Dear Jane BOW, Orange Marmalade, Lemoncello and Iris

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Dear Jane BOW, Orange Marmalade, Lemoncello and Iris

H-4 Abbey's Eyes

It is the first week of March and my white California native iris are blooming; they always bloom on March 6. This year it was March 9. Yesterday we bought 5 fruit trees and will plant them when we return from Allyson's. We canned our home-brewed lemoncello on Tuesday. Yesterday we started orange/lemon marmalade and will cook it and can it today. Here is my Dear Jane block of the week. The other exciting garden news is my yellow orchid is blooming. I will havee to repot the iris in April and adjust the amount of light they get by moving them around in the garden. The orchid in the house we got three weeks ago is still blooming.

No comments:

Post a Comment

March Recipe - Irish Soda Bread

1 c old fashioned oatmeal (2 c)
½ c buttermilk ( 1 c)
1 c flour (2 c)
1T baking powder (1 T)
½ t baking soda (1 t)
1/4 t salt (½ t)
2 T sugar (4 T)
2 T butter, cold (4 T)
1 egg (1 egg)
1/3 to ½ c buttermilk (⅔ c)
½ c currants (1 c)
The whole recipe makes two 8-inch round loaves. The amount in the parenthesis is for a whole recipe. I now make just half the recipe. The egg and the baking powder remain the same for half or whole recipe.
Heat oven to 375 F; butter an 8 inch cake pan. Combine the oatmeal with ½ c buttermilk; let sit for 2 hours or overnight. In a bowl, place the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar; cut in the butter with a pastry blender until crumbly. Beat egg slightly; add ⅓ c buttermilk; then add the milk-egg mixture and the oatmeal-milk mixture to the flour; stir with a large fork until blended; add the currants; add more buttermilk if necessary. Turn on board, knead lightly, shape into a round and press dough down into the cake pan. With a sharp knife, cut a shamrock into top of the loaf; sprinkle with green sugar. Bake for 25-20 minutes until lightly brown; don’t over bake as it gets dry very easily.
My husband Alan was served the bread when he was a student at Stanford. He was taking Russian from a Dutch professor. She served the soda bread during a final exam she held at her home. After we were married, Alan told me the story and asked me if I could make it. I got the recipe from Sunset Magazine. I started making soda bread according to my notes in March 1972. When we were working and Allyson was in school, I used to make eight loaves to share.

By the Pond - Arlene's Quilting, Writing and Photography Journeys

Our Pond and My Quilt

Sunday, March 13, 2011