Irish Soda Bread Scones

For some reason I had a craving for Irish Soda Bread today . . . I can't imagine why! I decided to alter the recipe a bit - because I am incapable of cooking or baking anything according to recipe. The results were a little more flaky and fluffy than traditional soda bread, and since I baked them in scone shape - maybe I should just give up on calling them soda bread at all. Anyhow, they were impressively delightful.

Here's my altered recipe - these were super easy, 20 minutes to prep and about 20 in the oven.

Irish Soda Bread Scones

Preheat oven to 400 

In a large bowl stir together:

1 1/2 cups flour (I used a combo of whole wheat pastry and white)

1/4 cup date sugar (or slightly less white sugar)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Cut in: 

3/4 stick COLD butter

Mix the butter chunks into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the consistency is like grainy sand

Add: 

1/3 cup currants or raisins

Zest from one orange

Stir in:

1/2 cup buttermilk 

(for this step I added 1 tsp vinegar to 1/2 cup whole milk and let sit for 10 minutes because I didn't have any buttermilk on hand)

1 tsp vanilla

**Do not overmix! Once the flour mixture is fully incorporated, turn the dough onto a floured surface. Roll the dough over once or twice and form into a long rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into squares and cut squares on the diagonal.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes - until golden.

Serve plain or with butter and marmalade!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Adventures with Sunsets and Landscapes

A nice part of my week off is discovering sunsets outdoors again. It's been a cold, dark winter and generally I see the sun setting through the blinds at the office or on a lucky day, while sitting in Lincoln Tunnel traffic. 

This week I decided to take advantage of the "golden hour" and get outdoors. It was seasonably pleasant out (I would say warm, but it was 50 degrees and the sun was setting so it wasn't quite WARM) and the light was just gorgeous. 

I took a mini tour of the little parks along the river near our house - below are my favorites:

Sunday Funday

What a beautiful weekend! 50+ degrees and sunny. This means actually enjoying my training runs outdoors!

I took a little detour at the end of my run today to take a few photos of the abandoned tracks by our house . . .