Irish Soda Bread

In honor of the upcoming holiday, I decided to give you a recipe for a traditional Irish treat. Soda Bread! This is a pretty simple bread recipe given to me by my grandmother who is so Irish it's just plain silly. She would always make it around St. Patrick's Day and I thought I would as well.

IRISH SODA BREAD

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup butter, melted

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2.Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together,

and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared

pan.

3.Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a

wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.

Make it today and you'll have a great surprise for your friends and family when tomorrow comes

around! I hope you enjoy it.

English Muffins

Considering most of my posts are usually the kind of thing we, as semi-conscious eaters, try to avoid on a daily basis, I thought this week would be a good time to include something you can have fun making everyday without the guilt afterwards. English muffins are actually a healthy alternative in the mornings to toast and especially to bagels. They are good with jam, peanut butter, and, my personal favorite, fried eggs.

ENGLISH MUFFINS

1 c Milk

2 tbl White Sugar

1 pkg Active Dry Yeast

1 c Warm Water(110 degrees)

1/4 c Melted Shortening

6 c Flour

1 tsp Salt

1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles and then remove from heat. Dissolve in the white sugar and then let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast into the warm water until creamy or for about 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, mix 3 c flour, milk mixture, yeast, and shortening. Beat until smooth. Add the salt and enough of the left over flour to make a soft dough. Knead for a few minutes and then place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise until almost doubled in size.

3. Punch down the dough and roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into about 2 1/2 in rounds and dust both sides with cornmeal. Place onto a wax paper, cover, and let rise for another 1/2 hour.

4. Heat greased griddle and cook each muffin for about 10 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Allow to cool and serve right away or store in a plastic bag.

I love, love, love english muffins and these ones definitely made the top of my list. Since they are homemade, you are given the chance to experiment with different flavors and ingredients just like the scones I made a few weeks ago. Adding raisins and cinnamon give you another classic variation of the english muffin or adding fruit and nuts could lead you to your new favorite! Personally, I enjoy mine with eggs and cheese so normally I stick to the classic. The only tip I would suggest is replacing the all-purpose flour with some whole wheat flour. Just like most baked goods, it is easy to give your creation a little bit more nutritional value by simply adding some flax, wheat germ, or oat bran. It definitely does change the texture but usually for the better.