You didn’t really think I would do the “12 Kitchen Gifts of Christmas” without adding at least one sweet baked treat, did you?

I didn’t think you would think that! Today is the day … Rum Glazed Eggnog Bread… it’s a keeper!

If you want to get a jump on your Christmas baking, these loaves freeze beautifully. Just don’t make or add the glaze until you’ve taken them out of the freezer and allowed them to thaw overnight in your refrigerator.

Although the amount of rum is minimal if you want or need to avoid alcohol, substitute orange juice in its place.

I found the adorable German paper baking pans at Home Goods and I also saw them at T. J. Max. Undoubtedly, they are at Marshall’s as well. They are half the size of standard mini loaf pans, so I am calling these  *ultra-mini loaves. It’s all good – this way, there are twice as many loaves for giving.

On the ninth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me:

Rum Glazed Eggnog Bread
Fennel Cured Salmon
Spicy Guinness Mustard
Two Jars of Mustard
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Homemade Kahlua Liqueur
Lemon-Sugar Hand Scrub
Cranberry Citrus Vodka
and a bottle of Tomato Dust

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As promised, here is the fantastic recipe for a traditional Irish Soda Bread, given to me from Sharon Cereska. The recipe writer in me couldn’t help but rewrite it a little bit, but I only changed one actual ingredient from the original recipe, and that was using unsalted butter instead of margarine. I don’t use or buy margarine, sorry, can’t help being a foodie snob about that one!

My reworded recipe is first and Sharon’s original family recipe is below. But first, here is what Sharon wrote to me when she sent the recipe, accompanied by a lovely treasured family photo of hers.  Thank you Sharon for sharing with me and everyone out there in the blog-a-sphere.

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You know that saying, right? It means you measure any wood you are working with twice to make absolutely sure that your measurement is correct because you only get one chance to cut it right. That is how I feel about greasing a pan when baking. I am not a huge fan of baking or making desserts. Too many things can go wrong, at least for me they seem to.

So the one thing I try to get right is to get the dessert out of the pan in one piece.  Easier than it sounds unless you use parchment paper. Whenever I make a cake or quick bread, I always (even when I forget to put it down on a recipe) grease the pan, line the bottom of the pan with parchment, and then grease the parchment. Works every time, as you’ll see in the pictures below.

I’ll be on Channel 12 NBC Valley Dish live today at 3:30, making a wonderful winter salad, in case you want to watch. I’ll post a link to the taped show along with the salad recipe tomorrow. AND… a very happy birthday to my sweet Jennifer! I adore you! xoxo

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Today is my blog’s one month birthday!  Wow, it is true – time flies when you’re having fun!  You may notice that there are some posts prior to August 16th, those were added after the fact so that I could squeeze in important information (including “the basic kitchen” lists) without taking up space from my daily posts. I really love it when you leave comments or ask questions – it lets me know that someone out in cyberspace is reading all this!  Please comment if you haven’t already and do keep it up if you already have – and I’ll do my best to keep posting daily! 🙂

zucchini nut bread

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