I know they say that, “everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day”, but I am not so sure. I grew up going to Catholic school. Generally, at Catholic schools (especially back in the 70’s and 80’s) there are a lot of Irish and a lot of Italians. I am a quarter Italian and 0% Irish. I often felt fairly out of place not being 50% or 100% one of those 2 nationalities. Today is the day that I am reminded I am 100% NOT Irish.

I love the enthusiasm. I tend to be pretty spirited about whatever I am doing, but have found that I just can’t quite pull off much for St. Patrick’s Day. I always wear green and we eat the requisite meal. I am happy my kids are past the leprechaun trap stage as that was a special kind of torture for me.

At any rate, I am thrilled to be invited by much-more-Irish-than-me friends to their house for dinner. I was asked to bring dessert, so in the spirit of my Lenten crafting challenge, I had fun with it. I started yesterday and am done by noon today which is huge for me as I am the “Queen of Procrastination”. I did Thin Mint Truffles and Minty Mini Cupcakes.

These are the Thin Mint Truffles. Throw a box of Thin Mints in the Cuisinart and combine with a block of cream cheese. Roll balls and dip in chocolate. What is not to like? This is probably a good time to mention that while I am fairly crafty with a lot of things, cake pops (or anything rolled and dipped) are not my strong point. I doubt anyone is going to complain!

Next up the Minty Mini Cupcakes. Homemade double chocolate mini cupcakes topped with fluffy mint butter cream. They are topped with pieces of Andes mints which did not come out of the bag quite as pretty as I imagined them.

I bought these at Walmart before Christmas and they never ended up in any of my Christmas cookies. I think they will be quite tasty and I look forward to using them again soon.

I hope all of you have a wonderful St. Patty’s Day however much Irish you are!