Eggnog Bread Recipe

I've gotten a couple of requests for this recipe, so here it is. I especially like to use my own dried apricots. When I freeze the loaves, I make sure and freeze small portions of eggnog in separate containers so that I can make the glaze when it's needed.

EGGNOG BREAD

4 3/4 C. all purpose flour
3/4 C. sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 beaten eggs
2 3/4 C. canned or dairy eggnog
1/2 C. cooking oil
3/4 C. chopped pecans
3/4 C. snipped dried apricots
Eggnog icing

1. Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl. Combine eggs, eggnog, and oil; add to the dry ingredients, stirring just till combined. Stir in chopped pecans and snipped apricots.

2. Turn into two greased 8x4x4-inch loaf pans. Bake in 350 degree oven for 55 to 60 minutes or till a toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean. (Cover with foil after 40 minutes if the bread browns too quickly.)

3. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove bread from pan; cool on wire rack. Drizzle eggnog icing over cooled bread. Makes 2 loaves.

Eggnog icing: Stir together 2/3 C. powdered sugar and 2 to 3 tsp. eggnog to make an icing of drizzling consistency.

Better Late than Never

I have a couple of special recipes that I make every Christmas. One recipe is for cranberry coffee cake and the other is for eggnog bread. It's hard for me to imagine Christmas without these goodies. This past Christmas, my energy level was very low. I had to choose which of these items to bake because I just couldn't make both of them. The eggnog bread didn't make the cut. Guess what? Christmas still happened. I think I was the only one who noticed that I hadn't made the eggnog bread.

Yesterday, on January 26, I made the eggnog bread. The eggnog that I'd gotten on clearance after Christmas was about to expire. My schedule has been so full this week that I considered not making the bread at all. Truth be told I argued with myself about it for a couple of hours as I did my other chores, but I just couldn't let it go. I lost the argument with my logical "just cut your losses" self and I made the bread. Now I have four loaves of eggnog bread in the freezer. I would have had five loaves, but Jude got into one. The other kids were ecstatic. "Now we have to eat that one!"

I always like to have a few loaves of quick bread in my freezer. You never know when you'll need a last minute hostess gift or a little something to take to friend who is having a difficult time. Once the two older girls questioned me on this point. "Why are you making that if you don't know who you're going to give it to?"

That very day, just a few hours after they asked me that question, we had a friend come to our house for an emergency home repair which he did as a favor for us. Guess what he got as he was leaving? My point was proven and my methods haven't been questioned since.

Trouble Man

Our Jude has graduated from cute baby to Mr. Trouble Man (well, he's still cute). Jude has an uncanny ability to find markers around the house. He takes the cap off the marker and then bites the tip with his teeth, pulling the tip from the marker. He then mouths the tip until his lips and tongue are a brilliant blue--or green or red (that color sure triggered my mommy alarms).

Once we found that he had swallowed a small sea shell (don't ask how we figured it out). Today he took a bite out of a small Nerf ball. Yesterday Jude helped himself to a loaf of bread I had just baked. He pulled it from the table and sat down on the kitchen floor and dug right into the loaf. A little while later, Grace heard a suspicious sound coming from the dining room and found Jude sitting next to a huge pile of Rice Krispies. He was just having a little snack.


I know what you're thinking, "That kid's not a trouble maker, he's just hungry." It's true, he is hungry--all the time. The little guy has quite the appetite and it's a rare occurrence when he turns down anything that's offered to him to eat. I guess he needs the energy to fuel all the bookcase climbing and table top dancing he's been doing lately.

Week in Review

Made dinner for three men from Chicago (here for Matt's work), cleaned something too yucky to mention off the carpet, started new Bible study (The Truth Project), tore apart my house day after day looking for an overdue library dvd (turned out they had it the whole time), watched Matt disco dance (just like John Travolta sans the white leisure suit) at Subway, had Shabbat dinner here with a full ten foot table (eleven kids, four adults), gave Jude a haircut (and my knuckle, too), got everyone else ferried to and from Great Clips for $6.99 haircuts, cleaned something too yucky to mention off of a child's bed, reviewed finances with Matt (yes, we're still married) and got caught up on the laundry (once--for about two hours).

My Super Duper Shopping Trip

I've been "extreme couponing" for about six months now. I'm not as die hard a shopper as many of the gals I read about--I just don't have the time for it. However, every once in awhile, I walk away from the store having played the "game" pretty well and anyone who knows me knows I love to get a good deal.

Well, in December I walked out of Walgreens with a bounce in my step. I had even impressed a very hard to impress clerk with the deal I had put together, which I entered in a coupon blog contest. I didn't win, but I did get an honorable mention. Pretty neat for little ol' me. (P.S.--the one thing not mentioned on the blog was that I got back $7 in register rewards to use on my next shopping trip, so it was like they paid me $2.42 to take the stuff out of the store. :)

Sunset

Grace took this photo of the sun setting the other night. The endless creativity of our God never ceases to amaze me.

Visitor Comes A Callin'

The other day the friendly neighbor cow knocked over a section of fence and came right into our backyard. I guess he wanted to drop by and chat with the chickens. Unfortunately, the chickens weren't very impressed with the cow's overtures. You can see from the picture that the chickens are trying desperately to get into the chicken house. Unfortunately for them, the chicken house was closed. I'm sure they were thinking, "Of all the times!"
We surmised the cow must have given up on the chickens at some point and tried to see if there were any people he could visit. We found a huge pile of evidence on the porch by the sliding glass door.