A few years ago at St. Patrick's Day, I happened upon a display of Irish soda bread at our local grocery store. Long story short: I became obsessed. I've bought it every St. Patrick's Day since, even after my Ancestry DNA confirmed I'm no longer Irish as I once thought I was!
Flash forward to this year. Our grocery store is out of business so I decided to take matters into my own hands and try making a loaf of Irish soda bread myself. To my great surprise, it turned out well!
There's no yeast in this bread and only a bit of kneading so it goes together quickly.
Our grocery store used to put green sprinkles on their bread so we tried it, too. We should have skipped the sprinkles or gone all-in with them as they don't show too much in the end!
So the bread looked like this just out of the oven -- a bit shaggy but it's close to how it should look. I probably should have shaped it a bit better as it splayed out quite a lot in the center.
But inside, it was nothing but Irish goodness!
Now here is where the story takes a turn (cue dramatic music):
I froze some of the bread and left half of it out on the counter.
Later, I was in the living room when I heard a peculiar THUD. It was Lily jumping up onto the counter. She sauntered across the sink and made her way directly, without hesitation, to the Irish soda bread! I could not believe my eyes as she OPENED HER MOUTH WIDE and started to bite down on the plastic wrap!
I stood there long enough to catch a picture but caught her before she punctured the plastic. I gently lifted her down to the floor. Of course, I gave her a tiny sample which she happily gobbled down with no butter added! It's clear that this wee bandit is Irish, too!
Happy Feline Friday AND St. Patrick's Day
from our Wee Irish Soda Bread Bandit!
