In Scotland's Highlands, this day marks the first day of spring, as well as the feast of St. Patrick. In honor of this day, you should make a soda bread and leave a piece in your garden for the fairies. To do so, preheat oven to 375 degrees, and combine the following ingredients in a bowl:

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tblsps brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter
2/3 cup buttermilk
A pinch of nutmeg

Stir till moist, then mound the dough into a floured round cake pan. Make a cross in the center top with a knife (to keep fairies from ruining the bread), and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with jam, butter, and strong tea. Fairies prefer theirs with milk!


Holiday lore:
Much folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Though originally a Catholic holy day, St. Patrick's Day has evolved into more of a secular holiday today. One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. This stems from an Irish tale that tells how Patrick used the three- leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity of Christian dogma. His followers adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day; though why we wear green on this day is less clear. St. Patrick's Day came to America in 1737, the date of the first public celebration of the holiday in Boston.