Bloggin' About Bread

I'm pretty pleased with this one. It is yet another from the 18th Pillsbury Bake-Off: "Peanut Butter 'n Jam Bread" from Paul Deckelman, Old Saybrook, Conn.

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 cups Pillsbury's Best All Purpose Flour

4 teaspoons baking powder (yes, that's not a typo - FOUR. Just don't do like I did and bake this in the very top shelf slot of the oven as it might hit the ceiling and you might have to scrape a bit.)

1 cup marshmallow creme

3/4 strawberry preserves (I used grape which my son loves)

1/2 cup salted Virginia peanuts, if desired (I didn't)

Oven 350 degrees for 60 - 70 minutes.

Combine sugar, salt, egg and milk. Add peanut butter, mixing well. Stir in flour, baking powder and marshmallow creme until well blended. Pour preserves onto batter. Cut through batter gently with spatula to marble. Pour into greased and floured 9*5 inch pan. Sprinkle with peanuts. Bake. Remove from pan immediately.

Now mine was delicious but it did not hold together well, so I left it in the pan until it cooled, which helped. I just couldn't wait to try it as it had a wonderful smell. My father the peanut lover enjoyed this one, as did everyone else who tried it today.

I believe I am ready to move on to to a different old cookbook this weekend, but I did want to show a picture of one from the 18th Bake-Off that I never want to try:

There seemed to be a fixation with making sandwiches look like cakes in the 50's and 60's. Folks, this is "Oriental Shrimp Sandwich Roll" and there is no food coloring included. That lovely pink is all from the shrimp. No doubt this is delicious, but I can't begin to imagine what my version of this would look like as I'm sure all readers have figured out by now that I play fast and loose with both ingredients and directions.

I'm reading The PMS Murder by Laura Levine from her Jaine Austen Mystery series. These are about a freelance writer in LA and are very very funny.