Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Lemon Coconut Bread

I love it when you find a blog that is your go-to blog for something. Whether it be yummy dinners, home design, lovely printed goods, it is nice to know you can go to the blog and find something that will suit your needs. Mine for baking is Baking Bites. What a great resource of wonderful recipes! When I want to bake and I'm not sure what I want, browsing the hundreds of recipes on that site gets my mouth watering and I always find something to bake.

Last night I found this Lemon Coconut Bread. I love quick breads, but have been getting tired of banana or zuchinni or any variation of the two, so when I saw this I got anxious to run to the store and get baking. It turned out dense, as suspected with a slightly crispy top. And the flavor of the lemon and the texture of the coconut - delish!

I brought it to work so I could share with my co-workers, but it hasn't moved from my desk. This bread is too good to go public in my office.

Photo via Baking Bites

Lemon Coconut Bread

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cups milk (lowfat is fine)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
2 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/3 cup butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in sugar and coconut.In a medium bowl or a large measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in egg mixture. Stir until just combined and only a few streaks of flour remain.Add in melted butter and stir until just smooth, being careful not to overmix.Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.Turn loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Makes 1 loaf.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Bicycling

July 17th of this year was the day I re-fell in love with biking - I rode a road bike for the first time. It was an amazing feeling. How efficient they are, how fast you can go, just amazing. Well after a few rides on a friend's bike, I ended up splurging on my own. She's a beauty and I've already racked up about 300 miles in the past month, give or take a few.

I especially like the distances that can be covered in such a short amount of time. I've been riding out in Whatcom County and seeing the country by bike is far, far better than via car. The Chuckanut Century ride is coming up next month and I really want to do either the 50 or 62 mile ride. We'll see, as it falls a week before the Bellingham Bay Half Marathon and I don't want to be drained from that.

So that's what I've been up to over the past month or so along with running, eating blueberries and drinking beer. I love summer.