Irish Brown Bread with EB and Me!

This afternoon Earlybird and I made a loaf of Irish Brown Bread together, following a very easy recipe from last month's Family Fun. Not surprisingly, I took pictures as we worked, so I thought I'd share them here with you all. :)

I set up the ingredients on the learning room table where we had better light and lots of room:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole-wheat)
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 1/2 cups buttermilk

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl (ours could have been bigger), and make a well for the buttermilk:

Now for the really fun part - you get to stir it all up with your hands! (Fun - but very messy! Notice there are no pictures of that part - I didn't dare touch my camera, lol!) Finally, you pat the whole bunch of sticky wet dough into a ball and place it on a floured cookie sheet (or one lined with a Silpat such as ours).

A final touch - a cross on the top, cut with a knife:

And while the bread baked (@ 400 degrees for 50 minutes), EB and I made the next panel for our stained glass cross:

Truth be told, I worked on the panel while EB watched Jakers in the next room. ;)

But before we knew it the timer had rung, and the bread was ready to come out:

And I'm happy to say, it came out very well! It was warm and hearty and tasted great slathered with butter - even better with a hot cuppa tea:

It will be quite good with supper tonight, too!

Thanks for stopping by, everyone! And until we meet again, let me leave you with a favorite Irish blessing ...

May there always be work for your hands to do.
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine on your windowpane.
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
May God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.