Update 6/2: Now that strawberry season is upon us, why not go berry picking with the kids? Then have fun making yummy desserts and breads.
I recently discovered a couple of sources for locally grown, frozen fruit. When I first started learning about the benefits of eating local, I thought that for sure I’d have to learn how (and remember!) to can, freeze, etc. I began last year with good intentions, but sadly didn’t end up preserving much. However, just as I don’t need to garden to eat local vegetables (the CSAs I’m a part of do a great job, and plus the only sunny spot in our yard is used by DH for growing hops for his homebrew), I am able to find sources for canned/frozen locally grown foods so I don’t have to do that for myself either.
So this morning I decided that since I couldn’t sleep in I’d make some Blueberry Bread for breakfast. For those keeping track, it’s from the Strawberry Bread recipe in the spring section of Simply in Season.
1 C flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 1/4 C strawberries, mashed (or you can substitute peaches, blueberries like I did, or a combination)
3/4 C sugar
2/3 C oil
2 eggs
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
Mix together until just combined, pour into loaf pan, and bake in a preheated oven at 350F for about an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
A note about the oil: I used the last of my vegetable oil and didn’t have any more. I read recently that soy might be better but I haven’t gotten around to getting any. So I used some olive oil; I hope it turns out!
The verdict: I thought it was funny that the first thing DH said when he found me in the kitchen slicing blueberry bread was not “what are you doing up so early on a Saturday morning?” but “where did you get the blueberries?” He said the bread was good, but not nearly as good as the pumpkin bread. I thought it was quite tasty, although not as flavorful as I’d expected with Michigan blueberries. Still, it went together quite quickly.
This post linked to Works for Me Wednesday
Usually we go blueberry picking locally, but this year, with my knees bothering me so much, I’m afraid I did the grocers thing and bought what ever happened to be on sale that week and froze them in ziplocs. Maybe next year I will be recovered enough from surgery to pick again!
Meanwhile, the ones in the freezer are just fine for pancakes or on top of cold cereal!
I still have leftover blueberries in the freezer – my daughter will eat anything blueberry-related. She would CHOW on this.
Great idea! it’s strawberry season here! YUM!
I made this with strawberries and it was delicious. The one thing I would say is using that amount of oil makes the bread pretty greasy and too soft, I used 100% rapeseed oil. I think next time I’ll add 1/2 a cup of oil or maybe even less.
thanks for the feedback- I just might have to try this with strawberries this week 🙂