Hopes, Dreams, and Lemons

This story begins with a surplus of lemons. Although, it could possibly begin before that, when I bought the lemons in hopes of making lots of delicious, mildly-tart lemon poppy seed bread. I didn't want to rely on a mix any longer! Plus, I had at least two cups of poppy seeds that had been sitting on my counter for months. MONTHS. How long can those things last before they go bad?



Not wanting to tempt fate, I decided I had put the bread off for long enough and looked through my recipes on my computer for the file promisingly called "Lemon Poppy Seed Bread." When I opened it...alas! No lemons were used! Just a cake mix and a pudding mix. I know what you're wondering - why didn't I just look at the recipe before going to the store? Well, that would ruin the surprise, obviously.



So, I scrounged around and found a file named “Every Which Way Bread” that supplied me with ingredients to make just about every flavor of quick bread you can think of, excluding lemon poppy seed. This was when I decided to improvise; I have to improvise a lot. You can call it poor planning or creative expression, but baking has certainly helped me think a lot quicker on my feet.



This bread turned out to be quite delicious, and I got lots of pretty pictures from it. The only complaint I had was that it tastes exactly like the boxed mix. Seeing as how I made this bread specifically so I could get away from the mix, the only logical conclusion here is that I am cursed.



Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Makes 2 large loaves

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup poppy seeds
Zest of 1 or 2 lemons, to taste (optional)
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Coat 4 small or 2 large loaf pans with vegetable cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, lemon zest and poppy seeds; stir until completely mixed. Make a well in the dry ingredients and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar and vegetable oil. Add eggs and beat slightly. Stir in lemon juice.

Pour wet ingredients into well of dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Distribute batter among the prepared pans, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Can be stored at room temperature or wrapped in saran wrap and frozen.