St. Patty’s Day, SunButter and New Recipes!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, SunButter Fans!

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we wanted to offer our beloved fans a celebration starter kit. We’re preparing you for St. Patty’s Day with some great fun facts, SunButter tips, and three brand new recipes!

You know it’s a fun day to celebrate, but do you know why?

Why “St. Patrick’s” Day? St. Patrick’s day, also known as the Feast of Saint Patrick, is so-named for the patron saint of Ireland.
Who is Saint Patrick? Saint Patrick is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. The most exciting part of his tale? At the age of 16 (during his pre-saint years) Patrick was captured by pirates—or so the story goes!
Why celebrate on March 17th? March 17th is the alleged death date of Saint Patrick. Originally a religious holiday, in some years the date has been adjusted so it does not fall during Holy Week (the week preceding Easter). This happened in 1940 and 2008, but it won’t happen again until 2160!
What’s with the shamrock? Legend has it that St. Patrick used this three-leaved plant to explain the Christian Trinity! The leaves of the lucky four-leaf clover are said to stand for faith, love, hope, and luck!
Why wear green? Green hasn’t always been the color of St. Patty’s Day. In 1783, an Anglo-Irish chivalric order adopted blue as its color and started a trend.

The fad ended in the 1790’s thanks to the United Irishmen, a group that launched a 1798 rebellion against British rule and included green in their attire and their flag. Wearing green symbolizes the persecution of Irish nationalists and supporters.

Where can I celebrate? Celebrations are not limited to Ireland! You can also celebrate in Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Japan, Argentina, Malaysia, Montserrat, Russia, South Korea, and Switzerland!

The Chicago River takes on a festive hue each March (Photo courtesy of America By Rail Website)

St. Patrick’s Day has even been celebrated in outer space! In 2011, Astronaut Catherine Coleman played instruments from an Irish music group, “The Chieftains”. In 2013, Astronaut Chris Hadfield celebrated by photographing Ireland from orbit, wearing green, and recording a “Danny Boy” solo!

Astronaut Chris Hadfield celebrates St. Patrick’s Day from outer space!

Backed with extra information about St. Patrick’s day, there’s only one question left!

How can I celebrate with SunButter?
St. Patrick’s Day is one of the best holidays for SunButter. That’s because SunButter is naturally prepared to party! As many life-long SunButter fans have discovered, cookies and other treats made

with SunButter may turn green if baking soda or powder is present!

Why are my cookies green?!
Here’s the scoop: Like all plants, sunflowers and their seeds contain chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is an extremely important biomolecule in photosynthesis, the process by which plants capture light and convert it to energy. If you’ve ever looked at the ingredients list, you know that SunButter is made of mostly Sunflower seeds! In fact, it takes three pounds of sunflower seeds to make a single jar of SunButter. The naturally occurring chlorophyll in the seeds reacts with baking soda/powder when heated, producing a greenish color. The greenish tinge is totally safe and does not affect the taste of your cookies or bread.  Besides this scientific phenomenon, SunButter is a perfect peanut butter alternative. You can replace peanut butter with SunButter in just about any recipe!

I love St. Patrick’s day, but I draw the line at green food!
That’s okay too! Avoid a green reaction by reducing baking soda/powder levels (by approximately 1/3). Adding a splash of lemon juice to your dough can also do the trick.

Bring on the green!
To celebrate, we’ve created three new delicious, peanut allergy safe St. Patty’s day treats. Let us know what you think!

SunButter Banana Smoothie Start your day right with a SunButter Spinach Banana Smoothie.   You know it’s a nutritional powerhouse when it’s this green!

SunButter Irish Oatmeal Cookies  This is the perfect treat to pack and send to school! Our new favorite cookie recipe!

Irish Doodle Cookies Is there such a thing as too many cookies?Leave us a comment and tell us which SunButter St. Patrick’s Day recipe you want to try first!