Irish Soda Bread

Rose's Irish Soda Bread was our recipe for October and it was a lovely adaptation of the well-known classic!

Patty made her bread into delicious looking rolls. Packed with well-soused raisins left over from a previous recipe, she let them swim in a pool of bourbon until they were good and passed out. Sounds good to me!

Laura had some trepidation about trying soda bread but she decided to trust Rose. It was well worth it and she is a devoted convert to Rose's adaption.

Jeniffer recently lost her father and found baking to be at least a temporary solace, even if the lovely memories of food and family get a few tears in the batter. Rose's Bread Bakers are always ready to share some tea and a slice of toast if you need it, Jeniffer! This month's bread is timely since her step-son is in Ireland. She shared that across the pond, it's simply known as brown bread. Neat!

Ellia was glad to get back into baking this month after her father's passing as well. This was a nice, easy way to get up in the bready saddle again. She and her daughters could hardly wait for their loaf to cool before gobbling it up. A dangerous and delicious treat!

Vicki found this recipe incredibly easy to make, and incredibly scrumptious. Her raisins soaked in a bath of whisky, with extra for the whipped whisky butter. Fabulous right out of the oven, she says this will definitely be something to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

Joyce said this recipe is a keeper. She was definitely a fan of the whisky butter spread on a warm piece of bread as a lovely treat on its own.

Sheryl treated us to a bit of background on the surprisingly devoted following of soda breads! While Rose's version might not be traditional, she still found it delicious and would make this one again anytime.

Thank you to everyone who baked this month! November will see us making ginger scones :)

Rose's Basic Hearth Bread

First off, a very heartfelt thank you to all the Bread Bakers, for their patience and understanding as we grieved for the death of my dad and Vicki's husband. I will get the Round Ups back on track.

Also, the blog site's photo upload is down so as soon as it's working again I will update with some beautiful photos of our bread.

September saw us making Rose's basic hearth bread. But there is nothing basic about it! It is a simple, homey bread that is incredibly versatile and can be enhanced with savories or sweet depending on what you want the end result to be. This is the bread I think we all envision when embarking on a bread baking journey.

Vicki found this bread to be relaxing to make - it was a recipe that helped evoke lovely childhood memories and help her conquer the mystery of bread dough.

Jeniffer channeled some fabulous creativity in making her loaves. They look like something straight out of Gourmet Magazine. And, according to her, taste just as good.

Laura made her loaf in free-form version and it looks heavenly to eat. She and her husband divvied up the spoils, smeared with lots of butter.

Patty made two lovely loaves of the hearth bread, one a free-form and the other in a loaf pan. Both tasted wonderful and didn't have any problems even with a hundred degree California day.

Joyce's bread came out spectacular, especially with the homemade garlic-and-chive butter used to make a delicious addition to some mushroom soup. Grab the recipe she gives for that butter!

Sheryl demonstrated what a La Cloche clay bread baker can do for your bread - namely, making an amazing crust. She also includes an experiment with KA artisan flour and a recipe for skipjack tuna salad!

Billie said she will never buy store-bought bread again. This recipe was too yummy and would be great with anything!