Strawberry Bread

I love Publix. It is my most favorite grocery store in Augusta. It's always clean, the people are friendly, it has a wonderful balance of "health nut" to "normal" food, and the produce and meat departments always have the freshest selections.

Probably my favorite thing about Publix is that they don't have those VIP reward cards, but they always have 2 for the price of 1 on most of the items you buy, except every week, they change up the brands. But unlike a lot of stores, you can still get the deal even if you only buy one. So, you get a carton of orange juice for half price. It's great, as long as you not always a one-brand kind of person.

Last week, they were having a huge sale on strawberries. It was a tremendous savings. Three pint size containers for $5! I love strawberries in my yogurt (fresh strawberries, not strawberry flavored yogurt--gross) so I thought I'd buy a couple pints and see how long they lasted. Turns out, it's not so easy to eat 2 pints of strawberries before they go bad. So, I devised a plan to rid the fridge of the leftover strawberries...make strawberry bread on Sunday morning.

I love my mom's recipe, but couldn't find it so I found one on the internet. Luckily we were housesitting so she had everything I needed in her pantry. It's always nice to know you can make a perfectly delicious breakfast without having to go to the grocery store. Publix is great, but at 9:30 in the morning, being home is even better.

Strawberry Bread
Adapted from Joy of Baking

1/2 stick of unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3 large eggs, lightly scrambled
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. AP flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. sour cream
1/3 c. pecans
2 c. roughly chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour an 8x4-inch loaf pan.

Place pecans on baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until fragrant. Let cool and coarsely chop.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter for about one minute. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat until just mixed. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture (in three additions) and sour cream (in two additions) alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Mix only until combined. Gently fold in the chopped strawberries and walnuts.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for one hour and 15 mintues. Insert a toothpick to see if comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool and then remove bread from pan. Serve warm with lots of butter.