Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I’ve heard it said that on St. Patrick’s Day we’re all a wee bit Irish. We all certainly like to join in the fun. Since my husband works 12 hour days on Mondays, we honored our man’s day yesterday. Not that we celebrated all day, of course, because there was yard work to do, and it was a beautiful sunny day.

So as not to be speaking the blarney, I must confess that my husband actually did all the work. I’m still not feeling great, so I rested in the sunshine and enjoyed watching our four silly chickens scratch and peck their way around the yard.

Our daughter and her boyfriend made soda bread and got the corned beef, potatoes and carrots into the oven. So all I had to do was saute the cabbage in a little butter and top with a quick grind of salt and pepper just before we were ready to eat, which left me with enough energy to make some gluten free soda bread.

I didn’t seem to have all the ingredients for any of the gf soda bread recipes I found, and if I made a trip to the store, I would probably have been too tired to make the bread. So I combined and modified recipes based on what I had on hand and what felt right. Apparently the luck of the Irish was with me, because it turned out really well. It was also good this morning after being heated in the pan alongside a fresh free-range egg from one of our hens.

I feel so blessed to enjoy these simple pleasures - time spent with loved ones and delicious food to share.

In honor of the day, I’ll end this post with an Irish saying: “Life is like a cup of tea, it’s all in how you make it.”

Slainte!


Irish Soda Bread
(photo by my daughter, Laura Tabacchi)

1 ½ cups white rice flour
¾ cup sorghum flour
¼ cup tapioca flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup raisins
½ cup butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup regular milk + one teaspoon vinegar)
3 egg whites, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a round cake pan.

Wisk all dry ingredients together. Add raisins. Combine butter, milk and egg whites. Stir into dry ingredients until well mixed.

Place the dough into the pan and bake until cooked through to the center, about 50 minutes.

Printable Recipe

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