St Patty's Day

St Patty's Day always calls for a green celebration. So that's what we did yesterday. It was crazy with five 1 year olds running around, but we enjoyed our green feast.

Green beer...Andrew got a little eager with the food coloring so it looks more like black in this picture, but it was in fact green.

She's not wearing pink! Well actually she is...her pants are pink.

Joy's amazing salad...as always!

Mama friends!

Corrie's amazing cake! You can see the inside below.

Can you see the different green layers? So creative! Chaiss and I aren't doing too well on our Lenten dessert fast.

Beverages: Apple mint punch for the ladies, green beer for the gents.

White pizza with arugula

Here are my recipes below:

Apple Mint Punch

Giada DeLaurentis

Makes 5 ½ cups

2 cups water

4 green tea bags

1 1/2 cups (100 percent) apple juice

1 cup Mint Simple Syrup, recipe follows

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)

1 cup sparkling water, chilled

Ice

Garnish : fresh mint sprigs, optional

In a small saucepan, bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat, add the tea bags and let steep for 6 minutes. Remove the tea bags and cool the tea to room temperature, about 45 minutes. Pour the cooled tea into a large pitcher. Add the apple juice, mint Simple Syrup and lemon juice. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve, add the sparkling water and pour the punch into ice-filled glasses. Garnish with fresh mint sprigs, if desired.

Mint Simple Syrup:

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1 packed cup fresh mint leaves

Add the water and sugar to a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the mint leaves. Allow the syrup to cool, about 20 minutes. Strain before using.

White Pizzas with Arugula

Ina Garten

Makes 6 pizzas

One recipe pizza dough. (if you don’t have one, see Ina’s here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/white-pizzas-with-arugula-recipe2/index.html)

4 cloves garlic, sliced

5 sprigs fresh thyme

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the topping:

3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces) (Can’t get this here so I omitted it)

1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozarella cheese (7 ounces)

11 ounces creamy goat cheese, crumbled

For the vinaigrette:

1/2 cup good olive oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces baby arugula

1 lemon, sliced

Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. (Be sure your oven is clean!)

Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese. drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.

Make the vinaigrette.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Add the greens.

When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.