An Invitation and a recipe

Happy St. Patrick's Day, Sisters of the D3!

I enjoyed seeing you last night, and hope to see you again soon when we have our first Dining Out of the new year (sorry, I've been a little out of it).

Tuesday, March 23 at 7:00pm at Hibernian in Cary, we'll be meeting for a late St. Patty's Day celebration. Come feast on the flavors of that emerald isle--scrumptious Fish & Chips, Bangers & Mash, Soda Bread, and all things Irish. The food is delightful, and you'll love the funky pub atmosphere (I totally want their library). Please RSVP by noon Tuesday, March 23!

And a recipe for your St. Patrick's Day festivities (thanks, AP!):

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Irish Soda Bread with Raisins (optional) Bon Appétit | February 2005

by Anitra Earle, Yonkers, NY

Anitra Earle of Yonkers, New York, writes: "I'm a perfume detective who hunts down hard-to-find and discontinued scents. One of the benefits of running my business from home is that I get to cook every day. I usually make dishes that I've relied on for years."

Yield: Makes 1 loaf

Ingredients

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 5 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 tablespoons butter, chilled, cut into cubes
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup raisins (optional, try dried blueberries for a fun twist!)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 8-inch-diameter cake pan with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in large bowl to blend. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms. Make well in center of flour mixture. Add buttermilk. Gradually stir dry ingredients into milk to blend. Mix in raisins.

Using floured hands, shape dough into ball. Transfer to prepared pan and flatten slightly (dough will not come to edges of pan). Sprinkle dough with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake bread until brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes. Transfer to rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Serve with Corned Beef and Cabbage. . . I saw this recipe for Corned Beef and Cabbage recently, and was BLOWN AWAY by their presentation. I don't think I've ever thought of creatively producing my recipes.

Have a delightfully lucky St. Patrick's Day!