OK, here's the recipe for the soda bread...

Couple of people asked for it; here it is:

Don't think too hard about this. It's the kind of thing people actually will decide upon and bake when visitors first arrive. Best straight out of the oven; doesn't keep very well overnight. Lots of butter, maybe some marmelade, hot tea with milk and sugar. Note that all of these ingredients can be kept without artificial refrigeration; as long as the eggs and milk are kept cool (outside, in a cellar, or cooled in a stream), you don't need a fridge.

Preheat oven to 375. Grease a baking sheet. Warm 2 tbs butter until it is room temperature (e.g., soft, but not melted).

Sift together 3 cups unbleached white flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, and 2-4 tbs brown sugar. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with 2 knives or a potato-masher; you want the butter mixed in with the dry ingredients until the overall texture is coarse and crumbly.

In a separate bowl, whisk 1 egg and 1 cup buttermilk (or whole milk, or half-yogurt-half-milk). Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients, and stir with a fork only until mixed. Do not over-stir.

Dust a cutting board or clean counter with flour (so the dough won't stick). Turn the dough out onto the surface and dust your hands with flour (so the dough won't stick to them).

Now knead the dough (e.g., use the heel of one hand to press-and-stretch the dough into a flattened oblong, fold over and turn 90 degrees, and repeat). Do not knead any longer than you have to in order for the dough to stick together. It will be crumbly and flakey--that's OK, as long as it's mostly all sticking together. Shape the dough into a ball about 9" across.

Place on the center of the baking sheet. It's traditional to cut a cross into the top of the loaf, both as a religious symbol and also because this helps prevent the loaf cracking.

Bake 45 minutes and serve hot.

Variations: you can never go wrong adding a little bit more butter, a little more sweetener (adding about 1 cup of currants is a nice variant), or a little more milk. But the dough should be dry, crumbly, and flakey.