Mom's Easter Bread

The Irish Soda Bread was the best-ever! (Well, I admit that I messed up the first batch and it ended up all over the oven and the floor as I was cleaning it up.) The second batch was perfect! LOL

As promised, here's my Mom's Easter Bread recipe. This old recipe card was written by me when I was in 7th grade.... or so. It's somewhat time-consuming, but you gotta love it! I'm dieting (and ate too much Soda Bread) so I'm not making this recipe this year. I'm sure my sister and Mom will be though!

EASTER BREAD

Ingredients:
12 cups flour, 9 eggs; 1 1/4 cups water, 1 1/4 cups shortening, 2 cups raisins, 1 1/4 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons anise seed, 1 package dry yeast, 1/2 teaspoon anise flavoring

Soak yeast in 1/4 warm water. Beat 1 egg and add 1/4 cup water. Mix yeast water, egg/water mixture, and another 1/4 cup water. Add 1 cup of the flour to make a spongy batter. Mix until smooth. Let rise 2 hours or until triple in size.
Beat the remaining 8 eggs together, add the sugar, raisins, the anise seed, and the flavoring and set aside.
Put the remaining flour in a LARGE bowl. Make a well in the center. Add the shortening, the egg mixture, the yeast/sponge mixture and 1/2 cup water. Mix and work dough. Knead well. Place in a large, greased bowl and let rise until double. Punch down dough and let rise again. (This rising process may take awhile. Keep in a warm place, but not too hot, and be patient.) Form loaves. I don't remember how many loaves I get out of this size batch. Usually 4 - 6 medium-size loaves - depending on the size. Let rise, covered. Bake when ready at 350 degrees F - until done. Some people test by a thumping sound. I can just tell when they're done. They're dark/golden brown. Brush hot loaves with butter if desired.

Irish Soda Bread

Updated to add this soda bread recipe since the original one I linked to wasn't working anymore. This is the recipe I make every year from The Charmed Kitchen.

I wanted to share my favorite Irish Soda Bread recipe. Well, it's not MY recipe, but it's the recipe I make every year.

The Charmed Kitchen - Irish Soda Bread

Stay tuned for my Mom's Easter Bread recipe - coming soon! (Click here for Easter Bread recipe.)

Sweets for Easter

Here are some sweet Easter finds from my good friends at Etsy and ClevelandHandmade....

Faux chocolate? Absolutely!
These bunnies would make a perfect basket treat.
Visit LazyMamaDesigns at Etsy.com.


Here's an egg pillow, with a bunny friend too. So pretty!
Visit FloradoraInc at Etsy.com.


These peep cards are so perfectly cheery. Many colors and styles to choose from
Visit Handmade at Etsy.com.

Snow Days

With a fresh 10 - 12" of snow over the last few days, it's been GREAT skiing weather here. The kids have come a long way this year. I was remembering skiing out back by myself when they were too little, or too young to even want to come along. I would take the walkie-talkies and a little voice would crackle through saying "Mom, can I have a snack?" or "Mom, I can see you from my bedroom window!" Last night we all skied and had a blast. Tonight I'm blogging and making pizza, but the kids waited for Dad to get home and off they went! So, I'm hoping to get boots that don't kill my feet and maybe next year we can go ski some real trails.

Powerpuff Madness

What's gotten into me? I don't know. Just a crazy kick I guess.
As promised, here's the next hat in my Powerpuff Tribute...... Bubbles' Cloche!

Clan Buchanan

Have you ever started a project and wished you hadn't? That's exactly how I feel whenever I attempt to finish this afghan that I started. Afghans are time-consuming, indeed. This one, however, has taken a lot longer than I ever would have expected.

Inspired by the book "The Tartan Rug," by Jenny King, I decided to attempt a full-size afghan in the clan Buchanan tartan pattern. It is intended to be a gift for my aunt and uncle, who take pride in their clan heritage. The instructions are written in British/Australian crochet terminology, with English/US translation. It was intended to be a small lapghan, crocheted in thread. I decided it wouldn't be that much more work to use worsted weight acrylic for a larger afghan.

The base worked up fairly quickly and I thought I was half done. Little did I know that chaining the long pieces and weaving them across to make the plaid pattern was way more than "half the battle." I work on it a little at a time and end up setting it aside. I thought if I got it out and posted my progress on my blog, maybe I would find the inspiration to finish it someday soon. As you can see, I've only just begun the weaving process.


Shhh....who said fringe?

Snowed-in

snow stream, originally uploaded by lazytcrochet.

Here are some photographs I took while walking behind my parents' house. There wasn't quite enough snow to ski the trails, but it was a gorgeous scene. The woods are smaller now with some visible buildings in the distance. You can see Ramsdale's Rocks through the recently thinned trees. The pond I skated on when I was a kid. It was the perfect size at the time. I skated for hours, dreaming of Dorothy Hamill. There are markings along the trail, I assume from local cross-country teams. It was odd to find this face amongst the quiet beauty of the woods that day. It is no wonder that I love snow. Peace - It does a body good.