How was everyone's Fourth of July? My vacation was pretty stellar. I thought I only had four days off work and somehow, miraculously, got a full seven days off to spend some time with my sister while she was in town. We saw fireworks, went backpacking, biking, hiking, camping, exploring... it was awesome. It was also 90 degrees and sunny for two weeks, which means summer has officially hit Oregon. And since no one in the Pacific Northwest has air conditioning, it also means our apartment is 87 degrees every night. BLUGGHHHHHH. Even with fans running full blast, it's pretty gross.
Anyway, there will be lots of photos and stories to come, but I'm still trying to edit them all, so hang tight. In the meantime, I'm going to share an awesome recipe with you.
The best part about my sister visiting is that she's a waaaay better cook than me, so I got to eat some real meals for a change.
She also likes to bake. And since I like to eat, it worked out really well.
This particular recipe falls in my two favorite food groups: bread and lemony things. (Totally a food group.) If you get midnight cravings for citrus and carbohydrates like I do... you'll love this one.
As my sister says: "I'd make it again." (And again... and again...)
{lemon bread}
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup oil
Zest of one lemon
1-2 tbsp poppyseeds
To make the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
Preheat oven to 350 and grease and flour a 6 x 9 loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon juice with a mixer until blended.
Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and blend until smooth.
Add oil, poppyseeds and zest and mix well. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. (My oven is hot so I had to cook it for much shorter. Keep an eye on it so you don't burn the edges.)
Remove from oven and let cool. To make glaze, simmer ingredients until reduced by half, then pour glaze over bread and let cool.
Then... enjoy the awesomeness. It's seriously delicious. Tanner calls it "cake," but I call it "bread" so that I feel slightly better about eating the whole loaf in one sitting. Mmmmmm.
