Speedy Friendship Bread.

Hello friends!

I’m here watching the weather on TV and this coming week looks great!  They are predicting a high of 54 degrees on Wednesday before returning to normal temps by next weekend.  Sounds good to me!  Plus, in the background I have the 80's channel on Pandora Radio pumping out some oldies.  Good stuff.

So, this morning I did my weekly speed work with Jesse at the track.  I wasn’t feeling up to par so we decided to alter the workout midway through.  It ended up being a fairly decent session, but I hate changing whatever I set out to do so I left feeling a little frustrated (and guilty).  But, we all have those days, right? 

Here’s what we did:

2-mile warm-up

4 x 200 – 38.1, 37.23, 37.29, 36.29 with 45 seconds rest in between each

(leaving out the first one, that’s approximately 4:37 pace for 1500 meters)

2:30 rest

3 x 400 – 77.6, 78.1, 78.1 with 1 minute rest in between each

(78-second quarters = 4:52.5 pace for 1,500 meters)

Here’s where we adjusted the workout.  I can't ever end a workout on a bad note, so we decided to finish with some fast 200’s.  Jesse understood and he was fine with it.  He even ran with me today!!   

3 x 200 – 37.2, 35.9, 35.26 with 1 minute rest in between each

2 mile cool-down = about a 5 ½ mile day

I. was. exhausted.  I’ll just leave it at that…

So, on to the friendship bread…

Today was the day to finally make the bread.  I was so excited to see what the final result would taste like!

First, I had to add 1 cup of milk and 1 1/2 cups of sugar to the batter.  Then, like I said the other day, I had to separate the batter in four 1 cup portions into four gallon-sized baggies.  These are to be given away to friends, along with a copy of the recipe.

This is all the batter that was left in the bowl to be used in my bread.  

Next, I had to add the following to the batter in a large bowl:

Eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, baking powder, small box of pudding, oil, sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda.  

I greased my two required loaf pans with butter and then sprinkled a cinnamon and sugar mixture on the bottom.  

Then I divided the batter equally into the two pans.  

The pans went into a preheated 350-degree oven for an hour.  I am writing this post as they are baking, so this will be like a cliffhanger in a movie...you will have to wait until tomorrow's post to see the final result!  :) 

Next I am going to make my homemade granola....more on that tomorrow as well!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Tracy

Friendship Bread from Mom.

TGIF baby!  Long Presidents’ Day weekend…here I come! 

I am so excited this morning because I am looking ahead to the long, three- day vacation ahead of me since there is "No School"on Monday.

Did you ever hear of Friendship Bread?  The other day my mom gave me a little experiment to try.  It is a baggie filled with 1½ cups of fermented bread batter from a previous batch and it keeps getting passed from friend to friend.  See the photo…I love how my mom wrote the dates next to the instructions so I would’t forget.  She is so organized…Go mom! 

Basically, you keep this batter for ten days.  On day six, you need to add a cup of sugar, flour and milk and everyday, the bag must be kneaded.  On day ten, the batter is ready to make the bread.  My mom sent me a text on day six to remind me to add the three ingredients.  Plus, she sent me another one last night that said, "Don't forget to mush!"  She’s always on the ball.

So two nights ago I added the flour, sugar and milk, even though I was supposed to add them the night before (having no milk was my issue).  I am fairly certain that this mishap won’t make a difference in the final result. 

On day ten, I will be measuring out four – 1 ½ cup baggies filled with batter to pass on to four friends.  The rest of the batter gets used for the recipe. 

Since I will be making this bread in a few days and I will be sure to let you know how it turns out.  Apparently, only the Indians know how to create the “starter” bag, so if this batter “chain” stops, I will have to wait until someone gives me another bag.  In addition, extras can be added to this bread such as nuts, raisins, apples, cinnamon, chocolate, etc.  Hmmm, I’ll have a few decisions to make…

On another note, yesterday I ran my weekly long run since Sunday is reserved for speed work.  Eight miles chock full of dreary weather and rain.  Yuck.  But, I got through it in just under eight-minute mile pace to finish in 1:03. 

And of course, stretching always follows my runs...so here I am lengthening my muscles and working out the kinks in my IT band. 

Finally, last night I made a side dish using farro, a healthy grain that was one of the first crops to be grown in the Mediterranean and  Near Eastern regions. More on that recipe this weekend...

I hope you enjoy your Friday!

Tracy