Sunday, March 16, 2014

Irish Soda Bread


St. Patrick's Day is tomorrow so I decided to make some Irish soda bread. I used Ina Garten's recipe and although I'm not sure just how traditional it is, it does the trick.

Ingredients:
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for currants
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
  • 1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 1 cup dried currants

Preheat the oven to 375 and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.

Add the butter and mix on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.

Lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest with a fork. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients.

Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough.

Knead the dough on a floured surface.

Form a loaf (or multiple loaves) out of the dough and cut an X on the top.

Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a baking rack.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

March Through the Years

Every once in a while I like to take a look back through the blog and see what I was up to during this time in the past. This morning I went through all of my posts from March 2011-2013 and found a few of my favorites.

In March 2011 Brittni of Paper & Stitch featured my workspace. My cards and invitations have changed a lot since then and my workspace is much different. I'm currently living in a studio apartment and I converted half of my closet into my new workspace. I'll try to share photos soon!

In March 2012 I shared my growing nesting doll collection. I haven't expended this collection much since then. I'd say it's at capacity.

In March 2013 my favorite post was when I featured photos from Rancho Los Alamitos. My mom and I visited the local ranch one afternoon and took our own little tour. It's so pretty!

I can't believe it's my fourth year running this blog. When I started it, I just thought it would be fun to share recipes and crafts. My favorite aspect now is what a time capsule it's become. It's kind of like my own virtual scrapbook. I love that.