You are correct. I have been absent over 3 years now. But, well, I feel I must make a come back for this one.

It is a simple bread. It isn’t even a yeast bread. But it is none the less for using baking powder and baking soda. I will be so bold as to say this has proved to be one of my favorite quick breads. I rate this one up there with my two all time favorites: Irish Soda Bread and Chili CornBread.

Our host Kitchen of the Month is Kelly at A Messy Kitchen. Thank you so much for a perfect Babe bread rich with variation opportunity!

I baked this one twice: perfect Babe bread rich with variation opportunity…both times I used the King Arthur recipe but took liberties both times.

First Bake – Savory

I replaced the all purpose flour with barley flour but and topped the bread with King Arthur’s ‘The Works’ bread topping.

Second Bake – Sweet

The fellow resident sweet tooth ask for raisins, apples and walnuts – a wonderful addition! The recipe calls for 2 T sugar – did I put that in – I did not. Unless a recipe calls for over 1/4 cup of sugar it gets left out, over 1/4 cup I reduce some amount.

I baked this the 17 minutes, took it out, brushed it with melted butter and then sprinkled Turbinado sugar on the top, returned it to the oven for 2 minutes.

What did I gleam from this: bake it in a quarter sheet pan; apples add needed moisture to balance the dry oatmeal and barley flour; add ins, add ons are delightful!

Happy Anniversary! Seventeen years is cause for celebration and a time to reminisce. On this anniversary I am sorry to say we have lost one of our original Babes: Mary Cook – Bread Chick. Mary would have been leading us all from the back bench in a rousing cheer. I will always miss Mary.

I’ll be checking out all the Babes today because I know the variations will be beautiful and ones that may not have occurred to me.

Cheers to all of us who love baking breads. There are always new ones to discover. If you haven’t already checked out the latest King Arthur book “Big Book of Bread” get on it because it is beautiful. One recipe that has me making preserved lemons again (recipe from Paula Wolfert) is ‘Preserved Lemon and Olive Bread’. It is WOW! Perserved lemons are so unique and change things in surprising ways. King Arthur gives a short cut way to do the lemons but I prefer the 6 week wait.

Stay warm and bake on.