Honey-Lemon Poppy Seed Bread {& a Rusted Chain necklace giveaway!}
Thanks for all the support this week as my newest book and DVD Bible study series KEEP IT SHUT: What to Say, How to Say it & When to Say Nothing at All released.
Despite the fact that I am still home in my sweats recovering from horrible bronchitis, it has been fun to see people talking online about how they have grown from reading it. {Which makes it a WHOLE lot easier to put my heart out there as I share my utter failures in this area, which I do in the book!}
Now, some more freebies for you as we continue the launch week!
First, one of the key verses in the book is all about our words being gracious and sweet:
Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
The talented Beki, from The Rusted Chain made a necklace based on this verse and my book. Wow! I am so thrilled! Her jewelry is adorable and she has been featured in such places as popular magazines, The Pioneer Woman on her Food Network show, and her pieces have been worn by Candace Cameron Bure, Martha Stewart, some of the Duck Dynasty ladies, Miranda Lambert, Deanna Daughtry (wife of singer Chris Daughtry) and more.
So, in addition to the giveaway from earlier this week of a KEEP IT SHUT bundle that includes the book, Bible study DVD, one study guide, AND a Kindle Fire! (you can still enter that giveaway until January 27 so click here to do so!) today I am giving away one of these necklaces!
And, I am posting a recipe that is in my book. Because the book talks about making our words gracious and sweet like it says in Proverbs 16:24, I include a recipe for honey-lemon poppy seed bread to make to take to someone with a card full of sweet words for them. (And the book gives a whimsical tag to photocopy with the verse and a cute-as-punch bumble bee hive. It is full of fun bonus material in the back of the book such as this.)
To be entered to win the necklace, simply leave a comment on this post with the answer to this:
With whom is it hardest for you to speak sweetly sometimes?
With me, it is my hubby. Oh I HATE that this is so! BUT, I think if you ask him he’d say he’s seen me make progress over the years as God taught me the truths I share in this book and Bible study!)
Ok…here is the recipe. Don’t forget to leave a comment!
Honey-Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
As pretty as it is tasty!
Ingredients:
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 T honey
4 large eggs
1/4 cup grated lemon zest
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Glaze ingredients:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Dash of almond extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8-inch loaf pans. With an electric mixer, cream the butter, 2 cups sugar, and honey in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add lemon zest. Mix in 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and almond extract.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Combine the flour and buttermilk mixtures together mixing until smooth. Stir in poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. If the top begins to brown too much, cover with a piece of foil gently set on top.
Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Let loaves cool for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and set them on wax paper or foil. Drizzle the lemon syrup over them. Let loaves cool completely.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and almond extract in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.
For giving: Once the cake and icing have completely cooled and set, wrap in foil, being careful not to wrap the top and sides too tightly due to the icing. You may also give in bakery boxes designed for 9-inch loaf pans. You can find these at craft and gourmet food stores. You may also carefully slice the loaf and arrange some slices on a plate and cover with plastic wrap before giving. Whatever the presentation, be sure to include a copy of the tag featuring Proverbs 16:24 “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
Sometimes I am harsh with my adorable grandson (5 yrs) that lives me since he was a baby. I want to set the example of what a godly grandmother looks like. He is such a dear boy and loves Jesus.
Not with one person in particular, but with disagreeable people in general. I don’t have a poker face, and I have to work very hard not to broadcast a look that says “Are you out of your ever loving mind?!”
The hardest person to speak sweetly to, for me, is my mother-in-law. She knows how to push my buttons. I desire to speak life giving words to her.
I am so excited about this study! Why is it so hard to speak sweetly to those with whom we a closest? I find it far too easy to be critical of my husband and children. Mostly my husband, though. I am in the middle of “Let it Go” so you can imagine my controlling tendencies get the best of me sometimes and I say whatever bubbles up – ugh! I’ll be finishing “Let it Go” just before starting this study and can’t wait to see what I learn from it! Thank you!
Quite a few people came to mind, so I had to look a bit deeper. In doing so I realized my difficulty is more situational than personal. When people speak to me with certain non-sweet tones in their voices, I have a harder time speaking sweetly to them. The thing that makes it hardest for me to speak sweetly is condescension.
It is definitely my 25 yo daughter. She and my 4 yo grandson live with us and there are days when I cannot communicate with her without it turning into a major confrontation. I have seen some changes since January 4th and hoping and praying daily that 2015 will bring us closer to each other and rooted in the Word of God.
I have to agree with you… my husband is the hardest one I find to speak sweetly to most of the time. Sad but true.
Sadly I admit I let it all out with my husband way too often. He is the best listener and so understanding – but I take advantage of it. This book is the push I needed to stop, pray and shut it.
Like most of you out there, I find it hardest to speak sweetly to my husband and children. It always seems easier, or tt least more socially necessary, to hold it together and speak sweetly outside of our homes. Those we are closest to, the ones that are “stuck” with us, tend to get the worst of us at times because we rationalize that it’s ok to stop putting forth the effort to be nice when we aren’t feeling like it. I can’t wait to read this book and stop making my loved ones just deal with my attitude.
oh, how hard to own up, but yes, my husband as well. It’s not for a lack of trying, but the end of the day brings the shortest of patience. working on it always – sometimes harder than other times, but always trying to be sweeter and kinder. I think your book will be inspiring.
I have a hard time speaking sweetly to a family member. This person has hurt the family for years and continues to hurt everyone through their actions. I know I am supposed to forgive, but, I struggle to believe anything this person speaks. I have asked the Lord for help and there are times that I feel my heart softening. I am a work in progress.
My kids.
My husband. He get the brunt of my venting. Not that it is towards him or about him, he just becomes my sounding board.
It’s hardest to speak to rude customers at my workplace and to some of my coworkers who have negative attitudes.
It would be my hubby and kids (sorry…broke the rules and picked more than 1 person). I can usually pause and choose my words carefully in public and work situations, but my poor family….oh, I feel they get the worst of me. The filter-is-gone, no pause, all pounce, me. And they are the ones I love most dearly and should get my best! I am SO working on this…..and cannot wait for the book to appear in my mailbox!
My children. Especially my daughter who thinks very differently than I do. I have to step back and look at things thru her eyes to ensure I don’t trod on her spirit!
I know where this bread and card is headed. I have an old schoolmate that I have recently reconnected with. For whatever reason he seems to set me off quicker than anyone, and most the time it is completely innocent. I just overreact.
I have to go with the moody teenagers. I try every day to make my speech sweet but I get run down with attitude from them. I am a work in progress….sigh.
For me, it is my teenage daughter.. We don’t see eye to eye a lot these days and though I’m usually trying to be helpful, my words don’t always come out as sweet as I intend.. ????.
Shamefully it’s my oldest daughter. She looks a lot like her father ‘my ex- abusive husband’. We work on this a lot. She is nothing like him
Sadly it’s my husband. : ( : ( I have a long ways to go. I want to be a good example to my sons of what a godly wife looks like.
I have to watch my tongue / tone with my precious children. It’s so easy to get short with them or raise my voice, especially when we are rushed and in a hurry (which is often!).
I have the hardest time with the words I say to my husband. We have been going through a difficult time for a year now and I have to try really hard to think before I speak.
Oh my! After looking at the comments, I am so thankful I am not alone! I take my frustrations out on my husband and kids. It is in my horrible tone of voice that I can use at the drop of a hat at home. Sometimes I don’t even realize that my words come out the way they do. I have worked at it over the years, but I still have a long way to go. I too have a preteen daughter that has gained an attitude with a capital ‘A’. She will ask me to ‘help’ her with her homework, then get an attitude when I try to explain the concept. She really just wants me to ‘do’ her homework for her! I try explaining that you can’t learn that way, but it doesn’t usually work. I have one child on the genius level and the other could care less about school. Every child is different. LOL! Best thing to have is God and a great sense of humor or it would drive you crazy. :)
Blessings to all!
KK
I have a real hard time talking sweet to my mother. My grandmother raised me because my mother didn’t want to or knew how to. When I talk to my mother it is short and to the point, and not necessarily sweet. With God’s help I hope to change the way my mother and I communicate some day.