The cool thing about my family is that we had a lot of different nationalities going on. I tend to talk mostly about my Italian side but on Mom's side we had Polish, Irish, German and there were some rumors for a while about being Danish too. We had the best of many worlds!
Grandma related to her Irish side mostly, and so that of course meant St. Patrick's day was a huge celebration! First, it was all about the green. Green clothes, shamrock stickers on our cheeks, green necklaces: she had these glass shamrocks made especially for all of us. I took ownership of Mom's.
Food was also included in the color display: green mashed potatoes, green jello, green whipped cream, lime soda, I think one year she found green bagels and was just over the moon. The list goes on & on. Add that to the best corned beef, cabbage & Irish soda bread, well that was just so Erin go Bragh over the top! And so much freakin fun!
Mom continued the tradition, and I consider her Irish Soda Bread to be the best ever! So in the spirit of good ol St. Patrick I'm sharing her recipe below. I jumped into the mix by eating all of the food (lol), and was in charge of table settings.
Happy St. Patrick's Day. May it be filled with shiny shamrocks and a field of four-leafed clovers delivered right to your door! Big Love, PatriciaG
Mom’s Irish Soda Bread
In small bowl mix:
- 2 eggs
- 1-1/3 cup buttermilk
- 3 tsp baking soda
In large bowl mix:
- 4-1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/3 lb butter
- Blend with fork
- Add liquid and knead for a few minutes
- Add 2 cups raisins
- Add 2-1/2 Tbls caraway seeds
- Grease (outside) bottom of 10” cast iron skillet
- Form the dough 1-1/2” thick & place on upside down skillet
- Cut a cross on top of the bread
- With pastry brush top top with buttermilk to make top crunchy
- If sticks to hands add buttermilk or butter or wet hands
- Bake at 325 for 55 minutes.
A little shamrock fact: three leaves of a shamrock are said to stand for faith, hope and love. A fourth leaf is where we get the luck from. The four-leafed clover, or “lucky clover”, is an uncommon variation of the three-leafed clover, and widely considered to be a symbol of good luck.
Thanks to the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, Mom had crocheted hats for her mailbox Squirrels for every occasion.
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And I'd really love it if you'd share with friends & family. Grazie!