By Popular Request: Strawberry Bread

I received so many requests for the Fresh Strawberry Bread recipe, I decided to just go ahead and post it here.
I can't decide what I like most about this Bread.
Is it the small chunks of fresh strawberries? So tasty.
Or that hint of cinnamon? Such a welcome surprise.

But you know me.
I can't just post a recipe.
I've got to tell the story that goes with the recipe. (Life and food are a constant adventure, yanno.)

So, if you just want the recipe. Skip down to the bottom of this post. Otherwise, let me tell you about my day in the strawberry patch.

One Saturday morning my daughter and I decided to go pick strawberries.
We got there right before noon and the place was packed. After we finally found a parking place, we went to stand in line. It took about 15 minutes before it was our turn to pay for our strawberry-picking buckets. $12 a bucket and we were ready to hit the strawberry fields.

Hat? check
Sunglasses? check
Sneakers? check

While my daughter and I picked the strawberries, it occurred to me that most folks out there with us were not speaking English.

How cool is that?

That is definitely something I'll miss about living where I do now. The Atlanta area is multi-cultural and diverse.

There are tons of international markets, businesses and restaurants.

I always enjoy interacting with people who know more about the world than I do. I learn so much.

I can't even speak another language, pretty hurting, huh?

The strawberry patch had opened up hours before we arrived, so it was challenging for us to find ripe and pretty berries.

It was like an Easter Egg hunt. We had to work hard to fill our buckets.

We picked and picked and picked.

We picked until it wasn't fun any more.

And that's when we stopped.

We relaxed beside a PEACEFUL bee hive under the shade of a gigantic oak tree.

"Hey!," my daughter said, "Let me take your picture while you taste our very first delicious strawberry."

"Okay...here we go! How 'bout this one?"

"MMM, MMM. MMM this is gonna be GOOD! Fresh from the farm just picked strawberries!"

"OH MY GOODNESS! EWWW-WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

I do believe that berry was the TARTEST STRAWBERRY THAT I HAVE TASTED!

Seriously. 

Right after this picture was taken, I spit it out.

My daughter was laughing too hard at that point to take another picture.

Not that you'd want to see a picture of THAT.

But you know IF I had it, I'd be showing it to you.

So, I guess good for you that I don't. ha.

$24 worth of tart strawberries?

I'm an idiot.

We should have tasted while we were picking, not after!

I'm happy to report that not ALL of them were as TART as that first one.

Thank goodness for sugar. That's all. Thank goodness.

I knew, then, that most of these berries would be destined for preserves and baking.

 

Fresh Strawberries Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 3/4 cups quartered fresh strawberries, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
 

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans. (Or you can make smaller loaves.) Set aside.

In mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and oil until fully combined.
Puree 1 cup of the quartered strawberries in a blender and blend, leaving chunks. (don't blend until smooth.)
Stir the pureed strawberries and vanilla into the egg mixture.
Gradually stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture until combined.
Fold in the remaining strawberries.
Bake until golden brown and set in the center, approximately 60 minutes for large loafs, half that for smaller loaves.

(recipe adapted from http://www.saltedandstyled.com/2012/04/12/fresh-picked-strawberry-bread-balsamic-strawberry-butter/)

Cool all except one of the loaves. Put that one on a cutting board or serving dish.
Go ahead and put on the kettle for your tea and get the cream cheese out because you're about to sit down and eat a piece of this delicious bread while it's warm. There's no way around it.

After it cools, wrap some of the loaves for teachers or co-workers or neighbors.

Man, is it good toasted in the morning for breakfast.

Now luckily, I have a GORGEOUS picture of that full moon the other night.

WOOT! How Perfect! The STRAWBERRY MOON! Great for this strawberry post!

So here it is.

But guess what?

As it turns out, this is NOT the Strawberry Moon. That's what June's full moon is called.

(May's is the Flower Moon. So see the previous two posts about flowers, I guess.)

Back to strawberries. Did anyone else enjoy Strawberry NeHi as a kid?

Well, that's what this wine reminded me of.

Yum.

Not tart.

No spitting out.

Just yum.