 

1/4 cup softened butter

2 oz. softened cream cheese

pinch salt

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

1-2 Tbs. cream or evaporated milk

green food coloring

Rice Krispies Treats are always a fun treat also! Add green food coloring to the marshmellow mixture before the Rice Krispies are stirred in for a colorful look. I also added 'charms' from Lucky Charms cereal for St. Pat's good luck. 

Tricks for Rice Krispies Treats - use brand name marshmallows, not the generic brand.

Mix in a large pan on the top of the range, the marshmallows melt more evenly and it doesn't take much longer than the microwave. 

Grease the pan they cookies will be going into and a spatula (pancake turner) that you can flatten/smooth the mixture with.