March 2023

March 2023

 

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Puffin is helping to plan the activities and recipes for the castle this month ready for St Patrick's Day on the 17th March, a traditional holiday celebrated in Ireland!

 

 The castle will be decorated in green and Princess Odette has had a lovely dress made out of beautiful green fabric ready for the celebration!
You lucky people can own some of this fabric too by purchasing from our website, together with other unique designs!

You can purchase a skirt like Princess Odette's here

You can purchase the exclusive green Swan Princess fabric here

Speaking of Puffin, have you ordered our limited edition pin featuring one of the famous friends of Princess Odette?

You can purchase the limited edition Puffin pin here

 

Keep reading for an Irish recipe and great green treat, as well as a fun activity!

Irish Potato Soup

Many countries are still experiencing cold days, even in the Kingdom the weather has been chilly and rainy!
This potato soup is a perfect winter warmer and great to take the chill off and warm up after being outside in the cold. Princess Odette enjoys this meal with her family as she watches the bad weather from the inside...where she can stay nice and warm!
 
Ingredients:
• 1 medium onion, diced 
• 2 sticks of celery, diced
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1.5 lbs russet potatoes, peeled, cubed
• 24 oz vegetable broth
• 8 oz whole milk
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions:
1. Take a stock pot and place it over medium heat.
2. Next, add the butter.
3. When the buttrr has melted, add the diced onions and celery. Cook until the edges become a light brown and the onions begin to turn translucent (this should take about 3-4 minutes).
4. Add the cubed potatoes, salt, peppet and vegetable broth to the pot.
5. Carefully bring the soup to a simmer before covering and reducing to a low heat.
6. Allow the soup to cook for 10-15 minutes or until you can easily pierce through the potatoes with a fork.
7. Remove the pot from the heat.
8. Allow the soup to cool for 2 to 3 minutes.
9. Blend until smooth (you may need to do this in batches).
10 . Pour the soup back into the stock pot and place it on a medium high heat.
11. Add the milk and stir until incorporated and the soup is at your preferred temperature.
12. Serve warm.
Terrific Toppings:
Sprinkle your bowls of soup with a delicious topping before serving. We've added some ideas below:
• Parsley
• Cubed bread pieces
• Croutons
• Bacon pieces
• Cheese

JeanBob's Great Green Cookies!

These cookies are perfect to celebrate St Patrick's Day with their green coloring and are also the perfect sweet treat for fans of JeanBob!
 
Ingredients:
• 3.4 oz box instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 egg
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup butter, softened
• ½ cup sour cream
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 cups flour (all purpose)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp mint extract
• Blue food coloring
• Green food coloring
• 1½ cups chocolate chips
Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter together until fluffy.
4. Add the pudding mix (dry), egg and sour cream to the creamed ingredients and stir well.
5. In another bowl, gently combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
6. Carefully incorporate the flour mix into the pudding mixture
7. Stir well until fully combined. 
8. Next, add the mint extract and food coloring until it turns to a color that you like! It can be dark green like the forest or the same color as JeanBob!
9. Add in the chocolate chips (you can use any that you prefer - dark, white or milk! You can even use mint choc chips!)
10. Take rounded tablespoonfuls of dough and place them on your lined baking tray. 
11. Bake for 10 minutes.
12. Allow the cookies to cool slightly before serving warm!

Find the Pot at the End of the Rainbow!

There is a legend that leprechauns hide their pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! This activity involves finding your very own pot of gold and is great fun for the whole family. You can hunt for the gold or just use this activity as a decoration to hold your candy as a way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
You Will Need:
• Piece of card
• Streamers or colored paper for each of the colors of the rainbow. You can find the colors and their order below:
- Red
- Orange
- Yellow
- Green 
- Blue
- Indigo
- Violet
• Cotton Wool
• Glue/Tape
• Tape
• Pot/Jar/Bowl
• Yellow candy, chocolate coins or candy wrapped in gold foil (for the "gold")
Method:
1. Draw the shape of a cloud on your piece of card. If you only have small pieces of card, you can tape them together and make a larger cloud. Your cloud should be long enough to fit 7 streamer/card edges in a row.
2. Glue the cotton wool to one side of the cloud. If you don't have cotton wool, you can just use white card when you create your cloud.
3. Take your streamers and cut them to your desired length. If you are using colored card, cut the pieces into strips.
4. Glue or tape the colors to the back of the cloud so that they hang down vertically in the order below (from left to right):
• Red
• Orange
• Yellow
• Green 
• Blue
• Indigo
• Violet
5. Next fill your bowl or jar with your chosen candy. You could even decorate the bowl/jar if you wanted to (make sure to ask an adult if it is not a disposable container).
6. Ask someone to hide the bowl of candy and carefully hang or stick the cloud above it.
7. Adventure around as you hunt for the gold at the end of the rainbow - may the luck of the Irish be with you!
Take it in turns to hide the gold or change the prize each time for an added surprise!

This month we are celebrating the birthday of Mister Lorenzo Trudgealong, but his friends call him Speed!

This means Speed is a Pisces in the zodiac and aquamarine is his birthstone.

Pisces is the most intuitive and sympathetic of the zodiac signs and always goes out of their way to make sure everyone around them is happy. They are gentle, kind, and always ready to listen. They are very friendly and selfless.

Because it is so easy for the Pisces to make friends, they are often friends with many different kinds of people with strong personalities. They are the glue that hold these relationships together. Pisces are very tolerant and always willing to help others, no matter the situation; they often neglect their own self-care in the process. 

 

 

Aquamarine symbolizes courage and friendship. It can also be used to improve communication skills and encourage quick response.

We think this sounds just like Speed!

Is your birthday in March or do you just like the color blue? Purchase your Aquamarine Birthstone Locket here!

About The Swan Princess

The Swan Princess is based upon the folk tale and ballet, Swan Lake. The story is transformed into a playfully fun adventure with exciting music, lovable forest friends, and of course, the handsome Prince Derek. The Swan Princess, Odette, has stayed true to the original fairy tale princess with her kindness, grace, and loyalty.

Three reasons you should follow us on Facebook 1) Get a behind-the-scenes look as Princess Odette and Prince Derek continue their adventures 2) Be one of the first to be notified when new products are released and 3) Share your Swan Princess stories and tales with other die-hard fans.


Follow Swan Princess on Facebook Swan Princess Official Instagram  

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.