Irish Soda Bread (from a B&B woman in Goresbridge, Kilkenny, Ireland) --------------------------------------------------------------------- [In 1989 I visited a lovely B&B while visiting a horse auction in Ireland. They had the most wonderful bread, so I asked for the recipe. Here it is, transcribed from a hand-written sheet of paper. I've never been able to make it as well as there, but then the ingrediants in the US are different, my fist is a different size, etc. My comments on some of the steps are in brackets.] "Wholemeal Bread" 1 lb wholemeal flour [aka whole wheat] 1 lb white flour 2 heaped teaspoons bicarbonate of soda fistful of bran about 1 1/2 pints buttermilk or sour milk [this is tricky. In the UK and Ireland, pint = 20oz, but 30oz seems way too much for this recipe. Maybe their buttermilk is different from that in the US. I recommend carefully adding the buttermilk until the consistency is about right.] Mix all dry ingerients in big bowl (sieve in the bicarbonate of soda) Stir in most milk and mix until it is soft but not too wet (add more milk if too stiff) grease 2 tins (1lb) and bake at mark 7 of gas (same as for pastry) for 40 mins/50 mins [mark 7 is 425F/220C]