In March 2025 the Food and Cookery Group 1 enjoyed a St Patrick’s Day Green feast at Kath’s Community Centre. The Green foods were many and varied. We started with a warming Shropshire pea soup and garlic bread, closely followed by main courses of pasta with prawns and pistachio pesto, (not easy to say but tasty) green lasagne containing spinach and pine nuts and Thai green curry. These dishes were accompanied by rice (though not green), a green salad and Ravenshead grown purple sprouting broccoli. After a much-needed rest, it was time for the desserts- namely mint chocolate cupcakes with mint icing, key lime pie and green fruit flan. The flan was a late substitution as two of our members only realized the night before that the meeting was on the 14th rather than the 21st March as originally planned. They then struggled to find green jelly and kiwis and had to visit no less than four supermarkets to source all the necessary ingredients.

The quiz this time was very educational, we learned among other facts, that cabbage was used to make poultices to prevent gangrene on Captain Cook’s ship and that the Romans introduced peas to Britain. We also discussed why we celebrate St Patrick’s day on March 17th. The date is believed to be the day of his death, but to our surprise, he has never been canonised by the Catholic Church. We also learnt that he was, in fact, born in England and that his banishment of snakes from Ireland is a myth, because there never were any snakes in Ireland!