St. Paddy's Irish Soda Bread

Yield:  one 9X5 loaf

   (adapted from Allrecipes)

Wow was this ever yummy!  I couldn't believe that I made bread that tasted this good and was this easy!  Try it!  If you like raisins, you could also add a handful to the batter, stirring in before baking.

Ingredients

·        3 cups all-purpose flour

·        1 tablespoon baking powder

·        1/3 cup white sugar

·        1 teaspoon salt

·        1 teaspoon baking soda

·        1 egg, lightly beaten

·        2 cups buttermilk*

·        1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

1.    Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2.    Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.

3.    Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.

*Note – I didn’t have buttermilk so made substitution:  to 1 cup milk, add 1 tablespoon lemon juice; so I used 2 cups milk and stirred in 2 tablespoons lemon juice.  Stir together and let stand about 5 minutes until slightly thickened.  It worked like a charm!

Pumpkin Spice Cornbread with Honey Butter

Servings: about 8

Cornbread and chili!  Cornbread and brunswick stew!  Cornbread and soup!  Cornbread dressing!  This Southern girl loves cornbread!  How about an autumn twist for pumpkin cornbread?  I  just adore pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, and pumpkin pie so pumpkin cornbread is a natural for me, right?  We were in the midst of Hurricane Matthew and fearful of losing power, I made a batch of Patti's slow cooker chili and a skillet of pumpkin cornbread.  The result?  Oh my!  Can  you see my smile?

INGREDIENTS:

1 package Simply Homemade Cornbread Baking Mix

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup canned pumpkin (puree,  not pie filling)

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 Tablespoon butter

1 large egg

DIRECTIONS:

·         Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

·         Put 1 Tablespoon butter in 10-inch cast iron skillet or 8x8 baking dish and place in oven to melt the butter.  Once butter is melted, remove dish from oven.

·         In large bowl, whisk together cornbread mix, pumpkin pie spice and ground cinnamon.  Add pumpkin puree, milk, butter, and egg and mix until well combined.

·         Pour batter into prepared skillet.

·         Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

 HONEY BUTTER:
3/4 cup salted butter, softened at room temperature
1/4 cup honey
dash of vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
 
In small bowl, mix together butter, honey, vanilla, (and cinnamon if desired) until combined.  You can also use electric mixer to whip until light and fluffy.  Store, covered in refrigerator.  This is great any type of bread and also on sauteed carrots.   

Summer Balsamic Bruschetta

Summer in a jar!  I don't know why I've never made my own bruschetta!  It's divinely simple and oh so yummy.  The Italian colors of red (tomatoes) and green (basil) blend beautifully.  This is excellent served at room temperature, chilled, or even  heated!   

Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

8 small vine ripened tomatoes

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons olive oil

¼ teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 loaf French bread, toasted and sliced

DIRECTIONS:

Peel the tomatoes, cut into quarters, and gently squeeze out most of the juice and seeds.

Dice the tomatoes and then mix them with basil, Parmesan cheese, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Add more salt and pepper if needed, to taste.

This is best served a couple of hours after mixing to give flavors a chance to blend.

Serve at room temperature or chilled over toasted bread slices.