Every year at St. Patrick’s Day I think of my Irish great-grandmother, Nana (also known as Evelyn McGrath Comstock.) She died when I was barely entering school age, so it’s hard to say that I remember her. Sometimes I feel like I do though, because her vibrant personality has been kept alive through stories passed on by her family, including my grandmother (her daughter-in-law) and my mother, aunts and their cousins.
Mom has been delving into genealogy lately, trying to gain more details about Nana’s life, including finding records of her journey from Limerick, Ireland, to Ellis Island in 1908. We’ve had a few discussions lately about Nana’s days cleaning houses for the wealthy families along the Hudson River, and I’ve asked my mother to write some of these stories down so they can continue to be passed on.
One of the greatest ways of passing down a legacy, however, can be through recipes. We’ve always passed recipes around, and Mom’s family compiled a family cookbook a few years ago. I was delighted to open my e-mail this morning to find a note from my mom’s cousin that included Nana’s recipe for Irish Bread, along with this note.
“ Many times Nana would have baked Irish Bread for me … I finally convinced her to show me how. But she moved fast and I’m sure I missed a few moves while I was taking notes. I guess I forgot to tell her that she couldn’t work while I wrote. So, this is what I came up with.” My mother has also suggested buttermilk might be called for, but she didn’t know in what amount.
Irish Soda Bread
5 cups of flour
1tbs caraway seeds
1 cup raisins
1cup currents – not important, don’t really need, skip currents
6 tsp baking powder (1 for each cup of flour) hmmmm
1scant tsp salt (I think that this means less than 2 tsps)
1tbs-1/4 cup sugar depending on ……………
1 stick butter definitely.
2 eggs
Milk
Mix dry ingredients. Add eggs and milk. Mix. (I don’t have any notes on how or when the butter goes in). Put in greased and floured loaf pan or on cookie sheet in small round loaves.
