SURPRISE!

Nothing better than a surprise, especially early in the morning and a top o' the morning it was. After making a new recipe that required patience and hard work, I assembled a loaf of Irish soda bread for TLW (The Little Woman) for St. Patrick's Day. This was a challenging recipe that was very hard to make and handle, the dough is very wet and almost liquid.

As I worked this dough, half of which I had to wash off my hands as I went along, I felt trepidation as I transferred the dough from the kneading board to the baking pan, thinking, this is not going to be pretty. I shoved it into the oven and waited for the bread to bake.

The oven timer rang out it's warning that time was up and so I gingerly opened the oven door and extracted my ‘messterpiece' from its cozy shelf, thinking surprised that it looked like soda bread I made in the past! But, looks are one thing: taste is another.

As a test to see if it was completely baked, I turned it over and knocked on it, where a hollow sound responded to my inquiry, as did the butter knife I sent down the middle of it that I withdrew to find it dry and clean. But, looks are one thing: taste is another, as I said before.

The next morning is St. Patrick's Day and I kiss TLW good morning and wish here Happy St. Patrick's Day. I usually order by computer two breakfast sandwiches from our local Handy Pantry in Ronkonkoma and we have breakfast. But this morning TLW decided to try the soda bread, something I was avoiding to even consider.

Into the den, she comes, ceremoniously carrying two buttered pieces of my creation with a cup of coffee. It looks normal! The soda bread looks normal, even delicious! Still, looks are one thing: taste is another. I bite into it and WOW!!! Delicious, the best I ever made!

Next year more of the same! Now to worry about my new corned beef and cabbage recipe that is slow cooking right now in the crock-pot.