Irish Authors and Cinnamon Bread

Happy belated Easter! We celebrated with a cold egg hunt in the backyard and a relaxing Sunday at my sister-in-law’s house in Chicago. It definitely does not feel like spring, because this morning, April 18th, we woke up to snow! Beautiful, and not that cold for a snowy day, but still. I’m so ready for spring. I want everything to be green and in bloom. I want to plant vegetables and cook and eat outside. Instead I’m wrapped in an electric blanket reading books and thinking about baked goods.

I’ve read some really great books by Irish authors lately and I’ve been contemplating the possible reasons that so many of the world’s best authors, past and present, are Irish. Is it the weather? The religious and political turmoil? I just read Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, a short piece of fiction about the Magdalene Laundries - institutions run by the Catholic order which operated in Ireland from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, and where hundreds of young unwed mothers and their children experienced abusive conditions, cruelty and even death. It took just an hour to read but was so moving. And truly thought provoking. It made me think about the role of religion and morality in society and the tough decisions humans are faced with.

Immediately after finishing Small Things Like These, I listened to the book Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan. It received a lot of praise and I was intrigued, but didn’t even know that it was by another Irish author until I started the audio version. I have to tell you, this one made me wish that all audiobooks could be read by people with Irish accents. The narrator of the book had such a clear and lyrical voice. And her accent just carried me away. I could not stop listening. The book, though sad and disturbing at times, was beautiful and compelling.

I have no idea what it is about Irish authors. But thank goodness for them. Especially because it is still snowing in late April. I may have to get another few books to carry me through this cold spring. And some more cold weather recipes as well. Here’s a good one that I cannot believe it took me so long to make; cinnamon bread.

This is the chocolate version. The first few loaves went to fast for us to photograph.

My kids recently developed a fondness for cinnamon bread. I made the mistake of buying it on sale at Piggly Wiggly earlier this year and they were hooked. These little half-loaves of cinnamon bread cost about $5 each! I get that there’s butter in there but doesn’t it seem way too expensive for grocery store bread? It feels that way, especially when my kids can polish a whole one off in one sitting. Of course my first thought was that I could make it myself without too much effort. And that it would be much cheaper (and better). I have my frugal, immigrant father to thank for that reaction I suppose. Thanks (for the bread) Dad!

My most trusted source when it comes to baking, is King Arthur Flour. They relentlessly test their recipes and manage to make them mostly impossible to mess up, even for amateur bakers like me. As suspected, they have a foolproof recipe for cinnamon bread. It’s super simple and really, really good. I started out by making a single loaf and made a double batch the next day. A couple of days later, I made another double batch but instead of making both cinnamon, I made one chocolate and one cinnamon.

These loaves disappeared so quickly. I laughed to myself that it would have cost $50 if I let my family consume that much store-bought cinnamon bread! And in addition to the savings, my house smelled amazing. There is no air freshener in the world that beats the smell of fresh bread. This bread also makes really good french toast. I made some the other day - in the oven, on a baking sheet - and it was so easy. Highly recommend.

Roll out the dough; Brush with egg wash: Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar; Roll up and put in the pan: Let rise until puffy and filling up the pan; Bake.

For cinnamon bread, I followed the recipe here, doubling it for two loaves.

For the chocolate version*:

Instead of using cinnamon sugar, I added mini-chocolate chips to one side of the bread as I rolled it out, and added cocoa powder and sugar in about a 1:1 ratio in place of the cinnamon sugar. I threw some extra mini-chocolate chips on top of the filling before rolling it up.

*The chocolate version was a hit, but don’t make this if your kids are chocoholics like mine are or they will never want the cinnamon version again.

Chocolate and Deviled Eggs, an Irish-American Easter

Confession.  My oldest is 6 and I have yet to put together a single Easter basket. There are a lot of reasons for this - other people, like my fabulous babysitter who always comes through, along with the kids’ Aunt, Uncle and Grandpa; my borderline compulsive need to eliminate all of the little plastic items in my house; and, most importantly, the simple fact that I’ve got enough mental load to carry without having to be the Easter bunny too. I call it prioritizing.

Semi-related: Just a little shout out to the parents of the kid at my son’s school who got $20 from the tooth fairy. NO. Just. NO.

I told my little guy that the kid meant 20 CENTS and should really be brushing up on his math more.

Whew. THAT felt good. Now back to Easter.

Giant Chocolate Eggs! On my wish list every single year. I know, I know, I should have posted this earlier, because there probably aren’t any left at the store. Not to worry though, you can get your fix of chocolates from across the pond at Paddy’s on the Square year round.

No Easter Baskets? Am I the worst Momma ever? If so, not for lack of Easter baskets. My kids have yet to complain - which is saying a lot - my son mastered the art of guilting me long, long ago.  I think that I probably have these giant chocolate Cadbury eggs to thank. It seems they are ubiquitous in Ireland and they are delicious, addictive really (I keep telling myself, “I’ll just have a teensy, tiny piece” but you know how that goes). John sells out of them at the store every year no matter how many he orders. It’s proof of his love for his nephew and nieces that he always sets aside a few for us.

Never too young to aggressively hoard candy. Especially when you are the fourth child.

Just because I don’t do Easter baskets, doesn’t mean I don’t do Easter with my little ones. I’d just rather spend the time and energy I have with them, instead of on gifts for them (and if you happen to do both, go you!).  So we made Cool Whip dyed eggs, twice, which only sort-of worked. We had a flashlight Easter egg hunt with the neighbors (shout out to my amazing neighbor-mom-friend who put in 100% of the mental and physical load on that one) and a lovely spring Easter dinner outside exactly one week before (and after!) it snowed here in Chicago.  

Flashlight egg hunt was SO much fun. Also, it’s important to accessorize appropriately.

Our Easter was a small gathering this year but so enjoyable and laid back.  We had Irish bacon and potatoes (duh) plus a few other delicious things - kale salad, sweet potatoes, lemon pie.  Everything was so good that we were sad instead of relieved when the leftovers were finally gone later in the week. My little helpers made deviled eggs with me and were so proud of their contribution to our meal. I was proud too - I know that cooking, like other kinds of art, is naturally appealing to kids, but I just love that all of mine enjoy cooking.  I’m not biased or anything, but they’re good at it too.

These could not be easier, even though there are about a BILLION variations on deviled eggs, I wanted to make the simple, classic ones.  You know, the ones from the church buffet line. We garnished them with a little sprinkle of paprika and some resilient chives that braved the long, cold winter and are still growing like gangbusters in our small garden.  

Classic Deviled Eggs

• 6 large eggs

• 1/4 cup mayonnaise

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne

• ½ teaspoon of lemon juice

I don’t think you really need directions but here goes. Hard boil the eggs, or use your Cool Whip dyed eggs from last week. Peel and cut each egg in half,  scoop out the yolks, mix with mayo, mustard, cayenne and a squeeze of lemon. Find an almost-three-year-old to mash the yolks and stir the mixture until smooth. Spoon mixture into egg white halves or, if you want to be fancy, spoon mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and fill the egg white halves that way (4-year-olds can definitely do this! 2-year-olds can too if your going for the “deconstructed” look). Garnish with chives and paprika, or whatever. Eat with gusto, especially in front of your little assistants. Enjoy the smiles.

Dead Simple: Parsley Sauce for Your Saint Patrick's Day Meal

Hi there. How are you? I'm having a hard time believing that March is around the corner. Where did the last few month go? I am totally looking forward to the days getting longer and longer and  it warming up around here.  Plus, we are all psyched that the next major Holiday (besides Emmett's birthday, as I am reminded EVERY.SINGLE.DAY) is Saint Patrick's Day!

Spring means mixing things up with evening trips to the park, more eating out (even though that has been scaled back by the arrival of this), and possible getting the grill out. But for the next few weeks it's business as usual around here.

My father-in-law, Paddy, and I take turns hosting Sunday dinner. It’s an informal affair, just Paul and I, the kids, Paddy and my brother-in-law, John.  Nothing fancy, more often than not, dinner is just what we would normally have.  But, it’s nice to sit down to a meal together, and it’s a part of the week that we all look forward to. Last week, Paddy and John did more than their fair share. They drove to our house so we wouldn’t have to get the kids bundled up AND they brought an Irish bacon. There really wasn’t much for me to do to make dinner happen.

We typically eat our Irish bacon (and corned beef for that matter) with Coleman’s mustard on the side.  But since I was only responsible for vegetables, I decided to make some parsley sauce to go with the bacon.  This sauce is a basic bechamel with chopped parsley and lemon juice mixed in. It goes great with bacon and would probably be nice with fish (fish Friday idea!) or to spruce up some simple steamed broccoli or spinach.

You can make this sauce in the time it takes to cook some carrots and cabbage on the stovetop. I will definitely be making it again with my corned beef on Saint Patrick’s Day. With some Coleman’s mustard on the side, of course.

Parsley Sauce

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• Juice of ½ lemon
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• Salt to taste

Place butter and flour in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat.  I like to use a high quality salted Irish butter, such as Kerrygold, for this.  If you use salted butter, you won’t need to add much salt at the end.

Stir butter and flour together until if makes a homogenous paste and bubbles but does not brown, about 2 minutes.   

Pour milk in slowly and cook, whisking constantly, for 4 or 5 minutes, until sauce thickens.  I add milk a little at a time, keeping in mind that sauce will be slightly thicker when taken off the heat. You may or may not use all the milk.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and parsley.

Season to taste.  

To say I love Irish bacon would be an understatement.  If you are looking for something to do with leftover Irish bacon, look no further. 

I've used it in all of these: 

Bacon and Pea Risotto

In soup with white beans

In split pea soup

Dublin Coddle

and, it makes a regular appearance at our house in fried rice, sandwiches, scrambled eggs, even biscuits, cornbread and scones. Bacon is my weeknight, breakfast, anytime hero.