Unexpected short-term stress? I’m the champ. I can rally, respond calmly, and weather the worst of the storm with humor. Just ask my kids about any unexpected accidents or injuries they’ve had. Even they’ve been surprised by how calm I can be. But my challenge—my weak spot—is the long-term, ongoing kind of stress. My body doesn’t do well weathering that.And it makes sense… in fact, it’s natural. Cortisol and adrenaline are the stress-response hormones that give you the ability to run, fight, or forage (in the case of famine). But here’s the catch: they were only meant to spike during acute stress—not live on high alert 24/7.
Sometimes stress is obvious—you’re navigating a major life change, a packed calendar, or unexpected chaos. But other times? You feel off… but can’t quite pinpoint why. I often hear from women who say, “I’m in the least stressful phase of my life, but I still feel anxious, wired, exhausted, or foggy.”That’s because not all stress is emotional or visible. In fact, many of the biggest contributors to cortisol imbalance are hidden stressors—physiological or environmental triggers your body is responding to, even if your mind isn’t fully aware of them.
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Truth be told I never liked Irish soda bread at least not until I went to work for a software company in New Jersey some 30 years ago and someone (wish I could remember who) brought in the most delicious, moist and sweet soda bread I had ever tasted.I was fortunate to get the recipe and made the bread for the very next St Patrick's Day dinner at my parent's house (somewhat afraid I might get ousted from my Irish heritage for not bringing the dry, crumbly, slightly stale version). My Dad, like me, loved it so much that he started making it regularly. In fact, the rest of the family came to know it as "Dad's Irish Soda bread" not realizing he had gotten the recipe from me. I was just happy that I got to introduce him to something that he had fun making and received lots of praise for. Everyone loved it and he was like a proud little kid every time he made one.As weird as it sounds I now realize that recipes, oddly enough are a way that we sort of immortalize ourselves. Here's what I mean: earlier today I made the beef stew that my first husband, Joe, had put in our newlywed recipe binder back in 1993 or 1994 (yes I'm that old) and of course seeing his handwriting brought back memories of him and our many adventures. I'm guessing that every time my Dad made that soda bread, following my hand written recipe he probably thought of me too.
Irish Soda Bread Recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 stick melted butter
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 3 cups flour (regular or gluten free)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- To make this recipe without sugar: use 1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey and reduce buttermilk to 1 1/4 cups
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350
- Plump raisins by boiling for 1 minute, then drain
- Cream together butter and sugar then add egg, raisins and buttermilk
- In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt
- Add flour mixture into liquid mixture. It should be sticky and moist
- Bake for 1 hour (or until a tester comes out clean) in a round, stoneware pa
Remove from oven and dust with cinnamon sugar (this can also be done before baking if you want it to bake into the bread).
Let sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan.
Cinnamon sugar = 4 tbs sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon (or more as you prefer)
