Friday, March 4, 2011

St. Patrick's Day

Irish Cornhusk Doll
Hello everyone!

Hang on, winter is nearly over, and spring is just around the corner. Here are a couple pictures of my Irish Cornhusk Doll that I made for St. Patrick's Day this year.  I hope you like her.

I'd also like to share with you my recipe for Irish Soda Bread.  This is something that we have at our house throughout the year, but we always have this on St. Patrick's Day.



Irish Soda Bread Recipe

4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 cup dried currants (or raisins, cranberries, cherries, apricots)
2 cups milk


Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender.  Stir in the dried fruit. Add enough of the milk to make a soft dough. Spoon into a greased 12-inch cast iron skillet you have warming in a 350 oven.  Cook for 1 hour or until top is nicely browned.

Serve hot or cold with butter.  This makes an excellent St. Patrick's Day breakfast bread with hot Irish tea!

Note: I usually use currants or raisins, but one year I had none and so substituted dried cranberries.  Delicious!  Another year I had received some dried Montmorency cherries from Michigan...a delicious variation!  Dried apricots have also been used with great success.  So...there are enough variations of this wonderful bread that you can make it for just about any occasion. 

I have made this every St. Patrick's Day morning to top off the glee my kids always experienced at discovering that the leprechauns had been to visit; their toys were lined up on the stairs, magic sprinkle powder all over the house (including on the kitties)...those leprechauns are certainly tricky little creatures.  They would often leave behind their gold coins in their haste to evade the leprechaun traps set all over the house. Fun!

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