Spring has sprung..despite the snow on the way!

Despite the fact that the weather forecasters are calling for a nor'easter tonight--which after this winter season of forecasts--it is completely understandable to ignore those weather predictions. I mean, I would bet that they were only "right" about 50-60% of the time. 

So I will rely on the best predictor [and what all of us do anyway] by looking out the window tomorrow morning.

It's April Fools Day tomorrow and although Mother Nature may have the last laugh, 

'round these parts Spring is happening.

It's happening outdoors.....

 And indoors!

Once a year out of the linen closet tablecloths have been freshly washed....

New tableau's have appeared on the kitchen table...

A Home Goods "find of the week" has to be this green mallard...since he/she reminds me of one of my very favorite books I read to my kids.

 Bunnies and jelly beans are also popping up here and there....

Winter mantles are now Spring mantels....in shades of yellow and green.

 Many hours have been spent surviving March Madness BB games...some of 

which will creep into the early days of April.

 It may be a bit chilly for real pansies, but purple and pansy scented candles are a close second.

 This fly swatter has a spring flower decoration to make nice before the bloodbath ensues.

 Even the mail has brought signs of spring into the house....

 And jewelry stands have been re-purposed into egg holding stands.

 

 And a spring scarf knitted last summer has finally made it's way into the 

everyday wear regular rotation. 

So many birds have appeared at the bird feeder that I succumbed to buying...

 a new app for my iPhone :)

And finally I will leave you with the coolest homemade spring banner I have ever seen!

Can you guess what those eggs are made from?

Paint chip strips!

Is that awesome or what?

Irish Soda Bread: Revisited

 A couple of weeks back, on St. Patrick's Day, I made an Irish Soda Bread for my family.

It was a new recipe, but it had great reviews on the King Arthur Flour site.

To be festive, I added the green sugar on top..lol

(I was out of green sugar sprinkles so I combined blue and yellow and when it baked it turned 

green!..And, yes, I learned that in preschool :)

 The bread was good, but it tasted a heck of a lot like CAKE. 

Sweet, crumbly. Yummy, right?

3/4 cup sugar, 6oz of butter.

But, not exactly what I was going for. 

I wanted Irish Soda BREAD, not Irish Soda CAKE.

You can see that recipe here:

 King Arthur Irish-American Soda Bread

Fast forward to a couple of days ago. 

My mother has a subscription to the Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter, and periodically, she generously gives the back issues to me to read. (Thanks, Mom!)

Yesterday morning I was glancing over the March newsletter

and saw a recipe for 

Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread.

I knew that if the recipe was in the Tuft's newsletter, 

I'd bet my bottom dollar it ain't gonna have 6 Tbls of butter in it.

And it didn't!

In fact it had a sum total of 1 Tablespoon of oil, no eggs, and only 2 Tbls of brown sugar!

This was sounding good.

 Much more bread-like.

You start off by "plumping" (their words) the raisins in 1/2 cup of either

very hot black tea or boiling water for 10 min.

I used tea.

Another useful application on my iPhone: kitchen timer.

While raisins are PLUMPING (love that word), 

mix in large bowl, 

1 cup of whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup of all purpose flour.

 I used  KA White Whole Wheat flour.

 Next, 2 teaspoons of caraway seeds.

(they said to pound them first with the bottom of a heavy pan to release the flavor--something new I learned)

 So, I took out my trusty meat mallet and pounded away.

 Don't add them to the flour quite yet, though. 

 To the flour mixture, add 3/4 tsp of Baking Soda,

and 1/2 tsp of salt.

And whisk to combine.

After 10 min of soaking, drain raisins well.

 And add raisins and caraway seeds to the flour mixture.

 Stir with a wooden spoon.

 Now the next step called for combing liquids in a measuring cup, but since one of the liquids was buttermilk, I decided to use my buttermilk powder.

(According to directions on the container of buttermilk powder, you are to add the powder to the dry ingredients, and use water in place of buttermilk.)

 So in went the buttermilk powder to the flour mixture too. 

(3 Tablespoons of buttermilk powder to make 3/4 cup buttermilk)

 Into a measuring cup add 3/4 cup water (or buttermilk if you were not using the powder),

 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar,

And 1 Tablespoon of Canola oil.

Mix with a fork until sugar is mostly dissolved.

  

Add slowly to flour mixture, stirring mixture with a fork.

 You will see it coming together into a ball.

 When it comes together, dump onto a floured surface...

 And knead several times, adding a bit of flour to make it less sticky.

Form into a ball and place on a greased (cooking spray ok) cookie sheet, glass pie plate or in my case, my (very well) seasoned pizza stone.

 Flatten slightly into a disk shape.

With a serrated knife, make a deep X cut on top of the disk....

 ...and place in a PREHEATED 425 degree oven.

Bake for approx 30 min, or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

 The verdict:

Delicious. Bread like. Slightly sweet.

Perfect toasted with a bit of butter, or lite pretend butter! 

(Like this one, my personal favorite)

A wonderful, easy, healthy substitute for higher fat Irish Soda "Cake".

Yum.