Better living through carbs

I have had an emotional hangover since our nephew's really lovely funeral service on Saturday. All of the trademark symptoms of a hangover [headache, nausea, bodyaches, irritability] but none of the fun of partying to achieve them! Yippee!

I suppose that I could have had an alcohol-induced hangover to go with it as there was actually a wake for our nephew on Saturday night after the service. [when a bar is opening a couple of hours early to accommodate your wake, you and your friends have been really good customers, is all I'm saying] but we couldn't go as we're responsible parents and all that.

So today we've been snowed in [5 inches! in Atlanta! On my daffodils and the new buds on my roses & hydrangeas dammit!] and Grasshopper and I have been outside to play [look for photos on Wordless Wednesday], had hot cocoa, and been busy making all sorts of crafty things that resulted in me gluing myself to a piece of newspaper. I am NOT crafty y'all. It's tragic. Seriously.

But... I can bake! I have been baking almost every other day since we learned of B's passing. Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownies, Marble Chocolate Chip Cake, Banana Bread, and today Irish Soda Bread. I rationalized this particular baking adventure because I'm hosting a St Patrick's Day Playdate for MOMS Club in 2 weeks and I'm determined to serve something festive. Sadly, preschoolers can't be trusted with Green Beer, so I went with Irish Soda Bread.

For my first attempt, I think it came out quite good, and JR and I just finished eating 2 slices toasted with butter and raspberry jam. Grasshopper wouldn't try it. Sigh. The extra-special bonus to this recipe is that it required 5 minutes of kneading which just might have saved Grasshopper's life today...

So it's a slow recovery, but I can feel the recovery happening nonetheless. Oh, wait, maybe that's my waistline growing...