Dough from Head to Toe

Some people are just natural cooks—my sister Terri, my sister-in-laws Catharine and Cindy, my mother, Tim’s mother, friends and neighbors. One name that you didn’t see on the list is mine!

Cooking disasters in our house look like this: Tim and I leave a full plate of inedible food on the table and go to a restaurant or throw it in the trashcan and rush to the freezer for leftover pizza or just decide we weren’t really hungry.

My friends give me “foolproof” recipes and dare me to prove them wrong. Louise gave a recipe for Strawberry Bread filled with cream cheese to me. I pasted “simple directions” below to show how easy it seems. It reminds me of an alteration store called Seams Easy. Every time I tried to drop off my clothes to be mended, they were closed. Just like this recipe, it seems easy, but isn’t!

I gathered everything I needed to make Strawberry Bread and put the flour mixture on wax paper; trying not to use every bowl in the kitchen. That was a mistake because it spilled off of the sides onto the countertop. As I transferred it to a big bowl, flour dust coated the countertop, floor and me. A bigger problem, however, was that I only had a half-cup of vegetable oil and needed 1 1/3 cups. I could have substituted Crisco, butter or olive oil. I decided that oil is oil. So, I used olive oil. If you are snickering, you are getting ahead of me.

As I poured the oil into the eggs it seemed a little thick. Not until my mixer refused to mix and smelled like the motor was burning did I realize my oil choice was not a good one. The batter was like gooey taffy. When I tried to put it in the loaf pan, it stuck to the spoon, spatula, bowl and every one of my fingers. Needless to say by the time it went into the oven I had a few choice words for this “easy” recipe. Surprisingly, it tastes pretty good and even Tim likes it. And it is healthier with the olive oil . . . well, that may be a stretch.

Today’s gift was to take a piece of strawberry bread to the guys who work the front desk at the health club. After eating it one of the young men said, “It was amazing! If you brought more, I’d even pay you for it.” Funny how a compliment makes it worth wearing dough from head to toe.

In Giving,

Robin

Strawberries and Cream Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of two loaf pans.

Mix and beat:

2 eggs

½ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla

10 oz. cream cheese

Combine:

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

1 1/3 cup oil

4 eggs beaten

1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries

Combine salt, cinnamon, baking soda, sugar and flour in large mixing bowl. In separate bowl blend oil and eggs. Slice strawberries and add to oil mix. Add to dry ingredients and mix. Pour ¼ into 2 loaf pans. Divide cream cheese filling mix and pour half on each. Top each with bread batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes.