And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

So last night my husband (not so) gently said "Honey, this carrot raisin bread recipe posted on your blog is getting old. Don't you need to post something new?" Truth is: I'm not much for the holiday season and I often try and glide through it without actually acknowledging it's occurrence. I was kind of afraid to admit that here to you my festive, holiday-loving friends but couldn't think of a way to post at this time of year without acknowledging it. After years of considering why I feel this way, my conclusion is that it comes from growing up in a household where Christmas wasn't celebrated (if you've been reading for a while, you know I'm Jewish). On some level I always felt left out and a teeny tiny bit resentful. Over time I've reconciled it and found ways to participate in the spirit of the season, but my general distaste for the commercialism of the holiday has remained. We do what we can to "put the Christ back in Christmas" as it were, but that's all the more difficult when you don't actually celebrate Christmas.

So, that's why I dropped off the face of blog-land. And thanks to those of you who checked in on me. I'm probably going to hold my breath until January at which point I plan to come up for air and be really really cheerful. In the meantime, let's rejoin our quick bread project already in progress.

Today's recipe comes to us courtesy of Andrea from The Little Collection. This is her Orange Nut Bread recipe. Thanks Andrea.

Oven: 350 degrees
Yield: one loaf

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unsifted flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
2 tablespoons water
1 cup chopped nuts (Andrea's mom used walnuts, but she prefers pecans)

Instructions:
Grease and sugar a standard loaf pan.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine eggs, butter, orange juice, zest and water.
Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir to combine. Add nuts and incorporate.

Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (about one hour). Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Comments

[Christina]

I know how you feel. I grew up in a home that celebrated Christmas, but i'm not religious myself. ...at least not in the Christmas sense. I think in another life I proably was Jewish. Anyways, back to my point...I'm so sick of the commercialism and materialism. I try and do my part, but I just feel so blah this time of year. I look forward to Christmas being over like a kid looks forward to it coming. Just one more week. Then back to life as usual. I think you'll find, there are more of us that feel that way out there than you know.

[Christina]

I had a comment all typed, pressed "Post" and it lost my comment. Oh well. The point of my post was to say that there are more people than you know that feel this way themselves right now. I am just trying to blog as I would the rest of the year, patiently waiting for this holiday season to be over. I'm not sure why i'm so bah-humbug these last several years, but I have my suspicions. I just hope it can change as my son gets older so he can experience Christmas like I did as a kid.

[Elizabeth]

I hear you Amy. I'm don't celebrate Christmas either, but I do like anything that adds a bit of liveliness to dark, chilly winter, so I just enjoy the holiday cheer to that extent, and I can't help but smile over how everyone gets so INTO it!

[Andrea]

What a fun surprise to see my recipe up today! :)

Even those of us who celebrate Christmas (and love doing so!) find it overwhelming at times. It really takes on a life of its own, which can be magical, but also stressful. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the season. Honesty...such a beautiful thing!

[molly]

i so get you. you might notice when you stop by my neck of the woods a pronounced lack of pine trees, ornaments, twinkling lights, wrapped presents - and also a missing husband. yes, as a ups driver we rarely see him during the month of december. i too am looking forward to january and regularly scheduled programming (which includes the return of LOST!!! - now there's something to celebrate). i went to an ornament exchange party last night, against my better judgment, and came home with santa. feeling a little depressed about the whole thing today. i really don't want to be a bah humbug, but it seems to come naturally. no, you're certainly not alone.

[Kathleen]

Oh Amy... Why is it so easy to think we should be *different* at this time of year? More festive, less commercial, more crafty, less frazzled... Take a deep breath, blog or don't blog (though I miss you!), and don't change a thing.

[amy]

Amy--you and me both. My husband hates that I'm so bah-humbug. He's decorated my van with garland and Christmas lights to put me in the Christmas mood. It's embarrassing to our oldest son! At least I know how to turn them off when he's not with me! I get so wrapped up in the presents I "have" to get or craft that I barely have time to hang out with the kids and bake cookies and do puzzles and just hang out with them!

[V]

Not being very religious, our Christmas is about Family time. We make the whole month special, since its just the three of us... our respective families don't "Gather", nor do they travel from MN & England/Scotalnd... There are many wonderful things to do to get away from the commercialism, but it takes thinking about it in a different way. We do gifts, but we don't go crazy. we find ways to give back to others and help where we can, and just be together. I'm in the relax mode right now. no more sewing this month! just relax, and enjoy.