BTW, a note from an Irish-American resident now for more than twenty years in Ireland: Over here we absolutely *do* have soda-based breads full of caraway and/or fruit and milk and eggs and whatnot. *But nobody calls them soda bread*. That's all. The sweet breads with additives are referred to by the general class names of "tea breads", "luncheon loaves", sweet breads", etc. Over here the term "soda bread" is reserved specifically for the traditional "plain soda" treatments -- white or brown cake bread (oven-baked in a round with a cross cut on it so the loaf will flower correctly) or white farl (cut in quarters and baked on the griddle). To these everyday breads, nobody ever adds fruit or caraway or whatever: these are reserved for the tea breads. Our European food website has a soda bread page with video tutorials that gets a lot of attention this time of year, if anyone's interested. It's here: http://www.europeancuisines.com/Peters-Mums-Soda-Bread-Recipe The recipe from my husband's Mum goes back to the turn of the last century and is about as authentic as it gets, for those seeking authenticity. We also have her readings of traditional variants on the basic theme (treacle bread, fruit sodas, etc.) Anyway, your recipe looks lovely. :) Super to see that King Arthur is doing an Irish-style wholemeal. Also, great thought re: the ice cream scoop: must try that for muffins some time soon. Best -- Diane Diane, thanks so much for the information, and for the link. I'm definitely going to check it out. Like so many Americans my forebears were from Ireland (grandfather from Donegal), so I do have that little tug working on me... Thanks for sharing. PJH

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