Happy St Patrick's Day!

In honor of my dear friend Claire (who lives in England and I miss very much; and she's Irish!), I'm sharing her recipe for brown soda bread. I ate this delicious bread at her house one day then asked for the recipe which she promptly sent me. I have yet to make it, but I'm going to today. I promise! She even tells me that it's easy and fun for kids too because there is no yeast, so no kneading and waiting for the dough to rise... just mix the ingredients and bake.

Here's the recipe, just as she sent it to me:

Jenny’s Mum’s Loaf

1 lb wholemeal flour

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bread soda
1 tablespoon bran
1 tablespoon wheat germ
1 tablespoon pinhead oatmeal (I just use normal porridge oats)
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 pint buttermilk (or natural yoghurt and fresh milk mixed – about 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt if doing this)

Mix all dry ingredients. Then add milk – it should be porridge-like consistency. Pour into loaf tin and bake for 50mins - 1 hour at 200 degrees.  (Betsy adding something here... that would be almost 400 degrees F)

A few more fun facts for anyone celebrating your heritage or just pretending to be Irish:

• If shortened, it's St Paddy's Day, NEVER St Patty's Day.
• The Irish do celebrate by eating green food (I thought it was just us Americans taking the holiday a little too far) -- for example, pea and spinach soup, followed by Irish stew and spuds (there always has to be spuds!) and then lime jelly* with Satsuma pieces in it and served with vanilla ice cream. Not just green, but green, white & gold which are the colors of Ireland's flag!
• Wear green, wear a shamrock on your coat she says (sorry, but we probably won't be wearing a coat in New Mexico today but many of you are in colder places right now!)
• If you like beer, make it a Guinness!

*jelly is like jello, not the jam we put on our toast.