I always love when my rotation of Girl’s Night falls during a holiday week. It gives me a chance to create a fun theme for the meal. Being that St. Patrick’s Day is Monday and the parade was this weekend, what better than to have an Irish meal? I decorated the house with the few decorations I had. A few tea towels, shamrock wreaths on each door, and a little bit of garland to add some sparkle to the windows. I also purchased some green shamrock plates and napkins for our meal to be a little bit more festive!

On the menu:

Below is the recipe for the homemade Irish Soda Bread. I found this attached to a beautiful baking dish that was given to me as a thank you gift.
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups of flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking poweder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cup raisins
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
4 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp. caraway seeds (optional)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour a 9 inch round baking dish (a cake pan will do as well).
Combine all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Mix together the wet ingredients until blended well. Slowly add in the dry ingredients until combined.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 55-60 minutes.