Scattered Thoughts . . .

T he Irish Soda Bread is now out of the oven and being eaten...  and it is very good, as always! This really is easy to make but it gets a bit frustrating when mixing of the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.  The dough gets so sticky and thick that it is difficult to mix and handle.  It sticks to everything!  You mix it with a big wooden spoon and you end up with more on the spoon than in the bowl.  If you knead it with your hands, you quickly have nothing left to knead because the dough is completely sticking to and covering your hands.  You end up spending a lot of time effort getting the dough from your spoon, your hands and the bowl into the springform pan.   It is good though! I have already put the corned beef in the oven and started prepping dinner.   This time I added dried cranberries as well as the usual golden raisins.  We'll see how we like it with the cranberries added.  I usually soak the golden raisins in bourbon or rum but we don't have any in the house

I was intending to make some homemade home fries, bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast followed by some fried apples but I was too hungry to make such a large meal.  I needed to eat as soon as possible so I changed my breakfast plan to having French toast, berries, and bacon.  It was easier to make, would require less energy, require less energy, and it turned out to be delicious! This breakfast really has nothing to do with Ireland but it was a good breakfast that was easy to make.  The food of Ireland will come later today. After lunch, I'll be baking some homemade Irish Soda Bread.  That is something both Sheila and I really like.  My Irish Soda Bread is softer than most and definitely more moist that typical store-bought Irish Soda Bread.  I also make some sweet butter to go with it.  It is really like a dessert dish.  I sort of has a cake-like texture to it but it is crusty like a bread.   After the bread goes in the oven, I'll clean up the kitchen and start prepping for c