The taste of spring makes for pearly whites

According to the interwebs the combination of strawberries and baking soda is a great natural teeth whitener. The boy made this discovery and promptly went out and bought a huge plastic box of wintery California strawberries. After one miracle application (no, I don't have photos of that one and, yes, it was a grand success, he claimed through his pearly whites) the box was pushed to the back of the refrigerator. After several days, I pulled those hard little nubs out and made this tasty bit of spring sweetness.They were no spring beauties, but baked into this bread, it's hard to complain.

Walnut-Strawberry (or Rhubarb) Quick Bread
Adapted from King Arthur
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) mashed strawberries*
1/2 cup (3 7/8 ounces) vegetable oil

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease and flour (or spray with non-stick vegetable oil spray) a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the walnuts, flour, sugar, soda, salt and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, whisk together the lemon, eggs, strawberries and vegetable oil. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, whisking until well-blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove it from the pan and transfer it to a rack to cool completely, 1 hour or longer. For best flavor and easiest slicing, wrap the bread while still slightly warm and let it sit overnight.

* I chopped the strawberries and tossed them with a bit of sugar. Let them sit for a while at room temperature and they will be a breeze to mash.