Irish Soda Bread And Other Hankerings

...Continued from yesterday:

     On Monday morning, after the family walk to school, and after which our daughter and son-in-law had taken off for work,

...I confessed to Tom that I had a hankering to walk or drive down to Manhattan Beach for breakfast at a little beach eatery called The Local Yolk.

    We opted to drive,

...deciding that we'd do our walking through the town and along the pier after breakfast.

      The Local Yolk,

...where I had my usual.

   After breakfast we drove to downtown Manhattan Beach,

...from where we walked down to the pier,

...to enjoy the views.

     Then we returned home, stopping along the way at Ralph's,

...as one of my grand daughters had asked me if I could buy some celery, peanut butter, and raisins.
      I knew she was asking me to buy the fixings to make one of my specialties, Ants on a Log.

...which were waiting for her when she arrived home from school.

     The next  day, Tuesday, I decided around lunch time that I had hankering to drive to the next beach town over, Hermosa Beach,

...to a pizza place there called Paisanos,

...where they serve up a heavenly slice.

      The following morning during breakfast my grand daughter asked me if we could make my Coke bread after school.
       "My Coke bread?" asked I.
       "What you made when you came to help Mommy after I was born," said she.
        "She means your Irish Soda Bread," said my daughter, who explained that she had been telling her daughters how I made Irish Soda Bread, one of her favorites, for her after she had her babies.
        So, as my grand daughter was having a hankering to bake and try my Irish Soda Bread, after school we made a batch. Here's the recipe:

                                                 Irish Soda Bread

     4 cups flour
     1 teaspoon baking soda
     2 Tablespoons sugar
     4 Tablespoons butter
     1 cup raisins
     1 egg
     1 1/3 cups butter milk (Or add 1 Tablespoon vinegar to regular milk and let stand for 5 minutes, which is what I do).
      More butter
      More sugar

     Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
      Sift together the dry ingredients.

     Add the 4 Tablespoons of butter and mix with hands or a pastry blender until the size of small peas. Stir in the raisins. Beat the egg lightly and mix with part of the butter milk. Add to the dry ingredients. Add more butter milk as needed. (I always need all the butter milk).

    The dough should be  a bit sticky but solid.

     Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead swiftly and lightly for a few seconds.

    Place the smooth side on a lightly floured baking sheet. Make a round loaf. Cut a deep cross on top, cutting almost all the way through.

    Bake for 35 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on top.
    (While waiting for the loaf to cook you could do your homework,

...maybe having to help a grown-up figure it out).

     When the bread is done, making a hollow sound when tapped,

...take a stick of butter and rub it over the hot bread.

   Then sprinkle a heavy layer of sugar over the butter.

    Let cool for a few minutes, then slice and spread the slices with butter.

    Sometimes something just really hits the spot.