baking and knitting

this is the baby hat i made earlier today. it ended up kind of pointy, and not in an all together pleasant way (i don't want people thinking kali is a conehead), so i made my very first pompom to detract from it! at the same time, when i put it on over my knee, in an approximation of what a baby head might look like in it, it looked perfectly reasonable. there's a good chance i'm more nervous about the hat being pointy than i need to be.
this is the eggnog bread i made today. i actually made a loaf before these two, but like the math-challenged girl i am, i put the whole batch in one pan not realizing i had a pan smaller than recommended. oops! needless to say, it sort of exploded, part of it burnt, and part of it didn't cook at all. maybe i'll stop bragging about my cooking skills because when i do i invariably funk something up. the thing about eggnog bread is that even people who maybe don't love drinking eggnog usually really like this. in fact, when my mom started making it i was seriously anti-eggnog, but i would eat tons of this. now i enjoy a little nog in my coffee on occasion, and i owe it all to eggnog bread! although i don't think i can actually drink it, it's a bit too thick for my taste. in any case, here is the recipe! it comes from an issue of better and homes and gardens, circa 1991. a good year.

you will need:

• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tsps baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 beaten egg
• 1 3/4 cups eggnog
• 1/2 cup cooking oil (light, like canola or a very pale olive)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (or more! i always use more)
• a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan, or two smaller ones. i think i used 8x 12 here.
• a mixer is nice, but you don't need it. all you really need is a big bowl and a wooden spoon.
  

in a large mixing bowl, stir together, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. i usually sift it right into the bowl to avoid lumps. combine the egg, eggnog and oil, add to the dry ingredients, stirring until just combined. it's important to note that like a lot of breads you shouldn't over mix the dough because it can lead to toughness. tough is good on the mean streets, not in the oven. stir in the nuts!

turn the batter into greased/buttered/sprayed/non-stick loaf pans. bake in a 350 degree oven for 60-70 minutes (if you are making two loafs you might want to lower the time to 45 minutes, or at least make sure you check on them at that time!). cover bread with foil if the top seems to be getting too brown but a tester comes out with batter stuck to it. once a tester (toothpick) can be inserted into the center of the bread and come out clean it's done. cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.

if you want to store it in the pan, it's always a good idea to wash and dry them after baking to make them all clean and good for storage. you can also wrap in wax paper, then foil, and freeze the loafs. then you can stash them just in case jerks stop by and you need something to feed them.