Yellow Mushrooms
One of the joys of running, is the little surprises we meet along the way. Of course, some of that stuff had been there all along, it`s just that I never took the time to notice.
Take this little mushroom I found on yesterday`s trot. I never saw a yellow mushroom in my entire life. Nothing exotic about it, I am very sure. The field, after all, was peppered with them. It`s just that I never noticed.
And this, I think, could be the grown up version of the same yellow fungus. Now, I`ve no idea what these little fellows are called. I`ll have to ask Hedwigia or Moorhen, my two naturalist blogging pals. I just like them for being pretty and for marking a certain time of the year. And for putting a little joy into my running.
Just as this following picture does….
Yes, it seem like no length since I ran passed golden waves of corn. And now those same fields are transformed into acres of stubble. It`s a nice view, just the same and a reminder that everything passes.
Home from my ramble, somehow or other, I am pondering carb uploads. Specifically how I can get them into me and in the the most delicious and simplest of ways.
A Girl Called Jack provides the inspiration. Ah! yes! White Soda Bread. Something I used to make a lot a very long time ago. I don`t know why I stopped.
Jack blogs mainly, about dealing with poverty. Her food writing is very much with poverty in mind, as she aims to provide the very best of food for the poorest of pockets. Well, of course she`d need a good old Irish staple to fit the bill here.
Soda bread was once the staple of every Irish home, along with the revered potato. If there were international tables for carb consumption in the 19th and early 20th century, I`d bet the Irish were carb kings. We flourished, and very cheaply, because we thrived on carbs.
And easy carbs at that. No major skill needed to produce this great bread. No kneading-you just gently shape it into place. No fancy ingredients needed either.
White Soda Bread
- 1 lb/450 grams Plain Flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- I tsp sugar
- 350 mls(approx.) sour milk (or butter milk)
Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Make a well in the centre.Pour in most of the milk.
Pull the flour in around the well of milk with your hand, mixing it all up into a dough. The dough should coming together nicely, but not wet and sticky.Add a little more milk, if the dough hasn`t all come together. Add more flour if it is too wet.Turn out the dough onto a floured surface. Shape with your hands into a round. Cut a cross along the top.
Place on a floured baking sheet and put it in the oven at 450 for ten minutes and 400 for a further 30 minutes.
Take the bread out and tap the bottom of it with your knuckle. If it sounds hollow, then it`s done. If not, eave it back in the oven for another five minutes.
Allow to cool before smothering slices with homemade jam, or Ballymaloe relish and cheese. Or lashings of butter, if that`s your thing.
You`ve earned the carb overload. It`s just another one of the delights of running.
redhenrun 