The Good Hearted Woman

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St Pat’s Irish Soda Bread

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Perfected and approved by real Irish persons, for your pleasure, this Irish Soda Bread is amazingly easy to make.

As you may know, St Patrick’s Day is my favorite holiday. In fact, I love all things Celtic – even my wedding ring has emeralds and Celtic knots on it – and I’ve always had a thing for Ireland and the Irish people. I can literally take on a light brogue just thinking about it. (In fact, as I write this, I’m falling into it).

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My affinity for Ireland dates back to before I can remember, so it should be no surprise that every St. Pat’s Day is a real celebration at our house. On that day each year, I serve up a feast of “Once-a-Year” mashed potatoes (so called because they are so rich and creamy you should only eat them once a year), slow-cooked corned beef, corn, cabbage, and soda bread; and then I usually throw in something new year to year to mix things up. 

However, before even one fork full passes, I deliver my compulsory pre-St Patrick’s Day dinner monologue (which I will share with you one of these years) about the fascinating and inspiring life of the real man who become St Patrick.  It takes all of about three minutes, and my kids sigh and groan and laugh through it every year. At this point, they can repeat it almost verbatim. I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

(If you’d like to learn more about the real Saint Patrick, I highly recommend that you read “How the Irish Saved Civilization,” by Thomas Cahill.)

Today I am sharing with you one of my most prized St. Pat’s recipes: my Irish Soda Bread. Perfected and approved by real Irish persons, for your pleasure, this Soda Bread is amazingly easy to make.

 (If you are interested learning more about St Patrick, I highly recommend reading How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.)

St Pat’s Irish Soda Bread

Prep Time30 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Total Time1 hr 10 mins
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Servings: 12 servings
Author: RenĂ©e ♄ The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • Âœ cup white sugar Use 1/3 cup if you like your Soda Bread a little less sweet.
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 Âœ cups raisins I use a mix of golden and craisions. Just use your favorite raisin.
  • 2 teaspoons caraway seeds Optional. (Not really.)
  • 1ÂŒ cups buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup melted butter melted (I use salted butter.)
  • 2 eggs lightly beaten

Brush on Top

  • 2 Tablespoons butter melted
  • 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cast iron skillet or 9-inch round baking pan.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins and caraway seeds.
  • In a medium bowl, buttermilk and sour cream and melted butter. Blend in eggs.
  • Fold the flour mixture into the liquid mixture, mixing just until well combined. Knead dough in bowl about 10 to 15 strokes. Dough will be very sticky. Mound the dough in the prepared skillet or pan using a spatula or wooden spoon. (Don’t use a mixture for this – it will bake up too heavy.)
  • In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbls. melted butter with 2 Tbls. buttermilk; brush the mounded dough/loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp, wet knife to cut an ‘X’ into the top of the loaf.
  • Allow dough to rest in the pan for about 20 minutes before putting into oven. (This step is optional, but the “rest” time will give you a lighter loaf in the end.)
  • Bake preheated oven for 60 to 75 minutes. You can brush the loaf with the buttermilk/butter mixture once or twice during baking if you wish. Test loaf for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center – it should come out clean.
  • Let cool and turn bread onto a wire rack.
Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

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Perfected and approved by real Irish persons, for your pleasure, this Irish Soda Bread is amazingly easy to make. | The Good Hearted Woman

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

More for St. Patrick’s Day from GHW

St Patrick's Day Emerald Sunrise | The Good Hearted Woman

Emerald Sunrise {Includes Kid-friendly Option}

Irish Blessing {St Patrick’s Day Art Print}

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This watercolor Irish Blessing print is my St. Patrick’s Day gift to you. (Especially you, Fred.)

Hand-painted Celtic Knot Irish Blessing Art Print | The Good Hearted Woman #StPatricksDay

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When Mr B and I went to school together back at old Madison High, one of the best parts of our day was our concert choir class. (Mr B is a gifted baritone, and I a passable soprano.)  Our choir director, Fred Hammack, was a talented, warm, demanding, wonderful man who taught us far more than music, and wove his way into our hearts so deeply that even now – decades later – we remember him with abiding admiration, gratitude, and affection.

Ultimately, it is because of Mr. Hammack that I created this Irish Blessing piece. It was his practice to end every concert with a four-part choral version of An Irish Blessing. It’s not surprising then, that after four years of practice and performance, lyrics and music found a permanent place entwined in our musical memory.

♫ â™Ș May the road rise up to meet you
 May the wind be always at your back
May the sun fall warm upon your face ~ The rain fall soft upon your fields
… And may God hold you in the palm of His hand. â™Ș♫

Whenever those lines roll their way through my mind, I remember our choir and the people with whom we sang with great fondness. Music saved Mr B and I in high school (and so many others), so to us, this blessing symbolizes much more that a simply holiday in March.

Hand-painted Celtic Knot Irish Blessing Art Print | The Good Hearted Woman #StPatricksDayIf you would like a copy of this Irish Blessing print for yourself – to hang on the wall or send to a friend – click the thumbnail on the left for a printable PDF. This Celtic Knot Irish Blessing art print is available free to you in PDF form for a limited time.

NOTE: This probably could go without saying, but there’s always that one guy, so… © Harmony Cat 2020. You may print it for your own use, but you may not alter it in any way, repurpose it, or sell it in any form. You may use this image online; however, if you do so, you must use proper attribution and link directly back to this post.

If you feel inspired to do some drawing yourself, I used this tutorial from Dragon Art to sketch the Celtic-knot shamrock.

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of The Good Hearted Woman. đŸŒ» Be sure to PIN this post!

Hand-painted Celtic Knot Irish Blessing Art Print | The Good Hearted Woman #StPatricksDay
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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

St Patrick's Day on GHW

St Pat's Irish Soda Bread

Irish Blessing {St Patrick's Day Art Print}

Emerald Sunrise {Cocktail}

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Forget the green beer! Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style with this beautiful spin on a Tequila Sunrise.

Emerald Sunrise {Cocktail} Forget the green beer! Celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style with this beautiful spin on a Tequila Sunrise. | The Good Hearted Woman
An original cocktail from Mr B
One day last spring, I was mixing myself up a Tequila Sunrise and decided to use Blue Curaçao in place of the traditional grenadine, which turned the whole drink a bright green. (Curaçao is a liqueur flavored with the dried peel of the laraha citrus fruit, similar in flavor to an orange, and is grown on the island of Curaçao, hence the name.)

Anyway, all this happened just after St Patrick’s Day, which thanks to my wife is a very big deal around our house, and when I saw that tall glass of green, I had a flash of inspiration!  I garnished it with a mandarin slice, and there I had the Irish flag! RenĂ©e even added a shamrock to make it official.

So here it is: my contribution to what my lovely wife calls the “perpetuation of negative cultural stereotypes” – and what I like to call my Emerald Sunrise. Enjoy!

St Patrick's Day Emerald Sunrise | The Good Hearted Woman

Emerald Sunrise {Cocktail}

Prep Time5 mins
Total Time5 mins
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course: Beverage
Author: Mr. B

Ingredients

For each drink:

  • 1 1/5 ounces 1800 Tequila
  • 1 1/2 ounces Blue Curaçao
  • 4-6 ounces Orange Juice

Instructions

  • Fill an 8-10 ounce glass half full of ice. Add Blue Curaçao and tequila and mix. Stir in orange juice. Garnish with a mandarin orange slice and a shamrock. (A mint leaf or sorrel will work fine too.)
Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

Tip:
No Alcohol for you? Mix up a kid-friendly St Pat’s Day beverage by combining three parts orange juice with one part lemon-lime soda, and then stir in a few drops of blue food coloring.

St Patrick's Day Emerald Sunrise | The Good Hearted WomanA Few Thoughts from Mrs B
First things first. YES! Shamrocks are edible, and they make a lovely garnish. (I just felt like we needed to get that out of the way.) So are false shamrocks, better known as sorrel.

Shamrocks have three leaves (not four) and were used by St Patrick to teach the concept of the Holy Trinity to the Irish people. Like the Irish people themselves, shamrocks are one of those plants that survive under very difficult circumstances, which is why there is a pot of them (shamrocks, not Irish people) thriving on my kitchen windowsill year-round.

Next, if you are going to perpetuate this St Patrick’s Day green beverage tradition, I do think Mr B’s Emerald Sunrise is a far better choice than green beer.  Plus, I love the name. (If you know us, you’ll know that it’s a little nod to our birthstone too!)

Emerald Sunrise {Cocktail} Forget the green beer! Celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style with this beautiful spin on a Tequila Sunrise. | The Good Hearted Woman

Finally, if you are at all interested in an actual Irish person’s perspective on US traditions visa-vie St. Patrick’s Day, I encourage you to check out this post – Surviving St. Patrick’s Day in America [Sass & Shamrocks]. Highlights include meeting Patrick’s forgotten sister Patty, and learning the proper response to the traditional Irish greeting, “CiĂșnas bothar cailĂ­n bainne!” Check it out!

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THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter of The Good Hearted Woman. ❀ Be sure to PIN and PRINT this recipe!

Emerald Sunrise {Cocktail} Forget the green beer! Celebrate St. Patrick's Day in style with this beautiful spin on a Tequila Sunrise. | The Good Hearted Woman

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I’m sharing this recipe on the Weekend Potluck Recipe Linkup. Check it out for more great recipes!

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