Greetings to our friends in 2010!

Hello, everyone. Terry and I are back from our 2009 Christmas trip to Ireland and you are probably waiting to hear all about it. Unfortunately, it didn't go well. It went the way of Murphy's Law; if it could happed, it did! In brief, Ireland had the worst severe weather than they've had in decades. Because of the weather, the driving conditions were the worst I've ever seen. Then, Terry and I both got the flu and were sick for the entire time. We weren't able to do just about anything we had planned, and we only visited a handful of our friends. We tried to make the best of it but there really wasn't any best of it to make. You can read the entire story of our ill-fated trip at The Holidays in Ireland 2009.

The problems we had on our ill-fated trip seem insignificant when compared to the tragedy in Haiti, after being struck by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

PLEASE DONATE TO THE RELIEF EFFORTS
IN HAITI VIA AMERICARES.ORG
THANK YOU!

Handmade Valentine's Card with Two Hearts Joined With Gold Chain, Surrounded with Lilies Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com

Valentine's Day is on the way and we have posted many of our Valentine recipes on our home page.

Irish Coffee Muffins	Irish Apple Cake	Irish Cranberry Scone Hearts
Irish Cream Chocolate Mousse Cake Beef and Guinness Pie

There are all sorts of things from cookies and cakes to breakfast, lunch or dinner. We are also featuring many special Valentine's Day products to choose from. We hope you all have a very happy and romantic time with your sweethearts.

Cadbury Milk Tray Irish Chocolate Assortment
25pc Handmade Guinness & Baileys Irish Cream Truffles		Cadbury Roses Irish Chocolate Assortment

More Valentine's Day gift ideas on FoodIreland.com

Even though we have to get through Valentine's Day first, it's never too early to start planning for your St. Patrick's Day celebrations. I have posted several items on our new Facebook page as a reminder. And, we do have a special St. Patrick's Day recipes page as well. For some party ideas and menu suggestions, please click on How to Throw an Irish Party and Irish Music on the Web.

Become a fan of LittleShamrocks.com on Facebook

I received two books as gifts for Christmas. One is "I Never Knew That About Ireland" by Christopher Winn. It is a collection of interesting and sometimes little known facts about Ireland, its culture and history.

The other book is a real gem because it's an antique. It is an 1866 edition of "Moore's Irish Melodies" by Thomas Moore, famed Irish poet. This lovely book is filled with the poems of Sir Thomas Moore that ultimately were the result of his interpretation while listening to various Irish harp music composed by himself and Sir John Stevenson, as well as accompaniment to the works of the master Irish harpists, such as Turloch O'Carolan. Each entry is beautifully illustrated with lithographic copies of some of the artwork of fellow Irishman Daniel Maclise, RA (Royal Academy).

I have included two selections on LittleShamrocks.com ~ 'Oh the Shamrock' and 'Dear Harp of My Country' on our Irish Poetry page. There will be more of Thomas Moore's poetry to come.

LittleShamrocks.com had a very busy December filled with lots of orders for our products and a large increase in traffic to our site. Our Alexa traffic ranking is still in the top 1% of all web sites worldwide. We had a great year in 2009 and want to thank you all for your continued patronage.

In March, I hope to have more news to report, so until then ...

Sláinte,
Tyna