Why I'll Never Be A Big-Name Blogger--Reasons #1 and #2

While I'd love to be a big-name blogger who makes a nice extra income on her blog, I just don't see that happening.

For starters, such people post holiday ideas before or, at least, on a given holiday. Here I am posting St. Patrick's Day stuff a day late.

Yesterday I was feeling like my homeschooled children might turn out a little culturally illiterate because they weren't used to making green decorations, and most of them didn't know what a leprechaun was. I decided that, while we needed to be getting ready for company, we were learning about St. Patrick's Day for school. We read library books and talked about the history behind the holiday. In the afternoon during baby's nap, the children colored shamrocks and did various St. Patrick's Day (educational) worksheets I happen to have stowed away. We even listened to Celtic music.

We ate some themed food during the day. We had a Mexican Irish themed breakfast because we had green avocado. For lunch we had some Irish cheese we found at Sam's Club. But supper was the big one and new to us-- corned beef and cabbage.

Our favorite-- by far-- was what we ate for evening snack-- Irish Soda Bread and green milk.

A slightly sweet and delicious version of Irish Soda Bread.

And this picture brings me to Reason #2 about why I'll never be a big-name blogger. I am not a photographer. Yesterday I attempted to follow advice I'd found on the internet and use natural light for taking my awesome blog photo. Unfortunately, by the time the bread was done, it was evening, and there wasn't much natural light left in the house. I took the bread outside.

Once outside, I was met with a few other problems. Namely, cats. And children who were worried sick that birds would poop on it.

And then there were the long shadows. No matter how I placed my bread and my camera, those shadows were there. I took the pictures anyway.

I also took more advice and lightened the picture artificially. I'm not trained in this. I only had my photo browser's editing tools, and while I'm not tech savvy, I don't think they're advanced. I lightened the shadows. I'm not pleased with the results.

That's okay. The bread was delicious anyway. If you'd like, you can make it with this recipe, but I wouldn't wait until next St. Patrick's Day. It was yummy and gone by morning!

Irish Soda Bread

3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
2 cups sour cream
1 cup raisins

1. Mix together all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Fold in beaten eggs and sour cream to flour mixture.
3. Stir raisins into dough.
4. Mold dough into a round loaf and place in a greased 9" pie plate.
5. Sprinkle loaf with flour and cut a cross in the top of the loaf with a knife.
6. Bake at 350F for about an hour until loaf is well browned.

Recipe Note: This was the first time I made this, and the dough was quite sticky. At least the dough is tasty, so feel free to lick your fingers.