go green on st. patricks day

Once a holy day to break up the rigors of Lent, St. Patrick's Day has become a wonderful late winter celebration that gives us an excuse to turn the world a brilliant green in anticipation of spring. (As if Texans need an excuse for a party!) Here are seven things you can turn green to keep the holiday bright—and to keep friends and family from pinching you.

Eat
Green Eggs (and ham!): Make or buy a batch of pesto to put on eggs in the morning (served with ham, of course). Pesto is great on everything—like pizza, pasta or some crostini for snacking.

Shamrock Pancakes: A couple of drops of green food coloring in your pancake mix will turn it green. Use a four-leaf clover cookie cutter to shape them. Don't forget to make a wish!

Make it Verde: Who says you have to do the traditional? You could just go verde all the way! It's ok. We won't tell.

Drink
Lucky Lime Punch: Make a Frosted Sherbet Punch. For something different, garnish with a green, candied cherry.

Green Beer: Drop a single drop of green food coloring in a chilled pint glass. Pour the beer into the glass. Lighter beers will turn green. Darker beers will have green foam. Slainte! This also works with milk and clear sodas.

Be Merry
Bubble Bath: With just a couple of drops of green food coloring, you can turn your bubbles green without dying skin, tub or towels later.

Green Socks: Using a variety of techniques, you can dye anything you want green. Socks are great to dye with kids. Even tie-dyeing is easy with Rit's handy guide that shows all manner of techniques to use along with recipes for just the right shade of green.