Fear and loafing.

Last night I made cinnamon raisin swirl bread. I found the recipe in Fine Cooking magazine last month. I was having a special guest over for breakfast so I wanted to do something delicious and showy. Cinnamon raisin swirl bread in the shape of manatees was the perfect solution! This is my 1st time to make cinnamon raisin swirl bread. This is my 1st time to make cinnamon raisin bread at all. I like to make bread. It’s fun, although I find myself afraid of handling it too much. I think it’s because I make so many biscuits. Anyway here’s a shot of the breads right after they came out of the oven.  I didn’t plan for them to turn out looking like big lazy sea going mammals- but there’s no denying it.That’s exactly what I see when I look at them.  I am a little bummed- It was pretty late when I finished last night, so the 1st photographs are kind of dark. The next group of photographs aren’t quite as dark, but it is kind of gloomy and overcast today, so they’re not as bright as I would like for them to be either. I am eating bread to feel better. Do scroll down if you decide not to read any further… the photos of the toast are lovely.

Cinnamony manatees in the midst (mist)

Here the loaves are this morning showing off the center. Those big globs in the swirl are HUGE raisins from Central Market bulk. WOW! They were big! I will probably use “normal” sized raisins next time. It’s very cinnamon-y. The recipe called for a total of 6 TB of cinnamon. Some folks who reviewed the recipe online complained about this, they thought it was too much. I thought it was perfect. There are some things I will do differently next time, and there will be a next time, sooner than I’d like to admit. I’ll try to roll the bread out to a more even thickness and pay more attention when I’m rolling it into shape. Sometimes I get so caught up in the technical part and I forget the important artistic pieces at the end. Again, it’s mostly about fear, and loafing! (Sorry I had to!)

swirly insides

I also made a frittata for us this morning.  During last night’s session I also made a loaf of the easy little bread that I posted about a few days ago.  It was again really really delicious. We needed salsa, so I made a batch of that this morning while we hung out, and we had that with our eggs. Once this beautiful cinnamon bread was toasted it became something super extra special that I cannot even describe! Butter took it to an entirely new level. Give this recipe a try when you’ve got a little time on your hands, and want to make something special. You won’t regret a single bite.

Toast like yo' mamma never made you!