Happy St. Patrick's Day

It is St. Patrick's Day again -- already! Well, the corned beef is in the crock pot and the pseudo Irish Soda Bread is in the oven so I guess I'm ready. We used the same corned beef recipe that I posted last year on St. Patrick's Day because we all loved it. When I get home, I'll put the vegetables on to cook and the corned beef into the oven with the glaze and I should be done. I still haven't found any type of Irish dessert that would be appropriate or fairly quick. Most of the desserts that I found on the Internet involved alcohol so I just thought I would skip them. Maybe next year I'll make shortbread. I don't know if that is Irish but I really like shortbread and it would be yummy dipped in chocolate. If you have any other ideas for an Irish dessert that doesn't involve alcohol, please email me or send it to me in a comment.

Last year, we weren't crazy about the Irish Soda Bread recipe that I used. Actually, I should rephrase that. Last year, I wasn't crazy about the Irish Soda Bread recipe that I used. The boys did like it. I am trying a different recipe this year which I will post for you. It is another easy recipe. I would have made it later tonight but the recipe says it is much better if it you wrap it in foil and let it sit for several hours or overnight. I was not in the mood to start baking bread last night so that wasn't going to work for me. While I was googling for Irish Soda Bread recipes, I came up on a post at http://www.msn.com/ discussing whether Irish Soda Bread is really Irish or an American creation. One thing they stated emphatically was that butter should not be put into the bread but slathered on it. Oh well, there is butter in this recipe. It is probably just like pizza and chop suey in that it was created here in the U.S. and now we all believe these are foreign foods. It doesn't really matter to me whether or not they eat Soda Bread in Ireland. I just wanted to make a nice St. Patrick's Day Dinner.

This recipe is called Irresistible Irish Soda Bread and the recipe is from http://www.allrecipes.com/. It looks good in the oven. It was very easy to make. I realize that the raisins are left out of the recipe but the original author did that, not me. I don't like raisins in my bread and neither does D so I didn't add any. You can add them or not as you choose.

IRRESISTIBLE IRISH SODA BREAD

INGREDIENTS:

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


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

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.

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.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Creative Cook