Hi Skint foodie - thank you for inspiring me to finally tackle my own lack of funds and rediscover what can be done in the kitchen on not many pennies - taken up making home made bread making and its made us all v happy
Ali

Spookily, My wife showed me the same clip less than an hour before I looked at your blog. Wonderful stuff.

Hope the unseasonally good weather assisted in helping normal service to be resumed.
I laughed out loud at your description of Aldi :)

Please keep us posted on the resumal of normal service so we don't all worry. Meanwhile I'm off to bake bread thank you :)

Hope you're ok. Come back soon x

happy easter. hope you are well.

Maybe a double-post here--technical difficulties. If so, delete the first one--it cut out half-way through.

Skinster--hold the fort. Black dog sniffing round my house, too.

So, comfort food, learned in Dublin in 1969, carried back to this side, now a staple in my house. Daughter off to her own first flat just had to have this recipe before all others. Plain old soda bread, but a thing of beauty and a joy forever with home-made jam or marmalade. Sorry all measurements, oven temps in US style--but your conversion sheet reaps its own reward here!

This gives you a nice round loaf in about 45 minutes--instant gratification on a gray day! Keeps the damn dog at bay.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter the base and sides of a covered skillet or baking pan.

Mix (US measurements):
4 cups flour--get Irish if you can
1 tsp salt
1 (scant) tsp baking soda--maybe even 3/4 tsp
1-1/2 cups (US) buttermilk or soured milk

Mix dry ingredients. Add buttermilk/soured milk to get a firm (not wet) dough. Turn out onto floured surface, knead about ten times. Form into slightly flatted round, place in skillet, cut an X through the round. Cover skillet, bake 40 minutes.

While bread is baking, brew tea. When bread is done, let it cool slightly, then cut one of the quarters (formed by the X) into slices sturdy enough to hold goodly layers of butter, jam or marmalade. (...A very good bread for smoked salmon, too, if you are flush and the dog isn't lurking...)

This was taught me when I was a visiting student living with an Irish family. After my return to this country, my grandmother gave me a glorious cast iron covered skillet--looked like it had come off the wagon trains--but no; it had been given to her by some dear friends--immigrants from Greece (mind, it was an American classic--a Griswold, made in Erie, PA...go figure).

So in my household, this very New England Mum has a dual-national US/UK daughter who wants her mother's Irish recipe baked in a cast iron skillet from Pennsylvania given her great-grandmother by Greeks. Somehow that tickles my funnybone. The dog slinks off...

PS Re L&H--watch the background replay itself...

Hope the black dog runs away soon. Checking your site daily for your return.

Just wanted to say I have loved coming across your blog and trying some of your recipes- your meatballs were JUST THE TICKET- they were simple and heartening and not ruined with anything fancy- my boyfriend and I truly loved them. Made minestrone tonight- often I follow a Sarah Raven recipe and go out and BUY ingredients for minestrone. I have now realised that is ridiculous. Tonight I just threw in whatever was left in the vegie drawer with a parmesan rind, tinned tomatoes and a small amount of chorizo and some pureed broad beans skins (yes SKINS) that I had reserved. The boyfriend thinks this is taking being students 'a bit too far' but the satisfaction of adding those skins to the soup was unexpectedly good! Thanks again!