This Lemon Thyme Tea Bread — a recipe I’ve made for years — will become a fine if unconventional birthday cake tomorrow.
My husband helped make it because he staunchly believes in one life absolute: NO ONE should have to make their own birthday cake. But really, I don’t mind making my cake. And with a preference to NOT be the center of attention — ever — I also don’t mind the absence of the usual big family gathering held in my honor.
Just as well since my two middle children are out-of-town and my endearing youngest is almost always out in left field, especially when it comes to knowing who’s on first and the important what’s, where’s and when’s of life.
On the other hand, my oldest will be in town and is always on top of her game. However, she has a very important O.U. football game to attend with her husband, which in Oklahoma, don’t you know, is the sacred cow that trumps all else going on during game day. This is absolutely true no matter how punk or sorry the competition is expected to be.
Like all addicts, come hell or high water, a Sooner fan MUST have their fix of O.U. football every time the team plays. Heaven knows I learned this from the cradle — about an hour after my birth, in fact — from my dear daddy who left my mother and me to rush to the radio to find out whether O.U. would continue its winning streak by beating Colorado on October 22, 1955. In case you’re wondering, they did. And also — in case you’re wondering — my father never thought he had his priorities out-of-order.
I will not tune into tomorrow night’s game. But surely if heaven is as good as its name, they will have subscribed to the Sooner Football Network so Daddy can.
Other than knowing THE game will not be part of my celebration, I’ve no plans yet. Where possible, I prefer to live life without a game plan. But I’m pretty sure I’ll be enjoying some of this lovely Lemon Thyme Tea Bread. And of course, since my husband IS a Sooner football fan, I can’t help but think I’ll be hearing the sounds of O.U.’s fight song playing over and over, beginning around 7 pm or so, courtesy of The Pride of Oklahoma, which in case you’re wondering, is O.U.’s band rather than its football team.
How in heaven did THAT happen I wonder.
Go figure.
go o.u.
Lemon Thyme Tea Bread
3/4 cup milk 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp dried thyme 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup sugar 2 large eggs 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp saltCombine first three ingredients in a saucepan — bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Then cool.
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
Combine dry ingredients and, alternating with milk mixture, add to butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix after each addition. Stir in lemon rind.
Pour batter in a greased and floured 9×5 loaf pan. Bake at 325 for 50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan, Pour glaze over bread and cool completely.
Lemon Glaze
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Combine and stir until smooth.
an everyday life 
This is so funny. Being otherwise occupied and all, I’d (ahem) sort of forgotten my own birthday is on Sunday. 😉
A friend called today from England with greetings, since she’s traveling and didn’t want to miss it – my gosh, what a surprise that was!
Since birthdays are going to be a little different now without Mom, I think something new in the way of celebration is called for, and your tea bread is just the ticket. I’ll get the ingredients tomorrow, and whip it up.
Happy birthday to us both!
Linda,
Yes. Happy Birthday to us both.
Celebrations are different without parents, that’s for sure–and this is year four without my mother’s presence (and about the same for Daddy since he and Kyle are kindred spirits in the left field department.)
For years now I’ve made sure to do something special for myself on my birthday. Yesterday I pampered myself with the best massage a gal could possibly have — and waking up this morning, I realized I no longer have that nagging lower back pain (a casualty of all my gardening perhaps?) nor that perennial right leg numbness I’ve had since my second pregnancy. What a gift!
Yet the nagging question becomes: why do I treat myself but once a year when the benefits are so good?
I hope you enjoy the tea bread. We baked ours a little longer than 50 minutes because the middle wasn’t done at fifty — but I think had we pulled it out, it would have finished up on its own steam. Had I been thinking about it, I would have poured some of the glaze on the ends while fresh from the oven to moisten it up, like bakers do with ‘simple syrup.’ But even so, it’s sttill good and like life itself, it improves with age. Tomorrow it will be better.
My best wishes to you for a wonderful birthday.
Janell
Janell,
The tea bread was wonderful! I made it on Saturday and shared it on Sunday – very, very good.
And it was a good birthday weekend. I spent most of Saturday sorting through photos from my trip (and tossing 90 percent of them, of course). Sunday I got the bulk of a new post done, and finished it today. That was a great relief, too, after two weeks of a lot of stimulation but not much focus.
Now, oh blessed day – back to work. Routine. Ordinary. Blessed.
Hope your b’day was great, too!
Linda,
Glad you had a good birthday and enjoyed the cake. My day was good too — mostly because it was just another wonderful day in the garden. Of course I received a few birthday greetings and sort of felt bad when, darn it, O.U. lost its game. But all’s well that ends well? — since the day ended beautifully with rain — maybe as much as a 3/4 of an inch.
Tomorrow we’ve a forty percent chance for some more, followed by another cold front which will drop temperatures to their thirties by Thursday. Still going to try to get some gardening in — I’m so close to finishing the front — will just have to bundle up and keep on digging.
I echo your benediction with one twist — routine. ordinary. blessed. extraordinary
Janell
Looks so good
I am going to make
Have a huge pot of Thyme….
Ernestine,
It is good and I hope you’ll find it so. Easy to over-bake too, like banana bread. But I imagine you’ll do better than I did on this last go round.
Thyme is my favorite herb with rosemary a close second. I planted both in my front raised garden (part of our fifties ranch facade, similar to many of its era) last Saturday. The lady at the garden center tried to persuade me to hold off planting ’til spring — even though both are hardy to -10 degrees F, she said they do better as summer plantings. But being the garden gambler I am, I planted anyway. They’re located on the south side, sheltered from the north wind with a lot of mulch — so I’ve given them good odds. I think. 🙂
I imagine your thyme is home-grown too.
Janell