Baking with Friends Irish Soda Bread, Other Bread Recipes, and Stories

Shared by Friends of Ceili of the Valley

Compiled by Elisa Chandler For the City of Salem - Center 50+ March 12, 2021

List of Contributors: Aislinn Adams – Page 3 Anne Doherty – Pages 4-6 Deirdre Sharkey – Page 7

Geraldine Murray – Pages 8-11

Mary Rose Kerg – Pages 12-13 Susan Spencer – Pages 14-15 Elisa Chandler – page 16 Appendix 1 – Map of Ireland with Family Roots of Contributors (general areas) Appendix 2 – Pages from the Irish Centre of Pittsburgh’s Cookbook

Many thanks to Center 50+ for the invitation to share a little bit of cooking and lots of great recipes and family stories centered on Irish Soda Bread and other favorite breads.

The stories, photos, and recipes on the following pages were shared by Friends of Ceili of the Valley and are in their own words. I am very grateful to them all! I have not tested all of them out…so have fun experimenting

https://ceiliofthevalley.org/ https://www.facebook.com/ceiliofthevalley/ https://celticfestival.info/ [email protected] Ceili of the Valley Society

PO Box 221 | Salem, OR | 97308

Page | 2 Aislinn Adams

“Memories of soda bread:

I have strong memories of soda bread from my childhood. First off though, we called whole wheat soda bread, simply brown bread, but we did call the white version white soda bread. I remember the "spotted dog" white soda bread (with black raisins) better than the plain white.

My memories are from the sixties when I was in National School (elementary school) in Ireland. I grew up in the Irish midlands (County Offaly) with 5 siblings- all of us very close in age. I don't know how my mother kept everything running so smoothly but she did have great help, Mrs. Owens. As children we called her "Mrs. Owens", back then children never referred to grown-ups by their first name, and this name stuck even into our adulthood. It was a team effort between my mother and Mrs. Owens. If one was cooking the other was cleaning, doing laundry, or ironing, and vice versa.

When I think of soda bread I think of Mrs. Owens. She never used a weighing scales or any electrical tool. Everything was done by hand, measured out in spoons. We didn't have cup measurements in Ireland either, but somehow Mrs. Owens always knew how much of everything was right; years of baking made it second nature. She was always cheerful and kind and happily let us lick the spoons of her cake mixes (no worries about salmonella). I can still see her with the big traditional mixing bowl on her left hip and a wooden spoon in her free right hand.

The best of all was when we would arrive home from school in the afternoon just as spotted dog or scones were coming out of the oven. They were left on cooling racks on the far counter in the kitchen- a big, bright, warm room. We would wait patiently until they were just cool enough to cut into slices, or in two; spread butter liberally, and eat while it melted. One of the best tastes and memories in the world :)”

Aislinn Adams is a talented artist and specializes in botanical drawings. You can see samples of her work at: http://www.aislinnadams.com/ https://www.facebook.com/aislinnadamsdesign She has mentioned that the soda bread I have made for events is very similar to what she remembers…see the White Soda Bread recipe on page 16 Aislinn is a great supporter of Ceili of the Valley in many ways. She has been a presenter of the role of Women in Irish History, a generous donor of her artwork, and as a participant at our Ceilis and other events… just to name a few of the ways. She and her husband also open their home in Salem to host House Concerts. Which is one of the best ways to experience music!

Page | 3 Anne Doherty

Annie’s Soda Bread

3¾ to 4 cups regular flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Sift all dry ingredients together

Butter – optional. I use a third or half a stick of cold butter

Cut the butter into the dry ingredients to texture of breadcrumbs

2 cups buttermilk

Add buttermilk to the dry ingredients. Mix gently .

Dough should be soft and pliable, but not wet.

Drop the dough onto a lightly floured board.

Do not knead – just shape into a 7 to 8 inch round.

Cut an X on the top.

Bake on buttered/floured baking sheet or cast-iron skillet (or you could use a loaf pan)

Bake at 425 for 15 mins, then 400 for about 40 to 45 more mins

I often make two at a time, then freeze one (or gift one)

If you decide to make two, have everything mixed and ready in two bowls except for adding the buttermilk. Then add the buttermilk to each and prepare/shape them quickly (1 at a time). As once you add the buttermilk the chemical reaction with the soda starts immediately.

Let it cool well before you cut it.

See next page for options…

Page | 4 Options – Add to the dry ingredients before you add the buttermilk.

Dried herbs. I use about 1 tsp each of rosemary, basil and dill. The herbed bread is great toasted with butter and sharp marmalade. Or with cheeses or meats, or cream cheese/smoked salmon.

Raisins, or raisins and caraway seeds. About ¾ to 1 cup of raisins, 1 tbsp caraway seeds.

Dried cranberries - about ¾ to 1 cup. You could also add some orange zest. I often add 1 tbsp of sugar to this one to make it a bit sweeter.

“My mother baked bread every day. It was a lot bigger than the one I make (we were a family of 8). We called it scone (which we pronounced 'scawn' - rhymes with dawn). Not sure if that's what they call it/pronounce it in the rest of Donegal. My home is in Inishowen. My mother baked it in the oven of a turf-fired range - no temperature controls, just 'hot enough'. I never wrote down her recipe. My recipe is from other sources/ trial and error.”

Anne and her husband, Sam Keator, present concerts, Ceilis, and other live events in the Tualatin area through S&A Irish Entertainment and Events. They are looking forward (as we all are) to being able being having live events soon. They have been, and continue to be, great supporters of Ceili of the Valley and many of our dancers enjoy heading to Tualatin for their 1st Friday Ceili at the Winona Grange. For more information, once the world opens up again, go to: https://www.facebook.com/IrishPDX/ or https://irishpdx.com/

Page | 5 Here is another variation on Annie’s bread recipe that Anne shared with the All-Ireland Cultural Society for their Virtual St. Patrick’s Day Festival, to be held on March 17 th . Recipe was published in the March, 2021 edition of the An Seanachai, a publication of AICS.

Annie’s Wheaten Bread Recipe - Courtesy of Anne Doherty

1. 1 and 2/3 cups regular flour 2. 1 cup whole wheat flour 3. 1 tsp salt 4. 1 tsp baking soda 5. 1 tsp baking powder 6. ½ stick cold butter 7. ¼ cup steel-cut oats (pinhead) 8. ¼ cup rolled oats 9. ¼ wheat bran – or oat bran 10. 1 tbsp brown sugar – optional 11. 1 and 1/3 cups buttermilk Pre-heat oven to 425F Mix the first 5 ingredients together Cut in the cold butter Mix in ingredients 7 to 10 Mix in the buttermilk Dough should be soft and not too sticky Drop onto a floured board Do not knead – just shape into a round about 6” diameter Cut an X on the top Optional – brush top lightly with buttermilk and drop on some rolled oats Bake on a buttered/floured baking sheet. I use a cast iron skillet/dish. Or you could use a loaf pan Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then at 400F for another 45 to 50 minutes

Page | 6 Deirdre Sharkey

Deirdre is a friend of Tori Johnson, who is Elisa’s co-worker. Deirdre was visiting from Ireland and decided she would like to attend a Ceili of the Valley 2 nd Friday Ceili to celebrate her birthday. We think that was a special way to celebrate and were very happy to welcome her!

This is the recipe she likes to make. She shared some additional tips too (at the end). Recipe is from: https://www.fromballymaloewithlove.com/recipes/traditional-brown-soda-bread

Traditional Brown Soda Bread (1 loaf) The buttermilk in the shops is low fat but if you have access to rich, thick buttermilk, there is no need to add butter or extra cream. 225g (8oz/2 cups) brown wholemeal flour (preferably stone-ground) 225g (8oz/2 cups) plain white flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 level teaspoon bread soda (Bicarbonate of Soda/Baking Soda) sieved 12-25g (1/2 – 1oz) of butter or 2 tablespoons (2 1/2 American tablespoons) of sour or even fresh cream 400-425ml (14-15fl oz/1 3/4 cups – generous 1 3/4 cups) sour milk or buttermilk Wholemeal flour for the work top and baking sheet First preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas Mark 8. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large wide bowl, rub in the butter (if using cream, add to the buttermilk) . Make a well in the centre and pour all of the sour milk or buttermilk. Using one hand, stir in a full circle starting in the centre of the bowl working towards the outside of the bowl until all the flour is incorporated. The dough should be soft but not too wet and sticky. When it all comes together, a matter of seconds, turn it out onto a well-floured board (use wholemeal flour).

WASH AND DRY YOUR HANDS . Roll around gently with floury hands for a second, just enough to tidy it up. Flip over and flatten slightly to about 5cm (2 inches) approx. Sprinkle a little of the spare wholemeal flour from the worktop onto a baking tray. Lay the loaf on top of the flour. Mark the surface with a deep cross and prick in each corner to let the fairies out of the bread. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 and cook for a further 30 minutes approximately. Turn the bread upside down on the baking tray and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes. The bread will sound hollow when tapped on both sides. Cool on a wire rack, wrapped in a clean tea-towel while hot if you prefer a softer crust. Tips: “ Use self-rising flour and don’t use the bicarbonate of soda.” “Put it in the oven straight away and make sure you have the temperature right for the first 10 minutes.” “Normally I just throw the dry ingredients into a bowl then the egg, then the milk, mix and pop it on the cooking tray.”

Page | 7 Geraldine Murray

Geraldine shared some fabulous stories…so here they are, just as she sent them…

“I’ve been going through the recipes I have for all the various Irish breads and scones along with stories I can share. I’ve attached a pdf made from pictures of pages in the Irish Centre of Pittsburgh’s cookbook so you have a good variety of bread versions for your class. Many of the great Irish bakers from the Centre added their soda bread recipes in the cookbook. I also have my mom’s scones recipe (she also used this for her bread loafs) written below and pics of my Aunt Sheila’s raisin bread recipe (that one is a hoot just to read, ha) in the pdf with the cookbook pages.

All these recipes were written down in the 80’s when margarine was the choice over butter, but I’ve only used butter in all my baking. You should see some of the other recipes in the book, so very 70’s and 80’s! Lots of jello salads.

The Irish Centre of Pittsburgh was where I spent much of my childhood, many fond memories with friends and relatives. Between Irish Dance classes every Sunday, summers swimming in the pool, Ceili dances, the annual Pittsburgh Feis, visiting dignitaries (Éamon de Valera was one of our well know visitors and a pre-famous Michael Flatly who competed each year in the Feis) and of course St Patrick’s Day, we ended up spending almost every day of the week at the Centre!

At the Centre, we would train for marching in the St Patrick’s Day parade drilled by my father, James P Murray Sr, a Master Drill Sergeant in the US Army, and then on St Patrick’s Day there was a huge shindig with music and dancing and of course, ham dinner served with all the fixings and tons of soda bread! I remember many St Patrick’s Day dinner dances where they would serve at least 800 people and the meal was organized, cooked and served by the women at the Centre. They sure knew how to throw a St Patrick’s Day party! There must’ve been a dozen different choices of soda breads, and we knew which ones were the best and you had to grab them first before they were gone, and we also knew which ones to avoid, ha. My dad loved the bread made with caraway seeds, I couldn't, and still can’t, stand Irish bread with caraway seeds!

My mother, Margaret Murray (ní Sweeney) and her sister my Aunt, Sheila Shovlin (ní Sweeney) were one of the best bakers at the Irish Centre. My Aunt Sheila's brown bread (that’s near the end of the Centre recipes) was unparalleled, and my mom’s bread and scones are still made today in our family. My mother, used to make loaves of Irish bread for the Blarney Stone Restaurant at our home. Every Thursday and Friday

Page | 8 she would make a dozen loaves that were taken to the Blarney Stone and served up with the meals. She had an amazing system set up since she could only fit 4 loaves in the oven at a time. Making four batches at a time to make the dozen loaves and the house smelled so fantastic all weekend! The Blarney Stone was owned by a man from Kerry, Tommy O’Donahue, and that was another place full of childhood memories. He had a banquet room where I saw the Chieftains for the first time in the 70’s! It was a great restaurant and bar.

My mother also has been on the local TV stations and in the local papers making Irish Stew or Irish bread for St Patrick’s Day. They would always contact my mom for an interview since she was quite lively (hard to believe right? Ha) and had great stories as well as fabulous stew and bread. There’s an article my cousin has of her being interviewed with a couple great stories, but the pic that she sent me of that article doesn’t really have the whole thing clearly visible.

From what I could make out in the article: Tea was the beverage of choice on the farm where Murray was raised. “We had our own eggs, our own milk and butter, and if anyone wanted it, we shared. Hey it was great” she recalled. Her father milled his own flour, and that meant they had their own flour when city folk had none because of the rationing during WWII. Murray had a tale to tell about that. “My father was an undertaker too. He had both a two-horse and one-horse hearse. Oh it was beautiful, with glass windows and brass trim -like a carriage, it was. People would come knocking at the door at midnight, mind you, to ask for a hearse. They stopped by the pub to indulge on the way. My father would say to us children ‘Put on the tea and get out the scones.’ Upon seeing the spread, the townspeople would comment that they hadn’t seen any bread like that in months. “So my father would tell us to wrap up the bread to send home with the people. And then we had to make more bread.

The only other thing I might add is a funny story of when we took a family trip back to Ireland for a summer stay on the farm where mom was raised. She tried to make the bread in a peat fired stove and the first time she tried, it ended up so burnt that we could barely feed it to the ducks. We had a great time with that! She did make more and it turned out fantastic but didn’t want anyone to know what she did on the first attempt. “

Page | 9 Here’s her recipe. She just gave me the list of ingredients, but I already knew how to make them. I’ve made up the directions. Margaret Murray’s Scones 4 cups flour 4 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons sugar 1 stick of butter 1 & 1/2 cups buttermilk 1 egg (slightly beaten) 1 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 450f Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in the butter so you end up with chunks of butter Make a well in the middle of the mixture and add in the egg, buttermilk and raisins. Mix, but make sure to not over-mix. Form into a ball and place on a well-floured surface. Roll out the dough to about an inch think. Using a glass dipped in flour, cut our scones and place on cookie sheet. Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes. Remove from baking sheet to cooling rack.

After they cool enough to handle, enjoy the scone with a good slathering of Kerrygold butter and your favorite jam. A nice hot pot of Barry’s tea with your scones is sheer heaven!

Enjoy and Happy St Patrick’s Day baking ☘ ***PDF of the Irish Centre of Pittsburgh’s cookbook will be at the end of this collection of recipes and stories.

Page | 10 Geraldine is a wonderful dancer, caller, and musician. Her dance school is the Murray Irish Dance of Oregon, based in the Portland area. Her dancers are very fortunate to have her play her whistles for them at some of their performances as it brings a special element to the dances. We have been very fortunate to dance to her music too and to enjoy her calling at our 2nd Friday Ceilis. We are looking forward to live music coming back into our lives this year!

When I asked Geraldine where her family roots were in Ireland, here’s her response: The Fanad Peninsula in Donegal. Portsalon is the closest “town” (a pub and a store or 2, ha) The area is well known for the Fanad Lighthouse

For more information on her dance school, please go to: https://www.murrayirishdance.com/

Page | 11 Mary Rose Kerg

“When I was growing up in County Longford, Ireland in forties and fifties, our family home had an open fireplace similar to this one. Pots of different sizes could be hung on what is known as the “crooks.” Water was boiled in those pots. Smaller pots to make tea. Larger pots to boil water to do the laundry. There was no running water or electricity at that time in our house. The fire would be turf, coal or timber. Generally, it was turf from our local bog. My mother had a large cast iron pot with a lid on it that she used to bake her bread. With a family of eight, she baked a large loaf of bread every day, except Sunday. Her “baking pot” as she called it did not hang from the crook like the other pots. She would put the loaf of bread in the baking pot. Put the pot in the hot coals and place hot coals on the lid of the pot. The most wonderful, great smelling bread came out of that pot in 45 minutes. She could judge when the coals were just right to bake her bread.

In the late fifties, this open fireplace was replaced with a “cooker,” known in the U.S. as a free-standing range. It had a small oven. Turf or coal was used in it, and this cooker also heated the house.”

“Pot like Mammy’s

Mary Rose is the current Corresponding Secretary and a Past President for the All-Ireland Cultural Society (AICS). She has been a very active participant when AICS attends the Ceili of the Valley’s Samhain Celtic New Year Festival as presenters. She is personally very generous in her support of our activities. Ceili of the Valley is proud to be a sponsor of the AICS 2021 Virtual St. Patrick’s Day Festival to be held all day on Wednesday, March 17 th . Visit their website and Facebook page for more information. https://oregonirishsociety.org/ https://www.facebook.com/AICSOregon

Page | 12 Mary Rose shared three recipes:

NO FAIL IRISH BREAD IRISH SODA BREAD RECIPE

3 ½ cups sifted flour 4 cups sifted flour 2/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon Salt 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon soda 2 tablespoons sugar 1 ½ cups buttermilk 3 tablespoons margarine or butter 1 ½ cups raisins 1 ½ cups raisins 2 tablespoons melted butter 1 ½ cups buttermilk 2 egg, beaten Sift together all dry ingredients. Sift dry ingredients together Add raisins. Wet with buttermilk. Add raisins to flour mixture. Knead to a smooth dough and bake Add buttermilk and melted in bread pan at 375 degrees for one butter to beaten eggs. hour or until done. Add this to flour mixture. Combine well. Pour into greased 9x5x2 loaf pan.

Bake 375 degrees for one hour IRISH WHEATEN BREAD RECIPE or until tested done. 4 cups sifted flour This is like a batter bread. No 3 teaspoons soda kneading needed. 5 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons margarine or butter Some people add caraway seeds. 2/3 cup of wheat germ 1 cup of whole wheat flour 2 ½ cups buttermilk

Sift together flour, sugar, soda, and salt. Add wheat germ and whole wheat flour. Cut or rub in margarine to mixture. Add buttermilk all at once and knead to a smooth dough. Bake 350 degrees for one hour or until done.

Page | 13

Susan Spencer

Susan was integral to the start of the Ceili of the Valley Society about 16 years ago. Her store, Bridies Irish Faire, was situated in Salem at the time and she was getting many requests for Irish dance. She traveled around Salem searching out the best dance floor and discovered the VFW Hall on Hood Street. A teacher was found, interested folks were notified, and we have been dancing at the VFW Hall ever since! We are so very lucky that she recognized the importance of a group like ours and was instrumental in getting it organized and off the ground. Susan is still a fabulous supporter of Ceili of the Valley. Her store is currently located on the coast in Nye Beach. Check it out the next time you head over to the Newport area. She is still working on making sure there’s opportunities for dance and music in her community and is working on getting Ceilis going in Newport. She has been a part of organizing the Yachats Celtic Music Festival…fingers crossed for this year.

Susan leads fabulous tours to Ireland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, England, and Italy. Check out her Facebook page for more information on tours and her beautiful store. https://www.facebook.com/Bridies-Irish-Faire-Jewelry-Apparel-Gifts-Travel-to-Ireland- 296419255271/

Just for fun…here’s the Yachats Celtic Music Festival Website. Hopefully a decision will be made in May if there will be a festival in November. https://yachatscelticmusicfestival.org/

“Well, Auntie Margaret (Patt) Murphy was the baker in our family. When the entire family got together for holidays (think 17 first cousins), it was her bread that was served. She was my grandfather's baby sister, brought from Asdee, Co. Kerry to the United States by her brothers in the early 1920's, after their father passed away.

Later in life, when the family had grown so large (think 17 first cousins, now married!), and we broke out into smaller gatherings, my dad would bake the soda bread from the little recipe I sent you. It was not a secret family recipe, however, he had clipped it from a magazine one year to bake for St. Patrick's Day. I do remember seeing his mother's recipe on my grandfather's letterhead - James Patt Plastering Co. It was called soda bread but it was really more of a cake, and at the bottom of the recipe I remember it said, "Good Luck, Annie Patt".

I baked the bread for my own little family, and the first smell of the caraway seeds WAS Thanksgiving! When I opened Bridie's Irish Faire, I baked this recipe every Monday night for a year, to be shared in the shop at a little event called "Tea on Tuesday". It was a real community builder, because people loved coming in for a slice of soda bread and a browse.

Page | 14 So that is a brief history of this little recipe's life!

Here is my dad's (Donald Martin Patt) recipe for soda bread...his parents were from Co. Kerry and Belfast by way of Donegal.”

Soda Bread - Dad’s recipe

Preheat oven to 375

4 cups flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 to 2 TBSP caraway seeds 1 tsp salt 1 tsp baking powder 1/4 cup butter 1 to 2 cups raisins 1 egg beaten 1 1/3 cup buttermilk 1 tsp baking soda

In a large bowl: Sift dry ingredients together (except baking soda), crumble butter and cut into flour mixture until it is the consistency of corn meal.

Add raisins and caraway seeds to dry mixture.

In a small bowl: Beat egg, add buttermilk, add baking soda. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients.

Stir with a wooden spoon bringing all ingredients together. Knead just enough to form dough into a round ball. Place on baking sheet or in a greased / floured cast iron frying pan...or... Cut an X in the top (to let the fairies out!).

Bake at 375 degrees 1 hour

Page | 15 Elisa Chandler

Here’s the recipe I used when I first made Irish Soda Bread in 2013 as a “prop” when Ceili of the Valley created a display of Ireland for the World Beat Gallery. The Gallery was in the Reed Opera House at the time and there was a perfect setting to create a little “pub”. I researched “real Irish Soda Bread” and this was the recipe that I found. It can now be found on the website for “The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread.” This site has a lot of interesting historical information….check it out while your bread is cooking! We have been fortunate enough to partner again with the Salem Multicultural Institute and created a celebration of the Seven Celtic Nations show last year at their current gallery location at 390 Liberty St Se, Salem. https://www.salemmulticultural.org/gallery-exhibit/slainte-celebrating-celtic-cultures

I generally split this into two smaller loaves and freeze one for later. White Soda Bread

• 4 cups (16 oz) of all purpose flour.

• 1 Teaspoon baking soda

• 1 Teaspoon salt

• 14 oz of buttermilk

Method: Preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees. Lightly grease and flour a cake pan. In a large bowl sieve and combine all the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk to form a sticky dough. Place on floured surface and lightly knead (too much allows the gas to escape) Shape into a round flat shape in a round cake pan and cut a cross in the top of the dough. Cover the pan with another pan and bake for 30 minutes (this simulates the bastible pot ). Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. The bottom of the bread will have a hollow sound when tapped to show it is done. Cover the bread in a tea towel and lightly sprinkle water on the cloth to keep the bread moist. http://www.sodabread.info/history/

Page | 16