So we credit four drunk guys with starting the parade, but we all know that it is the Irish women in our lives that keep our culture and traditions alive.
My mother, Mary Clark (pictured bottom right), has made this bread at St. Patrick's Day for as long as I can remember. When I asked her for the recipe, she was insistent that it wasn't "her" recipe but that she had received it from Vicki Canoso (bottom left) who got it from Jerrie Ivory (top right). She reached out to Jerrie's kids, who informed her that Jerrie got the recipe from Mary (Mickey) Rita O'Lee Aloia (top left). Sam Aloia, Mickie's son, and James Cordova, her grandson, both coached me in football at Judge Memorial. Oh how small the world really is. So as you enjoy the flavor, also relish in the story....for surely it all started somewhere on the Emerald Isle.
4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 heaping tsp baking soda
Mix dry ingredients together and sift.
1 and 1/2 squares butter-softened
1 cup currants
1 and 1/3 cup buttermilk-slowly add to mixture. You might use a little less or a little more.
Put dough on a floured board and knead it for 2:30 or 3 minutes.
Divide in half, make a ball or cimble so it is rounded and flatten out a bit.
Put both halves on a cookie sheet and kind of indent with knife across to make a cross.
Beat an egg white until stiff and brush on bread.
Bake at 340 degrees for 45-55 min or longer until not soft in the center.
Enjoy. And pass it on.
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