The Baking Girl: The Hobbit's Strawberries and Cream Bread

The Baking Girl's friends are mostly Tolkien nerds. Every so often they would have Tolkien themed parties where they cook/bake goodies from the book An Unexpected Cookbook: The Unofficial Book of Hobbit Cookery. The book is free to borrow if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription. I'm not sure what all they've cooked or baked but my favorite is the strawberries and cream bread. I love that slightly tart taste from the strawberries and the hint of sweetness from the sugar.  Served with freshly whipped cream, it is my favorite treat with coffee. I hope I'm not tempting those of you who gave up sweets or coffee for Lent!

Since I have no permission to print the full recipe I searched the internet for similar recipes. I cannot vouch for them but I will trust the high ratings.  Here is one from Taste of Home - http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/strawberries--n--cream-bread and Food.com - http://www.food.com/recipe/strawberries-cream-bread-strawberry-or-blueberry-121490.

Note that in these recipe links sour cream is used whereas heavy cream is used in the Unexpected Cookbook.  Either way, I don't think you could go wrong with cream bread.

As usual, the yummy pictures to whet your appetites -

chop

blend

mix

add the fat ;-)

hot oven

ready to bake

voila! don't forget to dip in whipped cream

The Baking Girl reading Tolkien in the front porch

Tolkien in the car

a hundred days of Tolkien quotes - a friend gave this to her for Christmas

Winter Shenanigans

I did not intend to go for so long without blogging. Normally my writing muse is active in the Winter months. With the unusually warm Winter in my neck of the woods, finding eloquence under a cozy blanket has been trumped by the desire to soak in the sun. I do intend to write more during Lent. The introspection of that holy season always wakes up that so-called writing muse. In the meantime, let me share photos, as usual, for those of you who have sworn off Facebook for all eternity.

prolonging the Christmas season with peppermint candle

last basketball season for this boy before high school!

the first snowfall of the season

after a few days of freezing temps it was back to playing outdoors

note the flip flops on my Winter warrior, I've learned to pick my battles

 

I love where I live, easy access to these beautiful scenery makes me forget I live in a bustling city

when they're not acting like cats and dogs

 

reminder that it's still Winter

self-portrait in every sense of the word, all of my reflections looking back at me

And for those of you wondering if I'm still running, the answer is yes.  I will write more about running with my kids to prepare them for track season (they are training me more than I am training them!)

Happy Feast of St. Blaise!