Day 16

Glittering and painting is the order of the day today at the Hamlet. We plan to use these ornaments for the centerpiece for our family breakfast on Saturday, as well as on the year-round tree in the living room.

I need to get that tree decorated today...then tomorrow and Friday I'll clean the house...maybe. Maybe not. We'll see....

I got a new cookbook yesterday-except that it's new only in the sense that I just acquired it. I bought it off of Amazon for $1.89 with $3 shipping. It's an older book and it's used, but very gently! It's Susan Branch's Vineyard Seasons...More from the Heart of the Home. I have her autumn, Christmas and summer books from the Heart of the Home, so I needed this one to fill out the collection-right, Becki??

The ever lovely Ms. Branch is very talented with her writing and her art...her watercolors dot the book, and are as fun to look at as the recipes. Amazon has a large selection in the used section of her books...they are worth the price. She also has a cool web site...check it out!

She addresses each season in this book...not as much fall and winter as I'd like, but then I do have whole books she's written devoted to those subjects. So, from Susan Branch's Vineyard Seasons' book, here's a wonderful sounding recipe...light, but sweet and oh, so simple..

Nut Bread

325 degrees, makes 1 loaf

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 c. sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 c. milk

1/2 c. walnuts, chopped (I'll substitute pecans or almonds here...don't care for walnuts!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together with a fork. Beat the egg, mix it with milk and pour into dry ingredients. Mix well, stir in nuts. Pour into buttered bread pan; bake 35 minutes til toothpick comes out dry. Serve with softened butter.

Doesn't that sound simple and yummy? Wouldn't that make a great bread to make in bulk for gifts...if you used the mini pans you could get 2 or 3 loaves out of it...oh, I know...I have a cool little mini bundt pan that would make great little individual gifts...I'm off to add this to my gift list!!

What are YOU doing to get ready for Christmas in July?

Merry, Merry!

Cathy