It is March in this neck of the woods and we have had all kind of weather events. Wind, rain, sunny, cloudy, warm, cold and snow. I did say that the daffodils would get their little heads snowed on before this weather breaks for Spring. And to top off all the weather changes we have had Friday 13 for two months in a row. How’s that to kick off another year?
As I write this article, we have exactly one week until the first day of Spring and I can’t wait. Momma Said, “It is just as exciting for me from one year to the next to start seeing green return everywhere.” Life is returning as I see the new calves hit the ground running, the robins are back and the days are getting longer.
I would like very much this year to try my hand at foraging for morel mushrooms and I just saw something that said you can easily find them when you see Mayapples growing. I don’t think I would want to try foraging for other mushrooms without some serious education. Momma Said, “What you don’t know, won’t hurt ya, with mushrooms it really can kill you.”
Spring in West Virginia is really spectacular and if you haven’t passed this way before, maybe you should hitch up your giddy-up and take a pleasant cruise down one of our beautiful scenic highways. It might make you fall in love with our beautiful mountains and waterways.
Old Fashioned Lemon Bread
Ingredients
Bread
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• ⅔ cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 1½ teaspoon lemon zest (from about 1 lemon)
Lemon Syrup
• ¼ cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
• ⅓ cup sugar
Instructions
• Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease and flour 8 x 4-inch baking pan.
• Combine flour, baking powder and salt in large bowl. Beat eggs, evaporated milk, sugar, oil and lemon zest together in medium bowl.
• Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Stir until just combined. Pour into prepared pan.
• Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Let it cool for 5 minutes in the loaf pan then remove the loaf from the pan and transfer it to a cooling rack.
• While the bread is baking, combine ⅓ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup lemon juice (1 lemon) in small, heavy-duty saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and a light syrup is formed.
• While the bread is still warm, poke numerous holes using a wooden skewer, piercing all the way to the bottom. Slowly drizzle the hot lemon syrup over the bread (syrup will soak into the bread). Finish cooling the bread on wire rack.
