TWD: Irish soda bread!

First let me say that I am not sure why mine looks so funny. Maybe I over/under mixed it. I also used my mixer and I think this was one I should have done by hand.

The dough was so soft I couldn't cut an X in it.

I did knead a little more flour into it but I didn't want to change the recipe so I just went with it.

With that said it was delicious. I put raisins in it and it made it moister. I usually buy this bread every St. patty's day and I have to say this was one of the best I have had.

My red bearded husband (who loves this holiday) found a recipe for a cream to put on the bread and it made it taste wonderful. The recipe is 1 cup whipping cream, 1/3 cup 10x sugar, just when the cream gets thick whip in some Bailey's until its to the strength you like. It was really good.

We of course ate it with Corn-beef and Cabbage.

I think I might try another loaf since I still have some buttermilk left. Hopefully I can figure out why the dough was so soft the first time. I also wanted to add that I wrapped it up pretty tight and it was still moist the next day. I was worried it would be wasted as the recipe said it would get hard. Thankfully we were able to enjoy it the next day too.

White Loaves!

This is my first post as a TWD baker. My first attempt at White Bread was a success as far as I am concerned. It may not be the most perfect loaves but I enjoyed making this more than I thought I would. I have to be honest I was sort of dreading it as you often hear the stereotype that bread is so hard and time consuming to make. This was anything but.

I kneaded the bread with my mixer using the bread hook attachment. I live in a drafty old house so I turned up the heat and put the bowl of dough in the bathroom with

the door closed. It doubled in size in no time.

The dough was easy to work with and not sticky at all.

I was a little nervous about it having an indent in it before it went into the oven. I removed the greased plastic too fast and the loaf fell a little bit.

They were done in exactly the time posted on the recipe. I did use a thermometer just to make sure I wouldn't have any raw batter when I cut into them.

It was at exactly 200!! I wish they turned out a little darker but over all it was a really fun experience and the bread was Delicious. There were very little crumbs and it was so easy to cut. It didn't crush when you started cutting it like so many other fresh breads. I think this will be a regular in our house and I can't wait to try different variations. Maybe some cheese swirled in or some cinnamon raisin bread sounds great too.

I have joined a baking blog!

I have joined a baking blog. My cousin has organized it and worked on this with another cookbook and I enjoyed following her posts and baking adventures. I am a little nervous but really excited. I am making the first recipe this weekend. I bought my yeast today. It is homemade white bread. I have never made white bread completely from scratch so we will see how it goes. The blog is called Tuesday's with Dorie and they are baking through Dorie Greespan's book Baking with Julia. They are still accepting bakers if you are interested.

First Post!

I had this blog since 2009. It is now 2012 and I am making my first post!! Hopefully I can keep up with it!

A little about me:

I am a mother of 2, Sam 10 and Maddy 6. I have been married for 8 years and my husband works out of town 5-6 days a week. This really stinks and we miss him a lot! He is great provider and makes it so I am able to be home with the kids and go to school. I am a full time student at Binghamton University. I hope to graduate with my BA in Biology in May of this year. It is the worlds longest Bachelors degree as I started when Sam was 18 months old. With a few breaks in between I have finally almost made it!! The next accomplishment will be to get a job...

I Love, Love, Love couponing!! It is so fun and relaxing for me. I love the feeling when you walk out of the store after you have saved a ton of money! It is the best natural high!! I started about 2 years ago in order to save money for my family and now it pays about the same as a once or twice a week part time job. I save $40-50 a week on our groceries with coupons. Very Exciting.

I do enjoy cooking and providing yummy things for my family!! I am so busy that I am usually only in the kitchen out of necessity but when I get to cook for fun I really enjoy it!

We have a few pets to add to our madness and they are Maggie Mae our 6 year old English Mastiff. Speedy Gonzalez our mostly out door cat, she is very independent. Gonzo our 7 year old Bearded Dragon that we hand raised. Lastly 2 huge New Zealand white Rabbits named Cadbury and Snow White that we are unable to tell apart. They look identical in every way!

So welcome to the McConnell Madness I hope to fill you in regularly!