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the luck of the partially irish

3/17/2012

* johnny read that folks like it when we tell you about our trials, tribulations & successes in the kitchen...

in honor of the St. Patrick's Day holiday today, i figured it was a good day to finally try and bake up some irish soda bread...which i've been wanting to do since seeing that "bobby's ireland" special on the food network a few years ago...
what struck me was that there was something blissful about a 4 ingredient bread that came out so dense but light and full of flavor despite being so simple.

as i investigated recipes this morning i found that the traditional "irish soda bread" by name is literally just flour, baking soda, salt & soured milk (our buttermilk) and the twists & additions like currents, raisins, caraway, sugar, eggs etc. that are in most popular or "americanized" recipes should not even be considered "soda bread"... (if this debate interests you in detail, i found this website to contain an abundance of information on the soda bread issue: www.sodabread.info).

...that all being said, i decided i was indeed still going to put a hobson's homemade spin on my inaugural soda bread attempt ...i'm irish, but only 15%... so i figured i wouldn't offend my ancestors too much if i went for it...luckily the 15 % provided me with enough "luck of the irish" because our thrown together soda bread attempt came out to be nothing less than scrumptious perfection.

we cooked it up in our cast iron skillet - just like my irish grammy did with hers this morning, and sliced it up hot out of the oven with some melted butter & a sprinkle of sugar. we'll definitely perfect it a bit and will be baking up some to share with all of you next St. Patrick's Day if not before.

- laura

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march forth

3/4/2012

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"thinking, dreaming & living outside the box..."
today is march fourth, or as i prefer to think of it "march forth" my personal "new year" and day of action... this may sound a bit kooky or weird (endearing?) but it's something i've been "observing" for many years....i take the day off work and it's the one day i have for myself... to embark on a "better me" or something equally as cliche and "self-helpish". in the past i've started (but not kept up with, clearly) blogs, exercise regimens, home organization campaigns and all sorts of other "new years resolution" style activities from finally recording my CD or scanning this huge plastic tote of photos that has become a bit of a nemesis to johnny...

... however 2010 is the year everything turned around. on march 4th of 2010 is that day that "Hobson's Homemade" (by name & concept) was born, and today in 2012, we will bring Hobson's Homemade to our first, and the 10th annual, Taste of Maynard!so not only is today my personal "new year" and over all "day of action" but it's been and will hopefully continue to be a day of continued success for Hobson's Homemade...and I'd be remiss to mention that without thanking all of you because our success has truly been a community effort. we could bake all day, create a website, have aprons printed with our name (you can see them tonite!) and even call ourselves your "hometown bakers" as much as we want... but our ability to turn all that from a dream to an actual reality is ultimately determined by you (our community, friends, neighbors colleagues & family) and your support. so, thank you sincerely, from the bottom of our hearts...and we invite you to celebrate "march forth" with us, whether it's by joining us at the Taste of Maynard tonite (info at: www.maynardeducation.org), commenting below, or simply having your own personal day of action along with us.

-laura

check out our first official piece of Hobson's Homemade apparel - our snazzy new aprons :)

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*the luck of the partially irish*

*march forth*

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the luck of the partially irish

march forth