Strawberry bread

It's strawberry season, y'all! There is truly something amazing about fresh strawberries. I grabbed a bucket at the farmers market this weekend and they are incredible! They are 10x better than grocery store strawberries and they helped me whip up this spectacular bread. Honestly I was just looking for a recipe that had minimal ingredients since I didn't want to go to the grocery store, and this one turned out to be perfect. I halved the original recipe so it would just make one loaf, but seeing that hubby and I devoured half of the one in about the first hour, I probably should have made two! The next day I was wanting more, so I turned the recipe into muffins by adding a little milk. Perfect for breakfast all week :)

Strawberry Bread

1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1.5-2 cups chopped fresh strawberries, or 1 10-oz. package frozen strawberries*

*If you're using fresh ones, save a couple before chopping to use for the top. Also the amount is a guesstimate - just eyeball it. Add enough to make it good, but don't overload the dough.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix oil, sugar, and eggs. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well until thoroughly blended. Add in strawberries. They will mash a little in this process and that's okay.  Grease a loaf pan and sprinkle with sugar. Pour batter into the loaf pan. Slice 1-2 strawberries and lay the slices on top. Bake at 325 for 1 hour. To make it fancy, serve with cream cheese and extra strawberries.

adapted from: Just Cook Already

And just because it's fun, here's a cute May calendar for your desktop or phone via RedStamp! Follow them on Facebook and you'll get a cute calendar for every month of the year. I LOVE this month's!

desktop

phone

(I did not get asked/paid by RedStamp to promote this, I just wanted to share it with you because it's cute!)

Fresh Squeezed Fruit Juice

Photo credit: Blythe Klippstein

Have you ever been to the Raleigh Farmers Market? If not, you need to go ASAP! It is the largest one I've ever been to, and they have so many options of fresh fruit, bakery goods, plants, flowers, and more. Last weekend I had the wonderful opportunity to host two of my best friends, Julia and Blythe, as they came down from VA for a visit. We all had such a great time! Girl talk and catching up was long overdue and is such rich food for the soul. ((They both have posted more pictures from our weekend on their blogs Skopjanka and Through the Lens of My Nikon.)) 

My adorable friend Julia

One of our favorite treats at the farmers market was this fresh squeezed fruit juice drink: absolutely sublime. They squeezed a lime, lemon, and orange into the cup, added just a touch of sugar water, and cherries. It was the most delicious, fruity, and fresh drink I have ever had. And it tasted so naturally sweet! I'm pretty sure I am going to have to mimic this drink at home. Now if only I had a juicer...

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

 

I stumbled across this Blueberry Zucchini Bread on my friend Heather's blog, One Fisch, Two Fisch. I happened to have some blueberries in the fridge that I knew would go bad soon, so I decided to try it. THIS IS TO DIE FOR. It is the most moist bread, and so yummy! The zucchini does something special to it... really it does not taste like veggies at all. More like the most delicious blueberry muffin you've ever had. This recipe was too good not to share with you! Enjoy it!

Yummy EASY Fruit Cobbler

So I'm going to join the bandwagon and post a recipe on my blog. But this one is seriously good! Michael's mom and I found it and made it with blackberries, and then I made it with blueberries and raspberries last night when Julia and Stephen visited. It is delicious with vanilla ice cream and the best part about it is that it's EASY! :)

1 stick butter
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
2/3 c. milk
16 oz. fruit (berries, peaches, etc.)

Melt butter in a 2 quart casserole. Combine all ingredients but the fruit in a bowl. Mix well. Pour over melted butter - do not stir. Spoon fruit over batter - again, do not stir. The batter will bake up and around the fruit. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serves 4-6.

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