Here's What Martha Stewart Made For St. Patrick's Day

Holiday traditions are cultural, highly personal affairs, often steeped in family heritage that may go back centuries, and encompass a rich tapestry of historical experiences. Of course, everyone knows that we'd all abandon them in a heartbeat, in favor of whatever it is Martha Stewart is doing for her holiday, instead. Thankfully, we live in a time where what Martha Stewart is doing can be immediately beamed to our handheld, personal computer devices, as they were with her post on Instagram yesterday.

Fans seemed equal parts delighted and intimidated when Stewart revealed her St. Patrick's Day menu. And anyone who was hoping for last-minute inspiration for a quick and easy Paddy's Day meal was out of luck: "In honor of St. Patricks [sic] Day I brined a ten pound brisket (trimmed of much of its fat) for five days," Stewart explained in her caption, going on to say that the brisket then needed three-and-a-half hours to boil in the oven. Not exactly the kind of cooking project you can whip up with a moment's notice; but then again, as they say, if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right. And by "right," we mean, "the way Martha Stewart does it."

In addition to the finished product – the brisket, nestled alongside bright, cheery vegetable sides like carrots, Yukon gold potatoes, and cabbage wedges – Stewart's St. Patrick's Day post on Instagram included photographs of her Paddy's-perfect dinner setup. Green dishware, foliage, and soup joined the pinky-orange grapefruit dessert and a cross-cut soda bread dusted with white flour that adorned her holiday tablescape; reflecting the green, white, and orange tricolor of the Irish flag. Stewart's caption points interested followers to her website for the recipe; where, incidentally, one can also find an article explaining that green beer and corned beef and cabbage are decidedly not authentic Irish traditions on Paddy's Day.

"Wow so beautiful!!!!!" one excited fan commented on Stewart's post, while another admitted their own holiday faux pas: "I had a hot dog. Really gotta up my game," they wrote. "The queen of every holiday," another user declared, to absolutely zero objection from the peanut gallery. And while Stewart hasn't exactly come out and said that green beer, hot dogs, and corned beef are unacceptable on March 17, her Instagram post, extensive visual aids, website recipes, and how-tos do seem to give a gentle nudge towards the "correct" way to celebrate the holiday. Which is to say, the Martha Stewart way.