It's All About The Journey: Wayne & I Make Irish Soda bread

Wayne and I took on the challenge of making our very first Irish Soda Bread last night. We made quite the mess when all was said and done......but we did it! :)

Wayne sifted the flour because it was an easy job for him to do.

Here I am adding in the ingredients to make the bread.

And here is the finish result. We made two loaves so we will be giving one loaf away. I think it turned our delicious.

If you would like to try to make Irish Soda Bread Here is the recipe we used:

Irish Soda Bread

Recipe courtesy Brother Rick Curry, The Secrets of Jesuit Bread making, HaperPerennial, 1995

Prep Time:

20 min

Inactive Prep Time:

20 min

Cook Time:

1 hr 0 min

Level:

Intermediate

Serves:

2 loaves

Ingredients

5 cups sifted all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
2 1/2 cups mixed light and dark raisins, soaked in water for 15 to 20 minutes and drained
3 tablespoons caraway seeds (I used 1 tablespoon)
2 1/2 cups buttermilk ( I used low fat)
1 large egg, slightly beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter 2 (9 by 5-inch) bread pans.

Stir together the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut in the butter and mix very thoroughly with your hands until it gets grainy. Stir in raisins and caraway seeds.

Add the buttermilk and egg to the flour mixture. Stir until well moistened. Shape dough into 2 loaves and place in the pans.

Bake for 1 hour. Test with a toothpick for doneness. Cool in the pans for 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Hope you like it as much as we did. :)

I thought I would play along with Farm Girls' Feed My Family Friday. Okay this is not a lunch or supper but it was sort of a supper fro Wayne and I last night.

Here is a collage I made using a few of the photos of Wayne and I making the bread. I used the MDS program to make it.

Personal Ramblings.

When I was a young girl and a young woman St. Patrick's Day was a very important day of the year for me, some of my family and many of my friends. My Mother was of Irish descent, she was very proud to be Irish. The schools that I went to were Catholic and it was a huge day for all of the students who attended even if they were not Irish. Or in my case 1/2 Irish. :) Although we had to wear uniforms we were allowed to wear something that was green. Some wore green socks, a green tie (boys only) a green accessory for our hair (girls only) or a green sweater or pin. We were also allowed to bring in green carnations to give to our close friends. When I went home from school my mother had Corned beef and cabbage cooking for dinner and a fresh loaf of Irish Soda Bread. In the background you could hear the sounds of the Clancy Brothers singing the their beautiful Irish songs. Although that was a very long time ago this year for some reason I missed those days. Wayne does not eat cabbage and I no longer eat corned beef. I did buy 3 green carnations and decided to make the Irish Soda bread. It has been many years since I've last celebrated St.Patrick's Day, today however small I celebrated it and I'm so glad that I did. :) Happy St. Patrick's day to all of you.