Friday afternoon, our kitchen transformed into a poppy-seed-bread bakery! Anna Marie, bless her heart, spent several hours mixing up and making over 40 loaves. At our large dining table, Mary and Anna worked on cards (now there are sparkles everywhere: even on the dog) :: and Mom was the support staff (washing dishes, childcare, etc).
I will tell you that there was some debate about whether the >5 degree temperatures and ice-layer-under-the-snow should hinder our Sunday night plans, but it was deemed possible. We did have to do without the guitar (sad face!), and we didn’t have as strong numbers as normal due to babies and little ones not being able to come out. Despite all the odds, our caroling was very successful and brought a ton of Christmas cheer to our neighbors who were surprised that we were out! When one bundles up enough, the temperatures are bearable. It truly felt Christmasy with snow on the ground! I love to see the delight on our friends’ faces. What is that worth?
If you haven’t yet adopted Christmas caroling into your family’s traditions, I encourage you to consider it.
Love,
Sarah
PS – I’m posting the Poppy Seed Loaves recipe at the end of this post.
Poppy Seed Loaf
3 cups flour
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/8 cups oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons Poppy Seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons almond flavoring
1 1/2 teaspoons butter flavoring
Mix all ingredients for 1-2 minutes. Pour into 2 large, lightly greased loaf pans (in our case, we bought foil pans from the store and divided each batch into three loaves). Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees or until toothpick comes out clean.
Glaze
1/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring
1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
Cool cake 5 minutes. Then, pour glaze over cake. While warm, remove from pan.
and on earth peace,
good will toward men.”
Luke 2:14
You look so pretty, Sarah! (I love your hat.)
It is so neat to see all your hard work and caroling! I’m sure it was a blessing to your neighbors. You all are styling in your winter gear! And the kids are so cute bundled up 🙂 Thank you for sharing this and being a blessing and encouragement to us!