Sabtu, 31 Maret 2007

Back!

Dropped off the face of the earth... no e-mail for three days, and too much to do.
But I'm back: all it took was a bribe of a nice Italian dinner to get the computer guy over to do his voodoo magic on my "settings" which *somehow* got out of whack.
But Thanks, Tony!
Good grief, if I could only read fast enough over his shoulder to figure out what he did to restore my connection.
I should take a class.

Speaking of classes, I brought this quick Lemon Tea Bread last week for my class to sample. The recipe is one of favorites of the ladies of the Genesee County Herb Society, and can be found in our book, "Herbal Favorites."

Lemon Tea Bread
Yield: one loaf

3/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh lemon balm
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh lemon verbena
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon thyme leaves
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. fresh grated lemon peel

Juice of two lemons
Confectioners sugar

Method:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Grease a loaf pan or 3 small loaf pans.
Heat milk, stir in herbs, let steep 15 minutes until cooled.
Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Stir in lemon peel.
Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, stirring, alternately with herbed milk. Do not over stir. Pour into pan, and bake for 50-60 minutes.
While loaf is baking, combine lemon juice and confectioners’ sugar to form soft pourable paste.
While baked loaf is still hot, poke holes in top with skewer. Pour glaze over hot loaf and allow to cool.
Remove from pan, place on decorative plate. Here is where some sprigs of fresh herbs, preferably lemon-flavored, would make a lovely garnish. Slice to serve.