HARVEST OATMEAL TEA BREAD for "Tea In The Garden"

  Today I set up a little tea time in the garden.  While in Missouri a few weeks back, I got some bittersweet at an antique mall called Artichoke Annie's east of Columbia.  We always enjoy stopping there when we visit my son and his family.  I put some of the bittersweet on the birdhouse in the corner of the yard.  I hope you are ready to sit and relax a little while this morning!

I recently pulled out some of my fall cookbooks to enjoy.  Don't you love the recipes for apples, pumpkin, squash, etc.  I would imagine that the pumpkins will be arriving at our market soon.  This is the really colorful time of the year.

Please pour yourself a cup of tea and
 have a nice slice of this Harvest Oatmeal Tea Bread. 
 The recipe was in an old 1997 November
 issue of Victoria Magazine.

Harvest Oatmeal Tea Bread:

You will need: 3/4 cup unsalted butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 1/4 cups boiling water, 1 cup old fashioned oatmeal, uncooked, 1 cup of sifted flour, 1 tsp baking soda,  1/2 tsp ground cinnamon,  1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup dried chopped apricots, 1/2 cup dark or yellow raisins, 1/2 cup craisins, 4 Tb cognac (you could also add nuts if desired). I did not have cognac so I used Rum.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and the sugar and mix in the eggs one at a time until fluffy.

Boil water and add oatmeal and stir setting aside.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda spices and salt.  Add the dried fruits to this mixture.

Add the cognac and the creamed butter mixture to the dry components.

Fold the oatmeal into this mixture.

Now pour into a greased and floured bread pan 5 x 9 and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Next, turn the oven down to 325 degrees for an additional 45 minutes and check with a wooden skewer. (Frankly - I only baked this an additional 15 minutes this morning and it was done.)  If it comes out clean this means it is done. Turn out of pan while warm!

Indoors I have pulled out my fall decorations and transferware pieces and will share those later this week.  I am like many of you who leave these items out until around Thanksgiving November 26.  I like the Canadian Thanksgiving Day of October 12th so much better!  That gives them so much more time for Christmas decorating.