Happy St. Patrick's Day

If you have ever been to the British Isles you have came to love these buttery little cookies. They may not be specifically Irish but they will take you away with their European flare!

 The ones pictured have a little nontraditional green sugar sprinkles for the Irish/St. Patrick's Day, "wearing of the green". Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Scotch Shortbread

from: Betty Crocker's Cookbook

Heat oven to 350 degrees. 

3/4 c. margarine or butter, softened

1/4 c. sugar

2 c. flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour and mix until the dough begins to form a ball. (It takes a few minutes.) If dough is crumbly, mix in 1 to 2 tablespoons of additional butter or margarine, softened.)

Roll dough out to about 1/2 inch thick on lightly floured cloth-covered board. Cut into small shapes with cookie cutters. Or you can cut them into squares or rectangles with a pizza cutter, and prick with a fork like they do in the British Isles. Place about 1/2 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until edges begin to slightly turn golden brown, about 15-20 min. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. 

Makes: about 2 dozen, 1- 1 1/2 inch cookies

Irish Soda Bread

by Christi Jardine - Stake Provident Living Leader

Try something new and make some Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day! My daughter started Irish Dancing about 4 years ago and soon after that I discovered I had a pioneer grandmother from Ireland who is buried in the Salt Lake Cemetery. It has given us renewed interest in Family History and our Irish heritage.

Even if you do not have Irish Ancestry, it is fun to learn about another part of the world and the great people who live there! So try making some Irish Soda Bread and you too can be touched with a bit o' the "luck of the Irish"! 

White Soda Bread

from: www.sodabread.info/sodabreadrecipes.htm

adapted by Christi

4 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 3/4 cup (14 oz.) buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a round cake pan. Or a small (12") dutch oven works great! (If you have light weight aluminum cake pans turn down the oven to 400 degrees).

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients and mix well to distribute soda and salt evenly through flour. Add the buttermilk to from a sticky dough. Place on a lightly floured surface and shape into round flat loaf. Place in cake pan or dutch oven and cut a cross in the top about 1/4" deep.

Cover the cake pan with another round cake pan (or put lid on dutch oven) and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake until golden brown. (This will take an additional 5-15 min. Depending on your oven.)

When the bread is done tap the bottom of the bread and it will sound hollow.  Cover the bread with a tea towel and lightly sprinkle or spray(with a water bottle) with water. This keeps the bread moist.

Serves: 12-16   

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Irish Trivia

• The national anthem of Ireland is "The Soldier's Song".  It was written in 1907 by Peadar Kearney.
• The Titanic was built in 1912 in Belfast, Ireland.
• Ireland has had four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: George Bernard Shaw- for Pygmalian (My Fair Lady- 1938)  William Butler Yeats- poetry, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney- poetry.
• The capital of Ireland is Dublin.
• There are approximately 207 days of the year when Ireland receives at least some rainfall.
• The Blarney Stone is located at Blarney Castle near Cork, Ireland. The castle was built in 1446. Many tourists go there to kiss the Blarney Stone. The legend is that kings stood on it to be crowned and if you kiss the Blarney Stone you will be eloquent!
• Irish Step Dancing (like "Riverdance") originated in Ireland and is their native dance.
• Irish Wolfhounds are the official dog of Ireland and they can grow to be 6 feet tall and can weight up to 180 lbs.
• St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland. It is named after St. Patrick who was a catholic priest. Legend says that he drove snakes out of Ireland.
  

Recipe of the Week

With St. Patrick's Day this week cabbage is on sale. Even if your family does not usually eat cabbage, they will like this salad.(It is the only way my family will eat cabbage!) If you serve it for March 17 with Irish Soda Bread and teach them a little about Ireland they just might have a new favorite vegetable! See what you think!

Cabbage Crunch Salad

A crunchy, munchy salad that everyone enjoys!

Salad:

1 small head of cabbage, shredded

1/2 small onion, diced

-Mix together and put in a salad bowl.

Topping:

1 pkg. chicken Ramen noodles

2 T. sesame seeds

2 oz. sliced almonds

-Crush noodles into small bite size pieces in the package. Remove flavor package and use for dressing. Place topping ingredients on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven under the broiler. Stirring often so it does not burn. Remove when lightly toasted. Sprinkle over salad.

Dressing:

1 flavor pkg. from the Ramen noodles                                    1 t. salt

3 T. sugar                                                                              ½ t. pepper

½ c. oil                                                                                  1-2 T. soy sauce

¼ c. wine vinegar

-Mix the dressing ingredients together and toss or serve on the side with the salad.

Serves: 15-20