Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I love this holiday for so many reasons. Today I had an extra reason to celebrate because I got my partner for next month’s The Leftovers Club. I now get to sit here for the next week and come up with a delicious baked good to send her.

If you know me, you know that my last name is ridiculously Italian. My mother’s side is Irish though, so I get the best of both food worlds. One of my favorite holiday traditions is Irish as well – eating corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day. When I was younger, my grandfather would invite everyone over and he would cook all day. He made the beef, cabbage, yukon gold potatoes, and this bread. When he passed away in 2005, a lot of our family traditions disappeared from our lives as well. I fought pretty hard to keep this one alive and have spent one day every March pressuring people to let me cook this for them. I hope that I can keep this going long enough so that if I am ever lucky enough to have kids, I can then pass the tradition on to them.

Recipe: Irish Soda Bread

What You Need:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 cup buttermilk, plus 2 tablepoons
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup raisinsWhat You Do:1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

  2. Add flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and 1/2 cup butter to a mixer with the hook (dough) attachment. Mix.

  3. Gently mix in 1 cup of the buttermilk and the egg.

  4. Add in raisins. Let dough knead for 5 minutes, or until fully formed into a ball.

  5. Place dough ball on cookie sheet.

  6. Mix the remaining butter and buttermilk together in a small bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir again.

  7. Brush mixture on top of dough.

  8. Bake for 45 minutes

  9. Serve warm with butter.