Hobbit Feasts and Seed-y Soda Bread

As promised, here's more about Hobbit Day.  For the hobbit-friendly feast you see below, we had pecan scones, peach crisp, some gluten-free doughnuts, ham from a farm pig, watermelon, vegetable soup, and today's featured seed-y soda bread.

The soda bread was so good that I made it again later.

Ingredients:
2.5 Tbs. sesame seeds
2.5 Tbs. poppy seeds
2.5 Tbs. flax seeds
1 Tbs. fennel seeds
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. buttermilk (or 2 Tbs. lemon juice, plus enough milk to make 1 3/4 c.)
whole oats for the top


Combine all your dry ingredients, leaving out a little bit of each of the sesame, flax, and poppy seeds  Then, mix in the buttermilk until all of the dry ingredients are moistened.  Form the dough into a ball and place it onto your baking sheet.  Use a serrated knife to slash the loaf in your desired pattern.  Sprinkle the reserved seeds and some whole oats on the top.  Then, bake at 400F for 35-40 minutes.

As you enjoy your lovely (and easy to make) loaf of bread, imagine that you are in a hobbit hole having tea or out in the garden for a party!