Saturday morning and a mystery bloom

Well, it is 10am and Rhonda has just left for work. I like these 10am to 6pm shifts as we get time to have a bit of a sleep-in, have some breakfast and to discuss things we need to. Added bonus is Rhonda is home by dinner time. Be even better in summer when we go into summer daylight time.

This morning we tried the soda bread.

"Bread" !!!! It's more like cake. Rhonda thought it was vaguely similar to a Madeira Cake. I thought that if I had mashed one or two over-ripe bananas (which I have at present) and added those it would have come out like a Banana Bread and a good one at that! (Cindy please note!)

If I make this one again I'll make some adjustments - I will reduce the buttermilk from 2 (metric) cups of 500 ml to one and three quarter cups - about 400 ml. I also used a 70gm egg which no doubt added to the distinctly yellow colour of the loaf when cut - I would use a 60gm egg next time. It was definitely sweet, so one third (1/3) of a cup of sugar is too much and I'd reduce that to a quarter of a cup. The wet mixture definitely needs to be well mixed and I will use an electric hand mixer instead of a spoon next time. I'd also add about 2 tablespoons of oat bran as fibre.

Having said all that, it was quite nice with some butter and honey on it, especially a nice Australian dark Grey Box honey.

I think I'll try Cro's recipe for Soda Bread next time as his loaf looks more like what I'm trying to produce.

I found a plant growing in a pot we had brought with us from the coast about five years ago. It has done nothing until this year when the cool moist conditions of last summer prevailed. Now it has decided to flower. Its a type of tuber, a form of lily, but one I don't recognise also I am unable to classify it. I remember we came across a field of them growing wild in the sand dunes behind Barlings Beach. We only dug it up (strictly illegal for wild flowers in Australia) because the whole are was about to be ploughed under for a massive housing development.

Anyhoo-dee-doo,  here it is and I'd appreciate any help in identifying it.

Time for a quick shower, get dressed and walk Denny up to the shops to get the Saturday Sydney Morning Herald - find out what's going on in the world.

Have a good day all and I'll catch you around the traps.