The Hunger Games: Strawberry Bread

The Hunger Games. If you haven't heard, read, or lived them, then you must be living on another planet! The Hunger Games are a three-part series of books by Suzanne Collins. The first book, I read in less than 48 hours. The second book, I was wait listed at the library for the longest week of my life and when I got my hands on it, I tried to space it out and read it in a week. The last one...I just couldn't space out and read it in about 3 days. So when I heard there was "The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook" by Emily Ansara Baines, I knew I had to have to, cook from it, and then share with you all!

Thanks to the folks over at F+W Media, this book reached me just in time to post on the day that The Hunger Games movie premieres in most movie theaters. Of course, living on the Vineyard has its downfall and movies don't premiere at the same time as the entire nation, so I will sadly not be watching this movie today, but hopefully soon enough!

The book is filled with recipes for almost, if not all, the dishes in the books. Some of the chapters include recipes for:

• Mrs. Everdeen's Breakfast of Mush
• Cheesy Meaty Hash Brown Casserole
• French Bread from the Mellark Family
• Peeta's Cinnamon Bakery Bread
• Prim's Sweet Goat Cheese Salad
• Rue's Roasted Roots
• Plutarch Heavensbee's Roast Wild Turkey
• Tigri's Fig Cookies

After flipping through the book and reading the author's inventive recipe creations, I settled on making the Opportunistic Strawberry Bread, not only because berries have such great meaning in the original books, but because I've never made Strawberry Bread!

Made with whole wheat flour and no artificial sugars, this bread is fantastic as a breakfast loaf! The fresh berries lace it, creating small pockets of berry explosion. I had some freeze-dried strawberries, which I pulverized and added to the batter before baking to amp the strawberry flavor. It's a rustic looking bread that is a perfect vessel for a slathering of cream cheese or to eat as is, so definitely give this recipe a try!

Opportunistic Strawberry Bread

The Unofficial Hunger Games Cookbook: From Lamb Stew to "Groosling" - More than 150 Recipes Inspired by The Hunger Games Trilogy (F+W Media, December 2011; $19.95) by Emily Ansara Baines

It’s likely that Katniss isn’t the only one aware of the mayor’s penchant for strawberries. In fact,
Peeta’s father, perhaps recognizing an opportunity to support his family, probably makes this yummy
strawberry bread specifically to sell to the mayor!
(The Hunger Games, Chapter 4)

Makes 1 loaf

¼ cup honey
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
1½ cups whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9" loaf pan.
2. Add honey and butter to beaten egg and blend.
3.  Put flour and baking powder in a large bowl and make a well in the center.
4. Pour in egg mixture and add strawberries. Blend well.
5. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake about 1 hour. Bread is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. 
6. Cool 10–15 minutes before removing from pan.

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