welcome to the good loaf

It’s raining outside and you’re stuck indoors anyway because of a global pandemic.  Why not bake some sunshine into a loaf pan?  I got a newsletter email from one of my recipe-writing crushes, Melissa Clark, and used it as a guide to surprise my family in the morning.  He bakes??? 🤯

Pair it with Kanye West’s “Good Life.” 

Prepare a loaf pan with butter and flour.  Take the zest from a small lemon and a big orange and put it into a medium bowl with 3/4 c. sugar.  Melissa Clark suggests massaging the zest into the sugar for aromatherapy purposes; although I agree with her that this can’t actually be adding anything to the recipe, I did it anyway because it felt right.  Into that sweet, citrusy mush, pour 1/2 c. olive oil and 2 beaten eggs and mix.  Stir in 1/2 c. buttermilk, a bit of vanilla extract, and a fat dash of grated nutmeg.  Add 1/2 c. coarse cornmeal and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  In a small bowl, whisk 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon of baking powder into 1 1/4 c flour.  Drop the dry ingredients into the cornmeal-buttermilk mixture and stir until incorporated.  Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes.  Brew a pot of tea. Now throw your hands up in the sky.