How to plan a green St. Patrick's Day Dinner

Each year my friend Carl plans a green dinner to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. He would spend all day in the kitchen and from the napkins, to the hors d'oeuvres toothpicks, to his apron, and every morsel of food, EVERYTHING is always green. For inspiration CLICK HERE to see all of the pictures from last year's St. Patrick's Day Green Dinner.

Carl Mindling's 2012 St. Patrick's Day Green Potluck Dinner

Last year he tried a new twist. Instead of slaving in the kitchen all day he threw his first Green Dinner Potluck. It was a lot of fun. Each guest signed up to bring an entree, side dish, or dessert. We had so much fun. The dinner was delicious and, inadvertently vegetarian. The thing was, we didn't even realize until the following day there had been no meat in any of the dishes so I guess it wasn't that big of a deal.

Carl's 2011 Green Dinner with guest chef Andy Mark

So now is the time to start putting together a guest list and throwing your very own green dinner for St. Patrick's Day 2013. Use Evite, that way if you're having a potluck guests can sign up for a dish in the comments. It makes it easier for people to see which dishes are covered and those that still need to be signed up for.

If you throw a Green Dinner send me a picture and I'll add it to this post.

The holiday is a great excuse to have friends over and celebrate with more than just green beer.