Wanted: Bread or Alive

Hello all!




Disclaimer: This is going to be a fairly long post and possibly not for the faint of heart... you've been warned.  ;)



Well, I've wanted to make some homemade bread for my principal, secretaries, and custodian and what better time than Thanksgiving, right? It should be easy, shouldn't it? Just whip up some quick bread, wrap it nicely, make it presentable. Easy-peasy.



I mean, after all... if Michelle Wooderson (whom I consider a Domestic Diva!) can do it, then I should have no challenge, right? (Click her name to be WOWed by what that woman does!) So, why can't I be a Domestic Divo (is Divo a word??!)



Quick check to make sure I have all I need:

 

Comfy slippers? Check. Yes, those are my pajamas... nothing sexier than a guy who bakes in his PJs, right?!  ;)



Next up... music. I didn't find any Thanksgiving music (do they even make that?) so I went with the next best thing... some wonderful Celtic Christmas music!

Now onto the "necessary stuff".  ;)



Ingredients, supplies... check!

Oven ---- yep. He's ready. I think I may have to use both those bad boys:

And last, but CERTAINLY not least... my incentive!

Would you believe I've never had a Starbucks Frappuccino? I originally purchased a four-pack of these babies so that I could alter the bottles and case for a future Christmas gift. This little dude will be my reward for being a good li'l baker.



And what about the baker? Is he garbed and ready to go? You betcha!

I put on that apron just for you. Appropriate it's black, eh? I figure if these breads don't come out well, there will be a funeral for them.  :(



I got some of these pans at the Dollar Tree. They cost about $1.00 each (imagine that!). This way, I can keep them in the pans and give them as part of the gift. :)

Here's a close-up of the Cinnamon Streusel cake mix I purchased at Target (their generic brand is Market Pantry... but don't let that fool you... it's GOOD to the yummieth power!) :)

(Little side note... only until after I created the wrapping, did I realize this is not Apple Cinnamon, but just Cinnamon... that little oopsie will make more sense later in this post!)



Okay... first things first. The recipe called that I create the "streusel" first. No problem. Just add a few tablespoons of melted margarine to the mix with a fork, making sure it's all nice and crumbly.

Then... add a couple of eggs, a cup of water, and the remaining six tablespoons of melted margarine to the main mix and get this concoction.

Notice the knife near the bowl? You may be wondering what is that for? Well, as every good baker knows... it's in case the recipe comes out crappy and he/she must perform the age-old, honorable act of seppuku!



Now, after trying to heft that huge bowl and pour the batter into my pans (already prepared with Pam), I thought, "This is going to get tiring...what would Mish (Michelle Wooderson) do?!" Then I remembered that I had a bowl with handle and spout...

Wow, did that make things SOOO much easier! :)



So, I filled the pan about halfway, added some streussel, filled it a bit more, and added more streussel. Here we are:

Placed them in their warm temporary homes (three on top, three in the bottom oven):

The heat from the oven made me long for my precious Frappuccino waiting for me in the cool fridge. But I resisted!



I put them in for 40 minutes but checked them shortly before the 40 minutes were up and it's a good thing I did. They all were ready at different times and I probably used up a forest of toothpicks making sure they were just right. Here are daddy's little babies... thumb's up!

Now for packaging. I had a rough idea what I wanted to do, but wanted to polish it up a bit...make it more Thanksgiving-y. So, I recalled I had purchased these paper leaf doilies at the Dollar Tree:

And I wanted to add a little somethin-somethin more to these... so I rushed to Michaels where they're having a sale on their cinnamon sticks (regularly $5.00/pkg... on sale for two for $5.00!). I picked up two packages. I stopped by the Dollar Tree and got some pretty nice autumn flower wire bow and then back to Michaels to get some Kraft wrapping paper.

All this time, my lips had not touched the Frappuccino. Just sayin'.

I wanted to spruce up the paper so I broke out my Teacher's Apple stamp set from Papertrey Ink. (Remember me saying I originally thought this was apple-cinnamon bread? Yeah. Duh, Ted.)

By now the loaves were cool and I could wrap them in aluminum foil and then with my custom-made wrapping paper. I used the leaf doilies to wrap up some cinnamon sticks and then attached them with the pretty autumn flower ribbon. I attached a homemade tag (using Everyday Treats by Papertrey Ink) and here's the finished product:

And a close-up of the tag:

Now, I ask you...do you think that Ms. Wooderson could come up with such a presentation?! The answer is a resounding NO! Why not?! Because hers would be OH-SO-MUCH nicer!! But that's okay... I did my best.  ;)



Here are all five wrapped up (so you'll have proof that I didn't do just one!)

And to the victor go the spoils!








Those are yummy pumpkin cookies with cheesecake filling.



Did I ever drink the Frappuccino you wonder?

Hehe.



Thanks for looking and/or commenting!



 Happily Ever Yours,