Luscious Lemon Bread and Other Tidbits

First, I'll start with a recipe and some foodie pix to keep you satisfied in yet another of my "I-haven't-blogged-again-for-a-few-weeks-let's-catch-up-now" posts. Bear with me! I think everyone one must have that one recipe. You know, the one that you know will never fail you..the one you fall back on when impressions count, right? Ready to meet mine?! Luscious Lemon Bread...if you like lemon, you're gonna love this recipe. I made this recipe for my own mom on Mother's Day..it is always is a crowd pleaser.


I've got somewhat of a history with this recipe. I've been eating it since I was, oh, nine years old or so. The recipe came to my family through my mom's friend Donna. Donna is the most amazing baker and one of the reasons why I became so interested in baking. She's also one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. Now Donna was married to, well, I just can't be nice about this..one of the biggest pills I've ever met. Still. Keep in mind that I was just a little kid at the time and I thought this. One time I saw a contest for best local chef recommendations in the local newspaper in our small town, so I entered Donna's name being a sweet and somewhat naive little kid. Donna was the best and I wanted everyone to know! However, her husband was furious..he wanted Donna's recipes all to himself so she turned down the chance to enter the contest to avoid making the Pill implode. Fast forward a few years later, Donna said goodbye to the Pill and she's been a happily free woman since. And so have her recipes..hello luscious lemon bread! This recipe was easily veganized and such an easy bake that you'll be able to whip it up in no time, I promise!

Donna's Luscious Lemon Bread

1/2 Earth Balance or vegan margarine at room temperature (gotta be room temp..that's the trick)
1 cup sugar
The equivalent of two eggs (I use egg replacer)
1/2 non-dairy milk
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Lemony Glaze:
The zest and juice of 1 organic lemon
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a loaf pan. Cream the Earth Balance (or margarine) using a mixer with the sugar. Add the egg replacer and non-dairy milk by drizzling into the sugar mixture while still mixing. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, bit by bit until just combined. Fold into the greased loaf pan and place in oven. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the top is golden brown and a tester stick comes out clean. Let the bread cool for exactly 15 minutes. While the bread is cooling, prepare the glaze by mixing the three ingredients together. Pour on top of the cooling bread. Let the bread cool until the glaze has hardened. Remove from pan, slice, top with strawberries and serve...

I've been MIA for a while and I'm slowing getting my blog up to date. First is not so good news..all is not well in Deguville. My goos have been fighting with each other, like, well, the siblings that they are. It started about two weeks ago and we've had to separate them. So the benefits of a three level degu manor are negated when it's only one goo per level. They cry for each other all night and day but then fight horribly when together. It's a classic case of "I love you..now go away!" After talking to some degu experts of a sort, I learned that my three boy goos hit puberty, well, exactly three weeks ago. So I've got three teenage boys on my hands. Lovely. I hope we can get them to calm down as they mature. H and I are at our wit's end trying to reintroduce them. H thought he was making great progress the other night when he brought Keebler and Cubbie into the bathroom to let them run around for a bit in a room with no dangerous electrical cords to chew on..unfortunately, it ended bloody. Trolli has been the victim of most of the biting and he cries his little fuzzy self to sleep each night. It breaks my heart..we try to pamper him and cuddle him but we are simply substitutes and not very good ones for having his brothers nearby. Ack! We've got some remaining ideas..we will not give up on them and if we have to build two more degu manors we'll do it. But we might have to rent another apartment for us to live in =) Here's Keebler...



At least the lilacs are out..

And the squirrel babies are finally poking their cute lil' noses out of the nest. Squirrelly lets them out of the nest for a few minutes at a time but not for long. Considering that she was raised by two well-meaning but clueless humans, she's a darn good squirrel mom..not sure how she figured it all out:


Our Golden Shoes program has begun in Cambridge. It's been amusing for me to see my artistic handiwork throughout town via the sponsor posters I whipped up a few weeks ago. Our volunteers have been circulating them throughout town and it seems that I can't go anywhere without finding one. I've always been a corporate graphic designer..never retail so until this moment I didn't know what it felt like to bump into your own design on the street..it's a really cool feeling I gotta say!


Finally, my animal rights study group is wrapping up this weekend. We're all expected to prepare a presentation on a specific topic of our choosing based upon something that we've read during the three month time. Since Massachusetts is working on creating a law similar to California's Prop 2 which modified factory farming conditions, I decided to pull apart the Massachusetts proposition to find out just how much it would or would not impact farm animals. I am looking forward to tell you all about the group more and will hopefully have some photos soon (we always meet at a vegan restaurant where the food is super yum..it's tucked away on the second floor in this picture..whole in the wall but I love the food). And the really great news? One of my study group leaders was totally open to the idea of an online study group when I mentioned that several of my vegan blogger friends expressed to me that they wanted to learn more about what we are reading. So stay tuned!


Finally, tried a couple of new products this past weekend when I headed up to New Hampshire to visit my parents. I stopped by my favorite local health food store (okay, my favorite of all time!), Blueberry Fields.


I see a bright light...I am going towards the light..oh, and there's the freezer section..vegan ice creams and veggie burgers I've never heard of? This must be heaven...


Here I found Blue Mango Handmade Veggie Burgers from Portland, Maine. A little on the pricey side but delicious:
I also found So Delicious brand Coconut Milk..the kind I blogged about before that I wasn't able to find. Well, I found it finally and not in the city but in my rural-ish hometown. Go figure! It's thick and with a light, mellow coconut taste. I think it's going to be perfect for smoothies and recipes where you don't want a strong taste coming through from your milk. I liked it..I haven't tried it on cereal yet..that's the next big test!



And finally, I literally scooped up some Living Harvest Hemp Milk Ice Cream. I haven't tried Hemp Milk yet so the taste was brand new to me but different in a good sort of way..I'm still an almond milk to drink and coconut milk for ice cream kinda gal but this stuff is delicious. I tried the Mint Chip but the Coffee Biscotti is so mine next time I find myself at Whole Foods.


Yawn, stretch..time for bed! I'll be back soon..