5 March 2008

Crawling Through the Pubs with Sugar Plum


Emiline of Sugar Plum is hosting her very first blogging event ever...the St. Paddy's Day Pub Crawl in honor of St. Patrick's Day... and a love of beer, wine and other spirits. On St. Patrick's Day March 17th our local pubs will be serving up green beer in honor of our Irish kinfolk. It is a statuatory holiday in Ireland which means a day off of work!!! It was originally a Catholic holy day but has evolved into more of a secular holiday.

The person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was born in Wales about AD 385. His own name is Maelwyn. When he was 16 he was sold into slavery by a group of Irish marauders that raided his village. During his captivity, he became closer to God. His mission in Ireland to convert pagans to Christianity lasted for thirty years. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.

"Much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Not much of it is actually substantiated.
Some of this lore includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. He also is said to have given a sermon from a hilltop that drove all the snakes from Ireland. Of course, no snakes were ever native to Ireland, and some people think this is a metaphor for the conversion of the pagans.

One traditional icon of the day is the shamrock. St. Patrick's followers wore a shamrock on his feast day as a sign of the trinity. St. Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to explain the Trinity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements of the same entity.

For Emiline's pub crawl I decided to keep it simple so am bringing this dip. I could serve it with veggies but have opted for chips with a side of Guinness!! I can attest to the fact that this piquant dip goes very well with the drink of the day!

**Onion Ale Chip Dip**

8 ounces cream cheese, very soft
1 -¼ cup Pale Ale Beer
3 T onion, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
3 T chives, chopped

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In medium bowl, blend together with electric mixer cream cheese and Pale Ale Beer. Mixture will be very frothy. Stir in onion, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard and salt. Refrigerate dip at least 2 hours, or up to 6 hours before serving to thicken. When ready to serve, pour into serving bowl and sprinkle with chives.

Serve with chips or raw vegetables.
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20 comments:

  1. So much better than the Lipton's Onion Soup Mix dips we used to make in college days!

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  2. Val, this is the second dip I've seen with beer...I'm game!

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  3. Adding beer to onion dip sounds good.

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  4. This kind of dip is right up my alley. Not good for the 'ole diet though!!

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  5. I love this event because I can see so many unusual uses of booze.I never would have thought of this, but hey, why not!

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  6. Very nice and interesting dip..
    I liked your salsa as well!!
    Will try it out soon.

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  7. Ta for the background info on st paddy's...I love the sound of this simple dip, it's the first thing I'd grab at a party!

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  8. Yay! I'm so excited you participated. I have 4 entries right now, so I'm thrilled!
    Oh, and I love the title to this.

    This is a great entry! You win point for using beer.

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  9. Now this is different! And I like it. I would have never thought to use beer in a dip.

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  10. I love the sound of this, Val, and I can have beer new.Great!

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  11. Thanks for the background and history! Lovely dip. I would likely be addicted.

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  12. Any holiday in which you get a parade, down a few guiness, and wear an unusual amount of green is fine by me. In New York, it tells us that spring is finally here. Love your dip, Val :)

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  13. I'm sure there will be many creative dishes sumbitted to the Pub Crawl event. When I think beer I think chips and dip. Thanks for visiting guys:D :D
    You're welcome Emeline!I will have to watch the parades on TV Maryanne and drink some green beer!

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  14. Sounds like a great chip dip to me! And hooray beer

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  15. This looks SO good. I love that it's an onion dup without mayo because I don't like mayo. Definitely need to try this one.

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  16. You certainly have a great entry here Val!! Dip with beer sounds good to me :D

    Rosie x

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  17. I had a St. Paddy's Day party with my very first roommate when I was 18. We got a jug of cheap riesling (dyed green) and sprinkle green glitter on everyone who came through the door. Things got pretty out of hand that night. There was a trail of green glitter leading away from our apartment for half a mile!

    Your dip looks wonderful. I'll take a tub of it, please!

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  18. yum! that looks fabulous!
    You need to color the tortilla chips green! LOL!

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  19. Thats a great idea for dip! I would have never thought! I know a few guys that would love that!!

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  20. Ahhh this looks really good! Now I'm going to be craving this all day.

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Welcome to my home. Thank you for choosing to stay a while and for sharing our lives through food. I appreciate all your support, comments, suggestions, and daily encouragement.

Val

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