Beer Bread

You gotta love a bread recipe that has THREE ingredients and NO kneading or rising time! I was on the hunt for a good/easy beer bread recipe, and while this one is good, it's probably not the best beer bread I've ever had, but it certainly is the easiest! And you still get that nice, right-out-of-the-oven bread taste, so it gets a two thumbs up in my book.

Ingredients

• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 3 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and flour. Add beer and continue to mix, first using a wooden spoon, then your hands. Batter will be sticky. Pour into a 9 x 5 inch greased loaf pan.
2. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees ) for 50 for 60 minutes. The top will be crunchy, and the insides will be soft. Serve topped with butter or cheese spread.

It's just that easy! I've made it several times, and have played around with increasing the sugar a bit, trying to get a bit of a sweeter bread. I used Budweiser beer, and I'd like to try it with some home brew beers, as well as some dark/sweeter ones and see how that affects the taste. For you non-beer lovers out there, the beer taste itself cooks over during baking (I am a non-beer lover myself, so trust me, if there was a strong beer taste, this girl would have given it a thumbs down! :P). It's a pretty heavy bread, and very crusty on the outside. Very yummy though, especially a slice with butter and a drizzle of honey right out of the oven! 

      Today would have been my Dad's birthday. Every year, this date hits me differently. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes I'm an emotional mess. This is a doing ok year. I've spent a lot of the day reminiscing, but also thinking about how different life would be for our family if he were still around. I was blessed to have the day off, and while I will miss the hours, it's been nice to have some down time just to think. To remember. And to dream. I wish I could say I have tons of in-depth memories of my Dad, but I really don't. We weren't overly close. But I miss him. I wish he were here. I wish that he could walk my sisters down the aisle like he was able to do with me. I wish I could call him, just to say "hi" and "I love you". 

     My favorite thing about my Dad was his simple faith. It wasn't about theological discussions, or reading all the right books. It just was. And he would be the first person to help someone out if they needed it. I want to emulate that. That, I think, is my Dad's legacy.