Small but still pretty tasty

I thought my carrots would grow bigger.  I figured if I left them awhile longer they would eventually get nice and long like the picture on the seed packet. But it didn’t happen. So before Laura left for school, we picked them all. The orange ones were knobby and stunted. The purple ones were the right shape but only 3” long. We kept them in a bowl in the fridge to snack on and they made for good eating alongside lunch.  

After Laura and Tim left for school and lands far away, the rest of the carrots remaining in the bowl looked rather sad. I figured if I wasn’t a little more proactive, they would get all rubbery and end up in the compost. Not a very honorable end to a noble effort. Carrot bread sounded like the right way to finish off the darling runts in all their glory. Found a great recipe in this little cookbook I have called Quick Breads by Beatrice Ojakangas. It’s out of print but you can find used copies on Amazon or you might find a volume at a used bookstore. It’s got some really great recipes: Mincemeat Apricot Bread, Orange Pecan Bread, Cinnamon Pear Tea Bread, Colonial Brown Bread. At any rate, the recipe for Carrot Walnut Bread sounded like just the right thing. Took all the little carrots and whazzed* them up in the food processor till they were “grated”.  (*Jamie Oliver’s technical term.) Made three small loaves in foil loaf pans…two to keep and one to send to Laura at school. Toasted with some sharp cheddar cheese…deelish!

Laura had some stuff that didn’t fit in her suitcase that she wanted me to send. I boxed them up and so carefully and thoughtfully as a mother does, tucked the loaf into the package.  When I got to the post office shop I was told by Ramon that it would cost $25 by UPS and the box would arrive a week later. “Hmmmm…not so good for the bread,” I thought.” Can you get it there faster?”  I ask.  “Sure,”  says Ramon. “You could Fed Ex it and the package would arrive three days earlier…and it would cost $50.” Now I know the carrots are dear, and the loaf was lovingly packed but was it really worth an additional $25 for a little loaf of carrot bread? Not so much.

I’ll try planting carrots again next year but I’ll give them more room and do a better job of thinning. Hopefully that’ll do the trick. And I think I’ll just stick with orange ones. Millions of rabbits can’t be wrong.

Carrot Walnut Bread

2 cups all purpose flour                                    ½ teaspoon salt
                                  

1 cup chopped walnuts                                    2 cups finely shredded fresh carrots

½ cup granulated sugar                                    ½ cup milk

½ cup brown sugar, packed                             1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 teaspoons baking powder                              1 egg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour one 9 ½ x 5 ½  inch loaf pan or three 5 ¾ x 3 ½ inch loaf pans. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, nuts, sugars, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt until well blended. Stir in the remaining ingredients just until moistened. Spoon into pan or pans. Bake 50 to 60 minutes for a large loaf, 35 to 45 minutes for small loaves, or until they test done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.