Lemon Blueberry Bread

>sigh<

The day has finally arrived in which I can no longer, on my worst days, say to myself, "Well, at least I'm not 39."

Oof. Age doesn't normally bother me, but as I get older some things are more troublesome than they used to be. For example, laugh lines were always something I said in the past as something to be proud of. Except now that I have them, I look high and low for creams to fix those suckers.

Another issue I'm having is gray hair. I've always had a few strays, and they didn't bother me much.  But now, as I turn 39, I'm overwhelmed. I have a gray STREAK at my temple. I seriously am going to start insisting people call me Bonnie Raitt. My hair is a little less poofy than hers, but the streak is alarmingly the same. I guess it's time to color my hair, now that I'm 39.

Oh, my midsection. Can we just not even go there? I haven't invested in any 'Mom' jeans yet, but I fear I'm about one cupcake away.

I've always been one to look for the silver lining, though. So as I was looking through some old pictures, my 5 year-old son saw my husband and my wedding picture. He said, "Awwww....look at you two.  That was back when Daddy was younger and had more hair."

My sweet, sweet boy. Guess who didn't have greens beans on his plate for dinner?

This cake is so amazing. It was exactly the kind of thing I needed to cheer me up. My baking skills are not exactly spectacular, but I think I did a great job of working this. It is extremely moist, sweet, and it makes turning 39 bearable.

Lemon Blueberry Bread
Source:  Portuguese Girl Cooks

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 t. for blueberries
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 T. finely grated lemon zest
3 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk (I used 2% and it worked just fine)
1 t. vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries

For the Syrup:
4 T. fresh lemon juice
4 T. sugar

For the Glaze:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 T. fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and lemon zest on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is mixed well.

Add the milk and vanilla, continuing to beat until well blended.

Add the flour mixture slowly, and mix until just combined.

In another small bowl, mix the blueberries and flour (I used frozen blueberries and they worked perfectly).

Gently add the blueberries to the batter.

Pour mixture into your loaf pan, and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.

In a small saucepan, add lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. At this point, the sugar should be dissolved.

Poke holes in the top of your cake at this point with a skewer all over the top of the loaf (I used a meat-thermometer....no judgements),   Pour the syrup all over the bread, making sure it gets into every possible place on the bread.

Allow the bread to then cool for 2-3 hours.

In a small bowl, mix confectioners sugar and lemon juice. Go ahead, and taste it - you know you can't resist.

Drizzle over bread once the bread has cooled completely.

** Linked up to The Country Cook's Weekend Potluck **