Irish Soda Bread

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  I love this holiday... discovering the trickery of the leprechauns, the good natured pinching, the green, rainbows, and gold, and most of all the delicious food.  What's not to love about this great day?! Irish or not, it's a fun holiday.  This soda bread will go perfectly with pretty much any Irish meal you're planning for tonight (that I can think of...) and it's easier to make than scones.  These loaves are beautiful, crusty, slightly sweet, and delicious.  This time I made one loaf as stated in recipe and one loaf with lemon zest and Craisins... yum!  Hope you enjoy!

Irish Soda Bread

Author: Brittany

Recipe Source: Barefoot Contessa at Home

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

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.


2. 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.


3. With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk, egg, and orange zest together in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Combine the currants with 1 tablespoon of flour and mix into the dough. It will be very wet.


4. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. Place the loaf on the prepared sheet pan and lightly cut an X into the top of the bread with a serrated knife. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. When you tap the loaf, it will have a hollow sound.


5. Cool on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Rainbow Cupcakes

St. Patrick's Day is almost here and it's the perfect to time to make some rainbow treats!  These cupcakes are easy to make and a big hit with the kids.  I love how bright and festive they are!  (However, be warned that if you use food color drops instead of the concentrated gels, the colors won't be nearly as bright - they will turn out more pastel.)  Hope you all have a great holiday and keep those pesky little leprechauns from making too much mischief at your house. ;)

Rainbow Cupcakes

Author: Brittany

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 1 white cake mix (prepared as directed on box)


• Wilton concentrated gel icing colors


• Buttercream Icing


• 1/2 cup butter, softened


• 4 cups powdered sugar


• 1 tsp vanilla extract (I left this out because I wanted the frosting to be very white)


• 3-4 Tb milk

Instructions

1. Divide prepared cake mix equally into 5 bowls.


2. Place a small amount of food coloring gel in each bowl and mix to combine - I used red, yellow, green, blue and purple.


3. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners.


4. Drop a spoonful of each colored cake mix into each cupcake liner until all the cake mix is used up. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.


5. Allow to cool completely then frost with buttercream icing and rainbow sprinkles.


6. Store in refrigerator to maintain frosting texture.


7. In a mixing bowl, cream butter.


8. Beat in sugar and vanilla.


9. Add milk until frosting reaches desired consistency.


10. Makes 24 cupcakes

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Rainbow in a Bag for St. Patricks Day

This just might be the simplest "recipe" on our site:).
I guess you could call it an edible craft!  It will take you only moments to make and  will delight your friends and family for St. Patrick's Day!

I made these for my boys last year and they LOVED them so much that I thought I would make it a yearly tradition.  I am going to pop these little rainbows and gold into their lunches this Friday.

For more St.Patrick's Day Recipes click here and here
For some of our fun family St Patrick's Day Traditions click here.

Rainbows in a Bag for St Patrick Days
submitted by Melanie~The Sister's Cafe

Rainbow Twizzler Twists
Rolos
celephane bags
ribbon

One bag of Rainbow Twizzlers will make 5 bags.  Take a handful of Rolos and put in celephane bag.  Take one of each color of the twizzlers and line them up.  Bend them like a rainbow and place in bag over the gold Rolos.  Tie with a cute ribbon.  ENJOY:)

Recipe Source: Maple Memories via Our Best Bites

Baked Corned Beef with Hot & Sweet Mustard

Corned beef isn't actually an Irish dish.  Are there gasps of indignation out there?! :)  Sorry but it's primarily an American tradition to eat corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's day. I'm not sure where it came from but I do know that it isn't technically Irish!  I just had to say that out of loyalty to my very strong Irish heritage... so yes, I know I'm deviating from Irish food here but I just couldn't help it! Last year I decided to try corned beef for the first time.  I kept wondering what the big deal was - why did everyone have it on St. Patrick's Day?  When I looked up how to prepare it (Mom only made it a few times for us growing up and not on St. Pat's Day), I discovered that the most common way was to boil it. Yuck!!  So I dug a little deeper and found this amazing recipe.  I'm talking amazing!!  I loved every bite, and so did my family!  It's baked (much better!) and it has a deliciously tangy, sweet sauce that just complements the salty beef perfectly.  Pair it with the simple flavors of cabbage and potatoes and you have a wonderful St. Patrick's meal.  Albeit a nontraditional one, strictly speaking, but what the heck! Let's bend the rules just this once, for all you loyal Irish out there! :)

*Personally I like things a little salty so I didn't need to change anything, however, you can always put the corned beef in water and bring it to a boil several times (changing the water out each time) before preparing it for this recipe. I wonder if soaking it in water for a few hours in the fridge would work too?  It should, although I've never tried it.  Anyway, so if you are turned off by corned beef because of the saltiness, try the boiling/water trick first. 

Baked Corned Beef with Hot & Sweet Mustard
submitted by Brittany ~ The Sisters Cafe

3 lb corned beef
10 whole cloves
1/4 - 1/3 cup hot & sweet mustard
2 Tb brown sugar

Drain the corned beef from the package and discard the spice packet.  Lay corned beef, fat side up, on a large piece of heavy duty aluminum foil.  (Mine was not the extra wide foil so I ended up laying two pieces side by side that were folded together multiple times along the seam. That formed a nice wide piece of foil to work with.)  Insert the cloves evenly across the top of the corned beef.  Next spread the hot & sweet mustard on top.  (By the way, I like Trader Joe's Hot & Sweet Mustard, however, you could probably whip up your own using spicy brown mustard mixed with a little honey.)

Sprinkle top with brown sugar. Wrap the sides of the foil up and over the top of the corned beef but do it loosely so there is room for the juices to accumulate.  You also don't want the foil to be touching the top.  Now place foil-wrapped corned beef in a shallow roasting pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 2 hours.  At the end of baking, open up the foil and spread an additional several tablespoons of hot sweet mustard on top and broil for 2-3 minutes until the top bubbles and turns golden brown.  Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.  Slice across the grain into 1/2 inch slices.  Serve with colcannon and roasted green cabbage wedges.

recipe source: Simply Recipes

Oatmeal Maple Pecan Scones

Mmmm... I loved these scones.  The oatmeal was such a great addition.  I had never had oatmeal in scones before, but when I looked it up on wikipedia I found that scones were originally made with oatmeal. So there you go... authentic! :)  Well, whether they are authentic or not, this recipe is definitely one that I will be making again and again.  I used real maple syrup, so the scones weren't too sweet.  It was perfect with the sweet glaze.  However, I think they would still be really good with breakfast maple syrup - just sweeter.  Hope you enjoy!

PS Don't get overwhelmed by the length of the directions.  These scones really  are not hard, the directions are just a little wordy but informative!

Oatmeal Maple Pecan Scones
Submitted by Mindy ~ The Sisters Cafe

1 1/2 cups steal cut Irish Oatmeal (I just used regular oatmeal)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup maple syrup (I used real maple syrup, but breakfast syrup would be good, too... just sweeter)
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze:
3 Tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Spread the oats and pecans evenly on a baking sheet and toast them until they are fragrant and lightly browned -- about 7-9 minutes; cool on a wire rack.  Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees.  Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper.  When the oats and pecans are cool, measure out 2 tablespoons (for dusting the work surface) and set aside.

Whisk the milk, cream, maple syrup and egg in a large measuring cup until incorporated; remove one tablespoon to a small bowl and reserve for glazing.

Place the flour, baking powder and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until combined, about four 1-second pulses.  Scatter the cold butter evenly over the dry ingredients and process until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, twelve to fourteen 1-second pulses. (You could also do this by hand with a pastry cutter or two knives).

Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl; stir in the cooled oats and pecans.  Using a rubber spatula, fold in the liquid ingredients until large clumps form.  Using your hands, gently knead the mixture in the bowl until the dough forms a cohesive mass.  Do not over-handle.

Dust work surface with half of the reserved oats, turn the dough out onto the work surface, and dust the top with remaining oats.  Gently pat the dough into a 7-inch circle about 1-inch thick.

Using a long sharp knife, cut the dough into 8 wedges and set out on parchment-lined (or silpat lined) baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.  Brush the surfaces with the reserved milk and egg mixture, then sprinkle scones with cinnamon.

Bake until golden brown, 12-14 minutes; cool scones on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove scone to a wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

When the scones are cool, whisk 3 tablespoons maple syrup and 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar in a small bowl until combined; drizzle the glaze over the scones.

 

Recipe source: www.enjoylifewithbreakfast.com

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our wonderful mother always made every holiday special and fun, and St Patrick's Day was no exception.  We would often get green pancakes and juice for breakfast., lots of playful pinches if we dared come out of our rooms not clad in green, and we always feasted on a dinner of Irish food that night.  As we have grown older, she continues to throw a St Paddy's party for those who live near.  It's a hoot since we are all required to bring a "party favor" (a funny joke, skit, card trick, talent, etc)!  This year we had a parsnip soup, pork roast,colcannon, apple mash, and scones.  My mom also told us all about one of our Irish ancestors : Mary Jane McConnell (my great, great grandmother shown in the picture behind the scones).  It was a wonderful night!  My contribution was the scones: Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze and Oatmeal Maple Pecan Scones.  They were both wonderful!  I am posting the blueberry scones today, but I'll post the maple scones soon, too.  These scones remind me of our grandma's blueberry muffins.  So yummy!
Hope you all have a very happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Blueberry Scones with Lemon Glaze
Submitted by Mindy ~ The Sisters Cafe

Scones:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut in chunks (I use salted and don't adjust anything and they still turn out great)
1 cup heavy cream, plus a little more to brush the scones
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Lemon Glaze:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Powdered sugar
Zest of one lemon
1 Tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, but in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour.  The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.  Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream.  Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough.  Fold the blueberries into the batter.  Take care not to mash or bruise the blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough. (I used frozen blueberries which taste wonderful but require even more carefulness if you don't want blue dough).
Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 x 3 x 1 1/4 inches. Cut the rectangle in 1/2, then cute the pieces in 1/2 again, giving you four (3-inch) squares.  Cut the squares in 1/2 on a diagonal to give you the classic triangle shape. (You can also just roll it into a circle 1 1/4 inches thick and then cut into triangles either before or after cooking).  Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown.  Let the scones cool a bit before you apply the glaze.
Mix the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar together in a microwave-safe bowl.  Stir until the sugar dissolves.  Add the lemon zest and butter.  Microwave for 30 seconds on high.  Whisk the glaze to smooth out any lumps, then drizzle the glaze over the top of the scones.  Let it set a minute before serving.

Recipe Source: Tyler Florence from www.foodnetwork.com

St. Patricks Day Recipes

With St. Patrick's Day on Wednesday I thought I would present a few recipes that we make for this holiday! Having Irish heritage, we love St. Patrick's Day and always celebrate with a family dinner.

First off scones are a must. Here is my favorite recipe:

Scones with Cherry and Lemon
(Click title for the recipe)

 

We always have this traditional Irish dish made with potatoes, cabbage and onions.

It is soo good!
Colcannon
(Click title for recipe)

For the main dish we like to serve meat pies. My Grandma always makes miniature chicken pot pies. They are delicious! Since my Grandma doesn't live here in Tennessee, I think I will just purchase some frozen ones at the store this year:) You could make homemade ones though!

For a delicious green side dish try this spring time favorite...

Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Butter Sauce.

For dessert I like to make something simple like frosted sugar cookies with green sprinkles or take a shamrock shaped cookie cutter to a pan of brownies.

Simple, but fun!

Hope you all have a wonderful St. Patty's Day!!

To read more about our St. Patricks Day traditions click here.

Cherry Lemon Scones and a giveaway!

When a bag of dried cherries caught my eye at the store, I remembered these fantastic scones my little sister Erin and I had made together the last time she visited Utah (when we were all still there). We invited our other sisters over and had a delicious treat together. The scones were wonderful and of course the time spent with my sweet sisters was too! So, of course I bought the cherries and a lemon and came home to make these. They were scrumptious, just like I remembered, but it made me miss my sisters even more! It was not as fun to eat these without them! So make these scones and invite some people you love over to enjoy them with you.

Scones with Cherry and Lemon
Submitted by Melanie

Printable Recipe here

2 c. all purpose flour
¼ c. granulated white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ c. unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
½ c. dried cherries
Zest of 2 lemons
2/3 c. buttermilk

Egg mixture for brushing tops of scones:

1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tb milk
Turbinado surgar, or white granulated sugar, for sprinkling the tops of the scones OR
After they are baked drizzle with lemon glaze

Glaze:
Juice of one lemon
Powdered sugar--just keep spooning it into the juice until desired consistency for drizzling

Preheat oven to 400° and place rack in middle of oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the dried cherries and the lemon zest. Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round and about 1 ½ inches thick. Cut this circle in half, and then cut each half into 3-6 pie-shaped wedges. Place the scones on the baking sheet. Make an egg wash of one well-beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon of milk and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture. Sprinkle with raw sugar (if desired).
Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Glaze if desired.

Makes 6-12 scones.

Now for the

GIVEAWAY.

Over Christmas I received a darling apron from Flirty Aprons and I LOVE it! They are fun, stylish and well made! I really enjoy my time in the kitchen more in such a cute apron:)

We would like to give an apron to one of you.

Just go here, to the Flirty Apron website and tell us the one you would like. I got this one. And although I am a BYU graduate and fan...I really got a kick out of this one! I might have to send it to my Ute graduate brother in law, Eric:)

Good luck! The contest ends Thursday!

Colcannon

This is a traditional Irish dish - an old family favorite. My mother's grandmother was from Ireland so my mother grew up with a lot of Irish cooking...and she passed that on to us! Colcannon is one of my favorites, along with scones. Yum! There are dozens of different ways to make colcannon - this is the one Mom made most of the time and my favorite version. There has never been a written recipe in the family so this time when I made it I paid attention to amount and ratios... and ironically it turned out the best tasting colcannon ever! :) (at least that I have made) It could have been due to the fact that I disregarded any attempt at healthy cooking this time! Ha! Well, with St. Patrick's day coming up, as with any holiday, this is the perfect time to splurge in your cooking! Have fun and enjoy!

Colcannon

submitted by Brittany

6 large potatoes, peeled

4-6 Tb half-and-half

1 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 onions, finely chopped

6 Tb butter, divided

1/2 of a small head of cabbage, sliced thinly

1. Slice peeled potatoes in half and place in pot. Fill with enough water to cover and boil for 25 minutes, or until soft. While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tb butter in large saucepan. Add minced onion and stir to coat with butter. Add cabbage over onions. Cover saucepan and cook over med-low to medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until cabbage is soft.

2. Drain potatoes and add half-and-half (or milk) and salt. Mash with electric mixer. Stir together onion and cabbage mixture with mashed potatoes. Spoon into an oven safe dish and place under broiler until top is browned. Traditionally colcannon is served with a deep well in the center filled with melted butter... so I place 2 more Tb of butter on top and let it melt into colcannon.