Hi there. I should start this post by acknowledging things have been very quiet here since late February. Between having limited internet access at my apartment for the past three weeks due to shoddy Road Runner service, long days at work, and a minor boyfriend medical emergency, I haven’t been cooking or posting much. I have been documenting my existence with daily photos and uploading them when I can. I’ve also been eating a lot of sandwiches, my favorite of which has been this week’s melted brie, apple, and blackberry jam on toasted whole wheat.

But let’s get down to the business at hand. It’s St. Patrick’s Day. You may be reading this through Guinness goggles; perhaps you have a bottle of Jameson nearby. You may not be drinking and just wearing a wool sweater, or still giggling to yourself about the suckers you saw wearing wool sweaters on a day that hit sixty degrees.

I have no sweater or booze. Instead, I have a large chunk of crispy, sugar-topped Irish soda bread. This is the first soda bread I’ve made that couldn’t double as a doorstop or weight training tool and I owe it to this recipe from Epicurious. It’s not be the most traditional recipe, but it was a hit this morning at work, and I’ve consumed half of a second loaf by myself. Its scone-like consistency and flavor may make it a staple in my breakfast bread rotation. The only issue is tracking down buttermilk and having plenty of raisins on hand.

Even though the holiday is almost over, give the recipe a shot and enjoy a slice on Sunday morning with a cup of tea.

There are a number of recipes written on random stationary in my grandmother’s collection. This is on hotel stationary, while others come from factories, a research facility of some sort, and (what I believe to be) my aunt’s algebra homework.

According to my mother, this recipe for honey whole wheat bread was one of her favorites. After making it today, I can see why. The crust is crunchy, the interior is soft, and there is the tiniest hint of honey. My baking process wasn’t error free, however.

More photos and the full recipe after the jump.

Grandma Mangan’s Honey Whole Wheat Bread
In a mixing bowl:
-3 cups w. wheat flour
-2 pkg. yeast
-1 tbsp. salt

Heat to luke warm:
-1 1/2 c. water
-1 1/2 c. milk
-1/2 c. honey
-2 tbsp. cooking oil
Add to dry ingredients. Mix well.
Add 1 c. w. wheat flour.
Then add 3-4 c. white flour to make stiff dough.

Turn out and knead 5 mins.
Rise 45-60 mins.
Shape it into loaves. Rise 30-45 mins.
Bake at 375º for 40-45 mins.
Brush with butter.

This recipe makes a lot of dough. If I didn’t botch two loaves by placing them in loaf pans, rather than letting them be freeform on a baking sheet, it would have made 6 small loaves or 3 large loaves. To give you an idea of how unprepared I was, here’s a time lapse of the bread rising in the largest bowl we have in our kitchen:

Once the dough reached this mushroom cloud status about 45 minutes in, I decided it was time to shape it into loaves. I used my hands and a sharp knife to grab clumps of dough and slice them away. I placed four on a lightly greased cookie sheet and two in loaf pans as a test (which failed, as I mentioned earlier. Too crunchy).

As the loaves were rising a second time, I ran to the nail salon near my apartment for a relaxing $8 manicure. It was a crazy weekend and I felt like some budget-conscious pampering was in order. Grandma would have been proud. Not bad for $8, right?

I returned home, pre-heated the oven, and put the loaves in to bake. Overall, I think they turned out well and will be perfect for breakfast and a few sandwiches throughout the week. I also turned the botched loaves into croutons, at Clare’s suggestion.

The kitchen table in my apartment offers a rotating assortment of baked goods in tupperware containers and ziploc bags. Last week, Erin made pumpkin cookies and banana nut muffins. Then, Clare made pumpkin bread and muffins, followed a few days later by Magnolia cupcakes (mini and full size). Erin made corn muffins yesterday, then I made zucchini bread. Erin made zucchini cookies, a batch of brownies, and more muffins this afternoon, and finally, while not baking-related, Jess made a whole bunch of edamame tonight. There’s nothing better than getting home from work to a fresh plate of cookies, or waking up in the morning to a plate of muffins waiting for breakfast.

My zucchini bread recipe came from Simply Recipes, my new trusted source for baked goods. They’re behind the brownies and banana bread that I have shared with many friends and they’re always a hit.

I’ve mentioned my Sunday ritual before on this blog. I wake up early, plan the menu for the week, make a shopping list, and then head to the store once Ramsey wakes up for anything I wasn’t able to grab at the farmers’ market. As budgets become tighter, I’ve also added a quick fridge and cupboard inventory to the the routine, rummaging through the deepest recesses of food storage areas to make sure I know exactly what I still have and what needs to be replenished. This was inspired by what was becoming a wasteful practice of cleaning out the fridge after returning from the store to find all sorts of items that could have been used for dishes the previous week, but I had forgotten they were there.

During my inventory this past Sunday, I found a large chunk of ginger left over from dumpling adventure last week, as well as ample sugar, flour, oil, and spices. I decided to make a Ginger Pear Quick Bread that would only require the purchase of two pears, and would also serve as breakfast for much of the week.

Ginger Pear Quick Bread
Makes 1 loaf in a 5″ x 9″ x 3″ pan
-1 cup grated peeled pear
-1/2 cup pear in 1/2″ cubes
-1 1/4 tbs. minced ginger
-1/3 cup granulated sugar
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-2 eggs
-1/4 cup vegetable oil
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1/2 tsp. ground cloves
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. baking soda
-Dash of salt

1) Preheat oven to 350º

2) Mix grated pear, sugars, eggs, oil, and spices in a large bowl.

3) Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl and add to the pear mixture in three equal parts, stirring thoroughly between each addition.

4) Fold in the cubed pear once dry ingredients are fully mixed into the batter.

5) Pour into a lightly oiled loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Quick breads are what simple breakfast dreams are made of for me. Defined by their use of chemical levening agents like baking powder or soda in place of yeast, quick breads can be thrown together in a matter of minutes and baked for about an hour, resulting in a dense, cake-like treat. They’re typically made up of just liquid, butter, egg, sugar, flour, and a leavening agent, so chances are good you have all of the ingredients for some sort of quick bread in your kitchen right now.

When my boyfriend Ramsey mentioned his love of banana bread a few weeks ago, I realized I had never actually made what may be the quintessential quick bread. I’d made pumpkin in the fall, but had yet to attempt banana. Thus, I went on a hunt for a classic banana bread recipe that would bring back memories of childhood breakfasts.

I first tried Mark Bittman’s recipe from How to Cook Everything, and while good, it wasn’t quite as moist as I wanted. I’ll try it again soon and modifying a few things, but in the meantime, I found what may be the easiest, fool-proof recipe on Simply Recipes. I’ve made it twice since finding it over the weekend and it doesn’t even require a mixer! Dishes are also easy, with just a loaf pan, bowl, fork, and spoon left to clean when all is said and done.

After making the pumpkin muffins in my last post, I was left with about six cups of roasted pumpkin puree in a tupperware container in the fridge. I wasn’t sure what to do, but after the dozen muffins I made Sunday morning were almost gone by Monday morning, I decided to make two loaves of pumpkin bread with a modified version of the muffin recipe. The results were pretty good, evidenced by the fact one loaf is almost gone, while the other has been safely stored in the freezer. There were still four cups of pumpkin puree left, but those were also placed in the freezer as well to wait for a mid-winter pumpkin craving. 

Spiced Pumpkin Bread with Golden Raisins
Makes 2 loaves in standard loaf pans (anywhere around 9x5x3)
-2 cups pumpkin puree
-3/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 cup brown sugar
-3 eggs
-1/2 cup vegetable oil
-2 tsp. cinnamon
-1 tsp. ground ginger
-1 tsp. nutmeg
-1 tsp. ground cloves
-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 tsp. baking powder
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2 cups golden raisins

1) Preheat oven to 350º

2) Mix pumpkin, sugars, eggs, oil, and spices in a large bowl.

3) Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl and add to the pumpkin mixture in three equal parts, stirring thoroughly between each addition.

4) Fold in raisins once dry ingredients are mixed into the batter.

5) Grease two loaf pans and divide batter between them. Top each loaf with a sprinkling of cinnamon and sugar (Mo Note: I forgot to add the sugar and cinnamon when I first placed my loaves in the oven, so the picture above is a bit misleading. If added before baking and not halfway through, the sugar should melt and crystalize properly). Bake them for one hour, or until a wooden stick comes out clean.