Spring Break!

Today is my first official day of Spring Break! My generous employers close the place down for a week once a year to clean house.  I don't participate in this deodorizing of the Town Club because I like to use any excuse I can to stay home and work creatively on my own endeavors.  I'm getting a nice taste for how I want my life to be full time.  It's an experiment.  Can I keep productive and motivated in my self employment?  This week will give me an idea.
Since last week was St. Patrick's day, and since I have so many talented cooks in my circle of friends, we decided to throw a dinner celebration focused around the food and drink of the Irish.  Unfortunately, the people of Ireland can't boast an abundance of fine cuisine in their otherwise interesting culture, so we improvised and added a Northwest twist.  This, in most cases meant we used fresher, more local ingredients with better textures, boosting more vibrant flavors.  The ingenuity of my friends came through and each dish was spectacularly prepared with an Irish base and a unique and individual flare.  Delicious.  Beyond that, however, there is but one dish the Irish do well, and that's Irish Soda Bread.....

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups all purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons butter, chilled, cut into cubes
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 8-inch-diameter cake pan with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in large bowl to blend. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms. Make well in center of flour mixture. Add buttermilk. Gradually stir dry ingredients into milk to blend. Mix in raisins.

Using floured hands, shape dough into ball. Transfer to prepared pan and flatten slightly (dough will not come to edges of pan). Sprinkle dough with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake bread until brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes. Transfer to rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.



This recipe that I found on Epicurious is originally from Bon Appetit.  It's everything I wanted a home baked bread to be.  I'm well aware that there are different styles/versions of soda bread, and I've made many of them.  This one is on the sweeter side and has a crumb texture closer to a dense scone.  But it's still slightly savory, especially when you add a teaspoon and a half of Caraway Seeds (highly recommended).  The end result will be gobbled up, I promise.  I doubled the recipe, and between 11 of us, we finished it off without a problem.  It's best smothered in butter, but heck, what isn't?  
For some silly reason, I only make this amazingly simple bread recipe once a year.  That needs to change.  I vow to make it sooner than later.  And you should, too.

In case you don't recognize these two images, let me tell you what this box is and what you can expect to find inside of it.  I'm working not so secretly on a long series of dioramas that will hopefully someday be turned into something more spectacular and bound.  My incredibly talented woodworking father has agreed to make a handful of diorama boxes for me.  The sensational thing about these well constructed containers is that each one can be packaged as an individual piece of art.  The glass slides in and the top glides right over.  It's a miracle.  I'll have more to report on these later.  Hallelujah.


I have a couple more designs to show you.  Who knows if these will be used for their intended purpose, but I'll be sure to let you know if they are!

I'm going to leave you with a fantastic music video featuring this local band I think you all deserve to hear.  They're a must for your new music collection.  Enjoy and have a terrific week!

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