Sweet Strawberry Bread...

This all came about one day because a friend from work brought a loaf of strawberry bread to share that he ordered from a bakery in Arkansas.  It was very tasty...and natrually I thought to myself and I am sure out loud to others - what the heck, I bet I could make that.

And so it began...my searching online for a recipe...I didnt find one in any of my books.  And I was telling my husband about it and he asked me to make him Banana Nut Bread.  So I said poof...your Banana Nut Bread........LOL

Well the Banana Nut Bread was a flop...so I tried a different recipe...again not so good.  But I did find the Strawberry Bread recipe. And tried it...and what do you know.........we liked it.

I have made it about 3 times now...and once I actually replace the strawberries with Peaches - I didnt like it so much but Bobby loved it and took most of to work - those fellas think I am freakin' Betty Crocker now...which is AWESOME!! 

and now as hard as it is to share...because I love it so much is my Sweet Strawberry Bread recipe:

Sweet Strawberry Bread

3 cups All purpose flour

2 cups Sugar

1 teaspoon Baking soda

1 teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

3 Eggs

1 cup Vegetable oil

1 teaspoon Vanilla

2 pkgs. (10 oz.) Frozen strawberries thawed and chopped

1 cup Pecans chopped

Preheat oven 350 deg. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

Mix the eggs, oil, vanilla, and strawberries together in a separate bowl. Add strawberry

mixture to dry ingredients, and mix well. Stir in pecans. Pour into two greased

9" X 5" X 3" loaf pans. Bake for 45-60 minutes, or 40-45 minutes if using mini loaf pans, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes; then remove to wire rack to

complete cooling.

Sweet Baking,
Kim

Blackberry Pecan Streusel Quick Bread

Blackberry Pecan Streusel Quick Bread

Makes 1 9x5” loaf

Streusel:
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
¼ tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Bread:
2 cups Blackberries - I used frozen that I had thawed out

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick plus 1 tablespoon), at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs

½ cup sour cream

----- Streusel: Toss the first 5 ingredients together in a bowl. Add melted butter and stir until combined. Divide mixture in half into two bowls; set aside.

------ Quick Bread: Arrange oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9”x5” loaf pan with nonstick spray; thoroughly coat with flour, removing any excess.

-------Chop 1 cup of Blackberries and toss them with half of the reserved streusel; set aside.

-------Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to aerate and combine; set aside.

Beat the butter with an electric mixer until soft and creamy. Add sugar and brown sugar and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry mixture in three additions, alternately with the sour cream. Begin and end with the dry mixture and beat briefly until just smooth.

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared pan, spreading evenly. Top with streusel/chopped blackberry mixture, forming an even layer. Scrape remaining batter on top, spreading carefully to cover center streusel layer. Top with remaining streusel and place remaining whole blackberries evenly over top, pressing gently to help adhere.

Bake for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a bamboo skewer inserted in the center shows a few moist crumbs when removed. Cool pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, then unmold directly onto rack, right side up, to cool completely. Wrap in aluminum foil to store at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Sweet Baking,

Kim

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Finally found the right rugs...

This one is in front of the stove...it is longer

This one is in front of my sink

We have been in our new house since Nov. 1, 2010 and a few weeks ago I finally found rugs for the kitchen.  I LOVE them...since I dont have a certain color in the kitchen...it brings out a lot of the main ones!

Cold Thursday...Hot Tater Soup

The temperature is 27 degrees with the wind chill at 25.  That folks is C-O-L-D for us here in Shreveport & Bossier City.  One of my best buds mentioned she had a bunch of potatoes at home that they weren't eating so in our conversation we came up with making Potato Soup here at work in the crock pot to share with our Querbes & Nelson family.  No reason to get out in the cold when you don't have to. 

Susan boiled her potatoes at home and had them cooked when she got here and some milk to add to the cream of chicken soup....I brought a few things to add to the pot - another can of cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, and sour cream & shredded cheese for topping.

We put a crock pot liner in

(I LOVE CROCK POT LINERS...they revolutionized cooking the the CP for me) added the cooked potatoes, cans of soup, milk, broth, salt & pepper to taste...and set it on low and let it simmer at 9:00 am or so and now at 12:15 - lunch is ready!!!  It is yummy too.

I topped mine with sour cream and cheese...the only thing that would have made it more tasty would be to have bacon bits & onions!!

Sweet Baking,

Kim

Kim's 'not exactly' homemade Veggie Beef Soup

The super bowl is being held in Dallas, Texas...my native land. I know, I know its only 4 hours away from me but 4 hours is as far as China when you start getting home sick. Anyway, the Steelers and Packers are the teams in super bowl 45, and I believe they bought there northern 'Yankee' weather with them. Last night it was 23 degrees....that means soup and chili weather¡ woo hoo! I make a mean 'not exactly' homemade veggie beef soup!



I use a mix - the brand I usually use is Bear Creek --- it is very good.  But I have a house full of boys and I have to add more to the mix to fill 'em up since we grow them big in the Payne & Ebey families!

Kim's 'not exactly' homemade Veggie Beef Soup

1 - 9 oz pkg of veggie soup mix

1 can green beans ( I use french style this time, but use either or)

1 can whole kernal corn

1 can pinto beans

----I dont drain the canned veggies, I use it in the soup----

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 sm. can tomato sauce

1 bag frozen stew vegetables

1 1/2 -2 lbs ground hamburger

cook the hamburger, drain and rinse under hot water (I still use that little trick I learned in 9th grade homemaking class thanks to Mrs. Davis and all her handy dandy information!!).  Add all the veggies (liquid and all), frozen veggies, tomato sauce, and soup mix.  I added 5 cups of water to the entire pot, add as much as you prefer.  Stir and mix it up well, bring to a boil, and simmer for 30 mins.  It doesnt last long - I usually have enough for 2 nights!!

Happy Baking,

Kim

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and we have bread

Sour dough bread...it isn't as dark as I would have liked but its tasty.

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