Irish Breakfast
Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 7:56AM 
I got inspired last night and decided I'd make some Irish Bread, one of the grand family traditions of St. Patrick's Day. What we always call "Irish Bread" should probably be designated as Irish SODA Bread, since it's not a crusty yeast bread like you'd think. This is more like a large scone you bake in a loaf - it's spongey, light, buttery, and has that odd touch of dryness on the palette from the soda. My Mom likes to toast hers (she also likes to make hers with caraway seeds, which I cannot abide,) but I like mine either cold or just room temp.
The words "black frying pan" are underlined on the recipe cards.
Within my Grandma's dozens of recipe cards, mostly for mid-Century throwbacks such as "Pink Icebox Cake" or "Canary Cocktail", there are a few different editions of the famous Irish Bread recipe. The one I used was from Prudence Penny - a clever nom de plume for recipe writing that my Auntie Grace came up with years ago. Of all of my Grandma's sisters, Grace was the best cook.
I love that my Grandma or Mom had written in a couple of changes & underlines - how will we have these little details in 50 years when everything is electronic? The only change I made (apart from omitting caraway) was to use butter instead of shortening. Otherwise, it's an original, right down to the crusty top. I made one for work, and one to give my hosts for tonight's St. Patrick's Day feast, as well as some little muffins for the other party guests. All in all, Irish Bread is meant to be shared with as many friends and family as possible, in the spirit of Irish friendship.
Irish bread, St. Patrick's Day, family, food in Foodie Chic 
Reader Comments (2)
Cheers.