Here’s a recipe for my aunt Joan’s Irish Soda Bread. I thought of verifying that it’s an authentic recipe. But then I decided that, given the fact my aunt is mostly Irish, it’s Irish enough. I’ll be making it for breakfast on St. Patrick’s Day, minus the caraways seeds and with craisins instead of raisins.

Ingredients

3 cups flour
2 TBSP. packed brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup dried currents or raisins
1 tsp. caraway seed
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Stir in currants or raisins and caraway seeds. Add buttermilk and stir until moistened. Turn into greased 8-inch round pan. Bake at 350 degrees until browned, about 35-40 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.

The kids are working on this year’s Leprechaun Trap. We started with Family Fun’s version a few years ago, but new twists are added every year. I overheard talk of using a rainbow this time to lure the leprechaun. I hope they catch him because he causes a lot of trouble. He’s dyed the milk green, left green footprints* all over the place, overturned chairs, and left rude notes.

* The footprints were suspiciously similar in size to a Ken doll’s shoes.

• A sweet gift for St. Patrick’s Day.
• A fun and easy project for little ones involving a vegetable.
• Have you seen National Geographic’s floating house? It’s modeled after the one in the movie Up. So cool. Would you ride in it?
• These Beer Mug Cupcakes are insanely cute.
• Day 74 of the 100 Push-Ups Challenge.