Cooking for Seven

Sometimes I just want to bake something simple yet flavorful; sometimes I need to bake something that doesn’t require exotic ingredients. Like this bread.

You are almost certain to have everything needed for this recipe in your house right now. And if you don’t have exactly the right ingredients (as I did not) you can safely and easily make a substitution.

This bread tastes like a mixture of a quick bread and cinnamon swirl bread. Because it is impractical to swirl cinnamon in a wet batter, bits of butter are mixed with cinnamon and folded into the batter. This creates little pockets of buttery cinnamon goodness.

Notes:

Going with my usual substitutions, I used half whole wheat flour in place of all purpose. Also, since I didn’t have any “solid” natural sweeteners on hand, I used maple syrup and added an additional 1/4 cup of flour to compensate.

Having no buttermilk in the house, I used 3/4 cup sour cream mixed with 1/4 cup milk instead.

I thought the bread was a little salty. Next time I will probably reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon. I also think the bread could benefit from a dose of nuts — say, toasted pecans.

Cinnamon Bread

Adapted from eat make read

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (hard white or soft white)
• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk (I used 3/4 cup sour cream mixed with 1/4 cup milk)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 4 Tablespoons butter, chilled & cut into small pieces
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and salt. In a separate medium bowl, combine buttermilk, butter, eggs, maple syrup, and vanilla. Beat well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

3) In yet another small bowl, work butter and cinnamon into pea-sized pieces. Gently fold cinnamon butter into the batter. Pour into prepared loaf pan.

4) Bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (I had to bake mine for an additional 10 minutes or so). Let cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn bread out onto the rack and allow to cool. Serve with butter and a tall glass of cold milk.

Makes one large loaf

One afternoon, as my sister & I were on lunch break, we discovered something delicious: Greek Gods Yogurt. Between the two of us we devoured a 24-ounce container of the Honey flavor. Hey, it was my first encounter with “real” Greek yogurt.

The drawback? The price. I knew there must be a way to make Greek yogurt at home.

After one failed attempt that left me with runny yogurt, I gave up.  Then, a few weeks ago, I decided to try again. And…success! The creamy, rich yogurt was almost like sour cream.

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I was introduced to this salad by my cousin Krista.

She has graciously allowed me to publish it here.

Delicious Asian flavors are combined in this bright, healthful salad. Rice noodles are tossed with lettuce, vegetables, & chicken. Served with peanut sauce, fish sauce, and chopped peanuts. How could you go wrong?

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As I have mentioned previously, Magazine Mondays is an event held by Ivonne at Cream Puffs in Venice. Once a week, bloggers are invited to post a recipe made from a magazine and submit the post to Ivonne. It encourages people to actually use their cooking magazines.

Ever since I laid eyes on Martha Stewart’s Green Tea Shortbread Leaves I wanted to make them. The lovely hint of green was enticing.

Would I make these again? Certainly. I don’t usually care for shortbread, but these buttery little cookies are simply scrumptious. They would be perfect for an afternoon tea party.

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Last week, I received a message asking if I would like to sample some granola from Malachi’s Harvest. Of course I said yes - granola is one of my favorite breakfast treats!

My analysis:

Malachi’s harvest is a business run by a homeschooling family of six. They strive to provide nutrient-dense, flavorful, and healthy granola. Visit their Etsy shop to learn more.

Taste/Quality: I was very impressed with the flavors - complex and delicious. Also, it was loaded with quality nuts, fruits, and coconut chips. The texture was a bit soft for my taste, but the  flavors certainly made up for it. Check out the ingredient list in their shop. I think you’ll be impressed.

Okay, here’s the fun part.

The people from Malachi’s Harvest were generous enough to send me two samples - one to try and one to share…with you!

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How can you enter this giveaway?

1) Leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite breakfast treat.

2) For another chance to win, tweet about my giveaway. Come back and leave another comment with a link to your tweet.

3) For another chance to win, blog about my giveaway. Come back and leave another comment with a link to your post.

No comments will be considered after Wednesday, March 24 at 11:00 p.m. CST. On Thursday morning I will select a winner using random.org.

EDIT: The actual date of the end of this giveaway is March 24, not 23. Thanks, TJ, for notifying me!

Good Luck!

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all who entered!