Food on Friday: Where green equals Irish

Several of my friends in Ireland have expressed bemusement at how Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Certainly what goes on here bears little resemblance to how the saint is commemorated on the island where he preached.

One of the odder American rituals involves a mania for food colored green, be it milkshakes at McDonald's or even bagels at a Jewish deli.

I have to admit to participating in such a mania, and despite my hectic schedule, I managed to squeeze time in to make chocolate brownies decorated with mint frosting, frosting colored, of course, green.

I even played with the cake-decorating kit I received during the holidays (only my second time) You can see in this photo the designs I made on the brownies, which are supposed to represent clovers, in perhaps an abstract way.

Mint-frosted brownies are certainly not what one might consider part of traditional Irish fare, but today, in America, it's all about the green.