puttering + fresh bread.

this morning was a morning for puttering.

this morning was a morning for puttering and staying in pajamas till lunch.

this morning was a morning for puttering, staying in pajamas till lunch and fresh baked bread.

irish soda bread to be exact. i love irish soda bread.

growing up this bread would make it's grand entrance into the house in a butter soaked brown paper bag, having just been bought from the savary island pie co., and it would sliced up right away - no real care that dinner was most likely a hour away - each sliced would be smeared with a thin layer of butter, popped in the microwave for about 10 seconds then stopping only for a brief moment to breath it in before the first bite. this would continue till every member of the family had their turn and the rotation would begin again until the loaf was all but gone. here is where the major business of summer was conducted - what we did that day, what are plans are for that night, who is not speaking to whom and who is dating whom now (the select gossip two teenage girls were ready to spill) - this is where we were at ease.

this morning i felt was the perfect day for such a loaf. no raising, no waiting other than the baking time. patiently waiting for that moment when we can bite in to the dense piece. we had the morning to ourselves, cleaning the house as company is coming but not so imminent that their is a panic. i can clean at my pace and for me that is enjoyable. we had a lazy morning and stopped everything to savour a slice of warm bread - aydan declaring it is her favorite and asking for another piece! while i was eating it i could already see a version studded with cranberries and walnuts & a pot of cranberry sauce on stand-by, a lemon blueberry variety and as well a cinnamon raisin loaf. but for right now we are going to enjoy the original, and fingers crossed for traditions, that i will be able to share this in years to come with my kids as my mom did with us girls.

this morning i was relaxed, eating fresh bread and enjoying my kids.

this morning i felt vacation.
this afternoon we are going to the outdoor public pool. summer.

irish soda bread

adapted from ina garten.
this recipe is from ina garten and although different from my childhood version it fits the bill just the same and the best part? everyone loved it! even with orange zest in it!!

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 tablespoons of cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 3/4 cups cold buttermilk, shaken
1 large egg - beaten
zest of one large orange

+pre-heat your oven to 375 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
+combine flour, sugar, soda and salt in the mixer bowl.
+add the butter to the mixer and mix until the butter is the size of peas.
+beat together the milk, egg and zest in a glass measuring cup. with the mixer on low, very slowly add the wet mix to the dry. mix until it just comes together. mix will be very wet.
+dump it on to a well floured surface and knead bread about 10 to 15 times and then shape in to a miche ball. score the top with a large X using a serated knife. place loaf onto prepared sheet and pop in the oven for about 45 to 55 minutes.

baking: the best banana bread.

My friend over @ The Organic Experience posted about her banana bread so I thought I would follow her lead and post about mine. Big step in my world.

I used to be so protective over my recipe's - almost like they defined me and because I had created my business out of them - but that is no more!! I want to share them with everyone so we can all experience the deliciousness!!

I feel like I have to explain this recipe. This was one of my very first experiments, I was very much by the book when it came to baking. I had really just taken my first few steps into my love of scratch baking when we had a bombshell dropped into our laps - high cholesterol. And to top it off medication was not an option. So we had to go the old-fashioned way - Diet and Exercise.

We started swapping this for that and chucking things altogether - brown rice for white, brown pasta for white pasta, less processed more fresh, baked boneless skinless chicken breast in for lunch meat and.....whole wheat flour for white flour. No more sour cream. Lots more ground flax seed (ground is the only was to get the benefits of the Omega 3).

Now whole wheat flour does not work for everything 100% for 100% but for this it works beautifully!

For this recipe I swapped the flour out for whole wheat and the white sugar out for organic cane sugar. You can swap them back if you like! I also banished the chocolate chips. The loaf is sweet enough with out them! You can adjust the sugar levels as well - lowering to 3/4 cups does not change height to much, 2/3 cups does give you a shorter loaf but still quite tasty. You can also add 1/4 cup of ground flax seed into the dry ingredients.

the best banana bread

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup organic cane sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt (I like to use Kosher salt to get that occasional salt crunch but the husband complains about it to much so I do occasionally use table salt)

2 eggs, room temp & lightly beaten

3 medium to large bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a loaf pan (I brush with oil).

In a large bowl combine eggs, oil and bananas and beat together.

In another bowl whisk together dry ingredients and add to wet. Beat together until just combined.

Pour into loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Let cool on wire rack for 20 mins then pop out of pan and let cool completely. You can serve slightly warm or wait if you can till cooled down! 

Freezes beautifully.