The “other” Walsh cooked tonight. Baked really. Three loaves of Irish soda bread. The recipe belongs to his Mum, and has been baked in his family for decades.

The bread is yummy, and the Walsh’s eat it sliced, with butter, and topped with jam. This was also my favourite way of having it until we visited Point-No-Point on Vancouver Island and was served a hearty soup with a slice of their own soda bread on the side. Imagine! Eating soda bread without jam! It could be done, and it’s delicious as a side to soup. My Mom, who toasts virtually everything, loves the Walsh’s Irish soda bread toasted. I tried this too, and it’s yummy (with jam and butter).

I asked Michael if I could post his family’s recipe, and he replied with a firm “No!”. I laughed, thinking he was joking, and asked again, and he stuck with his negative answer. I asked a third time, and he said “if they want the recipe, they can find it on the internet”. Dear readers, I assure you my husband is not a greedy grouch, but I understand he is protecting a much loved family recipe, and god forbid if one of you try this recipe, then adjust it by adding currents or brown flour – stuff that could possibly alter the sacred original recipe (even though I know for a fact Michael tweeks the recipe himself).

I suppose this adds an element of mystery around the bread. If I were willing to sacrifice my marriage by breaking into Michael’s computer and into a historical file in the old “Meal Master” recipe program from the early 90’s, I could give you a stolen copy. But I won’t. For heaven’s sake, we just celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary!

Still, I feel some obligation to my devoted readers and since I have made this recipe myself, I remember that the key ingredients are: flour, wheat bran, buttermilk, eggs, baking soda, salt, and a knob of butter.  You will have to figure out the proportions yourself and bake it until your end result looks like this: