Olive Oil Orange & Rosemary Quick Bread + Caramelized Honey CitrusRosemary Glaze

First of all, there is nothing quick about a quick bread...

I know I've been a little crazy with fall recipes lately, but there's still a (very small) part of me holding onto these sunshine filled fiery days. The only possible reason I can think of to linger some more in the summer season is for the fresh, crisp produce and herbs.

 Of course with the cozy happy feelings of autumn and winter comes a little bit of dreariness. Everything slowly starts to wither away and well, die.

Ever since a young age, my mom has taught me how to dress after Labor Day. You know, the whole "no white pants" rule? Well, my overwhelming excitement for colder months usually makes me want to jump right into huge knits and tall socks and just skip over the "transitioning months".

Now that I think about it, September is the only real transitioning month, but it's a hard one.

I honestly hate September. There's nothing exciting in it, minus the long weekend we just enjoyed. I mean my oldest brother turns 20 this month, but besides that, it's a little boring. The weather is the weirdest it will ever get, chilly enough for a jacket at 7:20 AM when my other brother and I leave our house, and warm enough to go without one at 7:30 when we get to school. And don't even get me started on the afternoon. It's still in the high 90ºs when school's out! The weather must be just as confused as I am when it comes to what to wear this time of the year.

But, since we'll have a full 30 days of it, I thought I'd make the most of this dreaded month. The best way to do that? Something warm and comforting, but still bursting with all the fresh summer twang.

It's what I like to think makes for the perfect summer to fall recipe. 

I hate to toot my own horn but... I'm actually really proud of myself for making this. The reason why? I can't bake. 

I'm absolutely horrible at it! 

My problem with baking is that it is so crucial to follow a recipe and use exact measurements in order to get an edible outcome. 

When I cook, measuring spoons are just another set of utensils to me, and measuring cups are simply more bowls for me to dirty up. I hardly EVER use teaspoons and tablespoons in my cooking, unless I'm too lazy to walk 5 feet to the silverware drawer. 

So I've learned to accept my stubborn ways when it comes to cooking and just stick to non-baked sweets for the most part. 

Every blue moon or so, I will get in a baking mood and somehow I always end up with a mess of what were supposed to be oatmeal cookies...

I've always had a passion for cooking rather than baking, but I remember about 2 years ago, I would rarely make real food. Our kitchen constantly looked like it had just snowed (flour), and we almost had to buy another mixer for how much I was baking. 

I was probably whipping up a new batch of cupcakes every day. 

You might think my family would've felt blessed to have a dozen or two cupcakes pop up left and right, but . A lot of the recipes are actually still on my blog, like my Gooey Strawberry Cupcakes, which I'm almost positive I named them that because they weren't even cooked through when I took them out.

While we're on the subject of old blog posts, as some might know, I've had this blog for almost 4 years now (since I was 11), and when I was cleaning up my page a little bit the other day, I noticed there are some funky looking recipes further down.

 I'm not really sure how or what some of them even are, but I don't want to delete them. For one reason, they're entertaining to look back on. 

But the real reason being that I love looking at how far I've come, and how far I will go. Today, I'm making fun of under-baked cupcakes and what I once called "Warmed Cabbage", and who knows, a year from now I may be making fun of this post.

We'll just have to wait and see, but what's the fun in getting rid of memories, especially funny ones?

Okay, back to why I'm actually happy... 

This is the only baked good, that's my recipe, I can remember that has tuned out right. What really through me for a loop was when my dad kept eating it, and I could tell he genuinely enjoyed it. 

I had to make sure he wasn't just secretly feeding it to our dog, Waffles, before actually grasping the idea that I successfully baked something.

This flavor combination is one of my new favorites. I've been loving lighter fresher sweets rather than my usual dripping in melted peanut butter and drowned in gooey chocolate desserts (or breakfast if you have a major sweet tooth like me).

Seriously though, I demand you get in the kitchen right now and bake this! I promise you won't regret it.

Orange & Rosemary Olive Oil Bread with Honey Citrus Glaze

For the bread:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 orange  (zest & juice)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. fine salt

2 eggs

1 cup plain almond milk (or any milk; almond milk makes for a really fluffy light bread)

1/2 tbs. finely chopped fresh rosemary

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbs. honey

1/2 tsp. dried orange peel

For the glaze:

1 tbs. fresh orange juice

3 tbs. water

3 tbs. honey

1 tbs. roughly chopped fresh rosemary

small dash of both nutmeg & sea salt

Pre-heat oven to 350º.

Mix all of the dry ingredients together, besides fresh orange zest. Set aside. Beat eggs, and mix together 

with the olive oil and milk. Gradually pour into the flour mixture while stirring. Mix together until most lumps are out. Add the honey, fresh orange zest, and juice. Mix until fully combined and smooth. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 35 minutes.

While the bread is baking, heat a small saucepan on medium. Add all glaze ingredients and bring to a low boil for 1 minute. Turn to a simmer and let thicken into a glaze- about 3-5 minutes. Keep on a low simmer until bread is done- if you turn the glaze off it will harden. Add water 1 tsp. at a time if needed.

It should be around the thickness of oil.

Once bread is down, pop out of pan, and drizzle with glaze. You need to do this while it is still warm. Let cool. Or if you're impatient like I am, go ahead and cut into it while it's still warm.

Finally, the most important step... Eat!

                                                                                                                            Xoxo-

                                                                                                                                 Cecilia A.