Wine, Jazz, and Baby Loafs!

Tonite I am joining some friends for some wine and Jazz music at the Sculpture Garden and I wanted to bring something for us to nibble on. I haven't made this bread in a few years and the recipe originally calls for it to be 3 loaves but I remembered that last time they came out kind of thin and this time I wanted fatter loaves so I divided the batter into 2 pans instead of 3 and it was still delicious! I brought one loaf into work and so far everyone loves it!






Orange Baby-Loaf Cakes with Dried Cherries and Walnuts
(Original Source: Fitness Magazine December 2002)

CAKES INGREDIENTS

Butter Flavored Cooking Spray
2 1/4 C. All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
8 Tbs. (1 stick) Butter, Softened
1 1/2 C. granulated Sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 Tbs.Grated Orange Zest
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 C. Nonfat Buttermilk (I used 2% this time)
1/2 C. Dried Cherries (I used a combo of Cherries and Cranberries)
1/3 C plus 1 1/2 teaspoons Finely Chopped Walnuts (mine weren't too finely chopped and it still tasted great!)


GLAZE INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 C. Sifted Confectioners' Sugar
1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons Water

DIRECTIONS

- Heat oven to 350 degrees and coat three 5 3/4 x 3 1/4 x 2 inch metal loaf pans with cooking spray.
- Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda onto a large piece of waxed paper (I used another bowl).
- In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, effs, grated orange zest, and vanilla extract until smooth.
-Alternately beat in buttermilk and flour mixture until well blended.
- Fold in cherries and 1/3 C. Walnuts and pour into prepared pans.
- Bake 45 mins or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool in pans on wire rack 10 minutes and remove cakes from pans and cook completely

- Prepare glaze in a large bowl by beating confectioners' sugar and water until smooth. Drizzle over tops and sprinkle with 1/3 tsp. walnuts

Craveable Quiche!

I love to bake but cooking is not my thing; however, I was recently craving my mom's famous quiche - her friends used to pay her to make them for events. It was so easy that even I could do it! The important lesson I learned from making it is that it tastes better when it sits for a few minutes - a hard lesson for me to learn because I usually can't wait to eat it! Also, warning self control can go out the window with this recipe!



Spinach Layer


Spinach and Cheese


Rt before going into the oven


Right after it came out

A Messy but Delicious Piece!

QUICHE

INGREDIENTS:
- 9' Deep Dish Pie Shell
- 6 oz. cheese - Swiss or combination of cheese (tastes best with 3 different types incl. Swiss)
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 C. Light Cream OR 1 C. Heavy Cream & 1/2 C. Milk
- Salt, Nutmeg, Pepper
- Filling: Chopped Spinach and Onion (make sure dry), Shrimp, Mushroom, Broccoli, Bacon

DIRECTIONS:
- Heat oven to 375
- Put filling then cheese on the bottom of the shell
- Beat eggs, cream & spices until frothy
- Pour into pie shell
- Bake 35 to 40 minutes

NOTES:
- I only had skim milk so I used that, my mom is not a fan of the skim substitute and is a purist, but I just added a lot of extra cheese and it tasted just as good!
- My mom likes using 3 different types of white cheese - I don't care