Happy St. Patty’s Day guys! It doesn’t matter if you are Irish or not, on the 17th of March everyone goes out to celebrate their ass off. And don’t forget to wear something green! Why? Because this is the color specific to Saint Patrick who is believed to have used the three leaves of a shamrock in trying to explain the Holy Trinity.
There are a lots of facts and traditions that are celebrated on this day. Curious to read some of them and maybe receive the recipe of a delicious Irish dessert? Then you may continue reading!
7 Traditions and Facts on St. Patrick’s Day
1. Parades – there are plenty of parades on the 17th March. The most famous parades are in Ireland (dooh), Boston, Philadelphia, Savannah, New York, Chicago and New Orleans. People have fun, celebrate and drink beer!
2. Pea planting – in the Northern part, many people celebrate this day by planting peas. Yes, it sounds funny but this time of the year is perfect for planting peas, which by the way are green.
3. In America, this day became very important after the great Potato Famine in the 1840s. Thousands of Irish immigrants moved to the United States in order to survive the famine that affected the entire region.

4. Up until the late 70s the pubs in Ireland weren’t opened on the 17th of March nor did they serve green beer. This tradition is not specific to Ireland but more to the US and Canada. But if you do find green beer in Ireland I recommend you drink it. It’s delicious!
5. One of the most popular myths in Irish culture is that St. Patrick banished all the snakes from Ireland. However, some researchers stated that there were never snakes on the island because this is surrounded by icy waters that are too cold to allow snakes to migrate.
6. Dyeing the River Green became a tradition in Chicago. This is what happens when you take things way too seriously. However the result was very nice and attractive. Apparently this tradition began when Steve Bailey, the head of the plumbers union noticed that the overalls of a colleague were tainted by a dye that was used to trace sources of pollution in the river. The result was a very nice and vivid green that attracted everyone without a doubt.
7. The longest and largest St. Patty’s parade takes place in New York and includes over 200,000 participants and almost 3,000,000 spectators.
And now, my favorite part: the dessert!!! It’s so delicious and easy to prepare. And what better way to celebrate St. Patty than with a fabulous cake and a pint of beer!
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How to prepare it?

1. Start by preheating the oven to 375F. Grease your favorite pans and let them rest a bit.
2. Cream the sugar with the butter until you get a fluffy consistency. Add the orange rind and the beaten eggs, one at a time.
3. Separately mix the flour, salt and cocoa into a separate bowl. You can throw some of this flour into the butter cream to make it thicker. Carefully combine the butter cream and the flour adding the Guinness bear little by little.
3. Put this mixture into 2 tins and put the cakes into the oven. Let them bake for 40 minutes or until they get a golden color and then let them cool on a rack.
4. The final step is to prepare the icing. Combine the softened butter with the icing sugar and add the grated orange rind mixing constantly. Then add the orange juice until you reach the wanted consistency. When the cakes are cold, put them together as a sandwich and decorate the top with the rest of the icing.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!