smoothie, bread, and brunch!

It's officially smoothie season! Here's today's:

Local, unsweetened vanilla yogurt, papaya, banana, raspberries, flax seeds, and orange juice. So sweet and nourishing and refreshing (and pink!)

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I planned on working on our current bake-a-long project this weekend -- "Aunt Melissa's Granola Bread." Victoria gave the bread a great review, and I was thrilled to try it out!

Unfortunately, my first try at the bread yesterday was an utter disaster. I decided to make a free-form loaf, (instead of baking the bread in a pan, as the recipe suggests,) and I ended up with a nearly black, crusty, flat loaf that was completely inedible. To the trash, unfortunately, and back to the cupboard for a second round of ingredients.

Why am I opposed to using bread pans? Because my loaves ALWAYS stick, no matter how well I grease them. Today, I had the brilliant idea of lining my pans with parchment, which allowed each loaf to release beautifully! Wahoo! Trial #2 was a huge success:

The recipe suggests splitting the dough into two 9-inch loaves; I chose to split it into three 8-inch loaves. My pans weren't as full as I'd like them to be, and in fact, I think I'd split the dough into two 8-inch pans in the future. (I like a tall, majestic loaf of bread.) :)

How about the taste, you ask?

The loaves were cool in time to slice and enjoy with brunch:

Holy cow, this is some damn fine bread! Soft, chewy, yeasty, and slightly sweet, with little surprise nuggets here and there from the incorporated granola. I think I like this even better than the Oatmeal Bread for morning toast! YUMMERS!

"Yummers?" Yeah, I just said "yummers." But really, it's that good!