Irish Soda Bread

St. Patrick's Day is nearly here, some of you may even celebrate this weekend. So, I thought I would re-post 2 recipes I have, one for Irish Soda Bread the other, a Hot Reuben Dip, if you happen to have a bit of Corned Beef left over.

Irish Soda Bread

Wrapped well with plastic wrap, it can be stored at room temperature until the last crumb is eaten. Like all Irish soda breads, this freezes well.

4 cups plus 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup (less or more or none) Raisins
¼ cup caraway seeds (not necessary, but I love them in the bread)
7 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups Buttermilk (Substitution: Add 3 teaspoons of vinegar to 1 1/2 cups milk, let sit for one hour)
3 eggs
Coarse sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine flour with baking powder and baking soda, granulated sugar, raisins and caraway seeds (if using). Cut in the butter using a pastry blender, your finger tips, or 2 knives until the mixture feels like coarse meal. Stir in raisins until evenly distributed.

3. Lightly beat 2 of the eggs and combine with buttermilk. Stir mixture into the dry ingredients. Flour your hands and form the dough into a ball. It should resemble a rough biscuit dough. Place the dough onto a nonstick cookie sheet (or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper) and cut a cross on the top about a ¼ inch deep with a sharp knife. Lightly beat the remaining egg and brush it on top of the dough. Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Using your hands, gently press into a round, dome-shaped loaf about 8 inches in diameter.

4. Bake for 60 or 70 minutes or until the center internal temperature reads 200 degrees on an instant read thermometer, or until it is deep golden brown and a wooden skewer comes out clean when inserted into the center. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 12 servings. (yeah, right!)

You will most likely have enough buttermilk to go ahead and make a second loaf! Enjoy and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This recipe is from an old Newsday article I found years ago. I think it is a surefire hit!

Hot Reuben Dip

Enjoy with Merlot, such as Rex Goliath or Blackstone.

Oven: 350 degrees F
Prep: 20 minutes

Bake: 25 minutes

Cool: 10 minutes Ingredients

1 14- or 16-ounce can sauerkraut, rinsed and well-drained

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (6 ounces)

1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (6 ounces)

6 ounces fully cooked corned beef, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing Party rye bread, toasted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pat rinsed and drained sauerkraut dry with paper towels. In a large bowl combine sauerkraut, cheeses, corned beef, and mayonnaise. Spread into a 9-inch quiche dish or 1 1/2-quart casserole.

Bake about 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Cool slightly. Serve with rye bread. Makes 18 appetizer servings.

Make-Ahead Tip: Prepare as directed in step 1. Cover and chill for up to 24 hours. Bake in the 350 degree F. oven about 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May 2009

As long as I am going through pictures I thought I'd share some of my garden.

This year I vowed to "use what I already have" to fulfill my garden dreams. I stuck to it pretty well, too

The house is freshly painted and, by the way, David finished my railing. Good job and thank you so VERY much! Thanks for the planters, Mom.

Welcome

Outside my kitchen door

This Poppy is bigger than my hand! These are just popped Poppies. They aren't as big as the first one was, but the color is amazing!


Ahh, Peonies! Enlarge the white one to see just a hint of a pink streak, about 4:00 from center.

First Peony blooms of my infant garden. Only 2 bloomed. Could need another season to bloom or I"ve planted them too deep. I guess time will tell. Gardening certainly lends itself to the lesson of learning patience!

"Lemon Merigue" is the name of this climbing rose and the fragrance is Delicious!!


Siberian (or Japanese) Iris. I want to get some white ones like this, too. The larger irises I planted into my "baby" garden have not bloomed, but sometimes it takes 2 seasons before they will.

I have big plans in my head for an English "Cottage Style" Garden. Of course, now I need to remove the stinky (like cat pee) Boxwoods from the front of the house. I don't want to kill them, that would be sacreligious here in Virginia. I will sincerely try to find a happy home for them. In addition I need muscle, and oh yeah, money! I do feel I am off to a good start though.

The Rosemary plant in tn the "Mother Garden" that I planted the first year I was here, as one of those Lowe's Chrsitmas tree-shaped plants, now looks like a hedge. It's in a good place for picking up fragrance, right beside the my brick walk. However, she is battling with the Lavendar Hedge (that I grew from seeds Pierrette gave me) that, too, is in a good place to pick up fragrance. Oh, what to do, what to do!

Pierrette also gave me Sweet William seeds. The small, deep pink flowers near the lavendar bush. They are blooming for the second year

Gardening is my joy and my pain.; even though I pay a price, sometimes, it is worth it. Keeps me out of trouble anyway!

Lucie's Birthday

I put up a google web album to view some pictures of Lucie's Birthday Party. It was a big hit! Ellen & David, Great teamwork!

http://picasaweb.google.com/katch52/LucieS3rdBirthdayParty?locked=true#

Gratitude

I just need to say that I am grateful for my loving and supportive family.

As long as there is sunshine tomorrow the painter will start! With any luck I will be heading south next weekend.

So wish me luck!

Irish Soda Bread II

Last weekend I made my Irish Soda Bread and Corned beef and cabbage. I was so pleased how the bread turned out I had to show it off. It tasted good, too!

My new dilemma

I've been waiting for the right time to head south to see Peter, Elise, Noah, Sophia, Mom and the rest of the gang, and for a little R & R. I figured April 1st would be a good day to start my trip. stay maybe 3 weeks and be home in time for my tentative closing date of May 2. Then after that is done get a new furnace while the weather is mild enough to have fresh air come in through my windows.

I have applied to re-finance my mortgage, lower interest rate, etc. The initial appraisal of my home has gone up almost $25,000 dollars, even in these times. I was quite surprised. Oh, back to the dilemma, In order to get an FHA mortgage I would need to paint my house. Now, the paint has blistered in a lot of spots. When I went to scrape some of the blistered areas, it went all the way down to bare wood. A lot of layers all at once. The paint came off too easily.

Do I patch paint, which is what seems to have been done over the years, or do it right, scraping, sanding, priming, caulking and then paint. Oh, and have it done by the middle of April and it's raining today!

I really wanted to be in Florida for Easter. Peter is off and we could all have fun together. Then spend time with Mom.

I don't want to miss the window of opportunity to get a lower rate mortgage AND get enough cash back to buy a new furnace. I've had 4 different heating/cooling guys in to give me estimates. That's another thing to figure out. What kind of furnace should I get? You would not believe how many different kinds are out there

Ellen T. has said she will help me as much as she can. Whether that means finding someone to do it or patch it up our selves.

I know I'm only supposed to write "happy things" in this blog but any input would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, the drama of everyday life!

Did I mention I really want to visit FL?

Snow in the Heart of Virginia

Just a quick note & pics showing our snow


Snow in my Stone Garden, perfect white snow cushions on the chaise lounges


and on my birdbath



Down my brick walk

and capping car

This is the kind of snow kids pray for! No school, but we knew that last night. The snow is good packing and deep, at least 6 inches. If I were (a lot) younger I would be out there from sun-up till sundown. Rosy cheeked, wet, cold and sniffly. Snowmen, sledding, snow ball fights, snow forts and walls. At least I have those memories! Going to the cow pasture and sliding down the hill, it was the best. Until Albert ran into my face with his sled. White snow and lots of RED blood! I remember I didn't want Grandma Chandler to see me because she had just had a heart attack and I didn't want to be the cause of another one. Then there was talk of stitches! NO WAY! Albert's mother was a nurse and suggested it. If that happened now that child would get taken to the ER and gotten stitches AND a Tetanus shot! Ahh, those were the days!

I was praying some kid would come by and offer to shovel my driveway for a couple of bucks. Not a one! Where are all the teenagers? Probably on the slopes, that's where.

While sweeping the snow off the roof of my car I managed to snap off my antenna. I really was trying to be careful around it, too. I sure hoped that can be fixed!