Gail Creel, who lives in Houston, Texas, grew up in St. Louis says she has loved the Cardinals from the beginning. She found out about the STLSportsPage newsletter and became a subscriber. One day she contacted us and we noticed her email has a cooking reference so we asked her about it.
Turns out she’s a pretty good cook. She’s an independent contractor food and product promotions specialist.
With Labor Day Weekend approaching (Monday Sept. 7 is Labor Day) we thought we’d ask her for a good recipe to take to a Labor Day barbecue.
“I love Oriental Salad,” she said. “This salad is my favorite recipe to take for picnics and cookouts. It’s easy to assemble and doesn’t spoil as easily as a mayonnaise-based slaw would.”
Chances are on the three-day weekend she will be either at an Astros game or listening to the Cardinals game on KMOX’s 50,000 watts. Cardinals baseball and cooking good food are her recipe for happiness.
“It was always a treat to be able to attend a game at the original Busch Stadium, and the new stadium as well,” she says “However there was nothing better than listening to the game covered by the radio announcers throughout the years. I’ve cheered the team through pennant races and trophy wins.”
She moved to Houston, TX in 2009 and because she was such a baseball fan, she rooted for the Cardinals but started attending Astros games.
“I continued to represent my favorite Redbirds, even while I attended the Astros games, wearing my Yadier Molina jersey with pride,” she said. “It was a special blessing to travel to spring training last year and see the Cardinals and Astros play in pre-season games.”
She loves to make Strawberry bread, and agreed to share her recipe. Could the color red have anything to do with it?
“I admit I’m rooting for the Astros as they are headed to post-season play because I would love to see a Cardinals/Astros World Series. Now THAT’S a winner!”
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Gail’s Fresh Strawberry Bread
Take advantage of those end-of-the-season, fresh strawberries for this light and airy sweet bread. Your guests will love snacking on this as the food is being prepared on the grill. The recipe can also be prepared in mini loaf pans. Just wrap, add a bow, and share them with your favorite Cardinal fans.
Fresh Strawberry Bread
Yield: 1 loaf
“Use the last of the sweet summer berries to make Fresh Strawberry Bread. This moist, flavorful bread is a dream for breakfast when lightly toasted and smeared with a bit of cream cheese. This is my baking addiction.”
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups fresh strawberries, rinsed, dried and chopped
Instructions
Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350°F.
With electric mixer cream butter, sugar and cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend flour mixture with butter mixture just until blended. Add buttermilk and only stir until just combined; do not over mix.
Carefully fold in strawberries. Dough mixture will be thick.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes.
Oriental Salad
1 (16 oz) package Cole slaw mix
1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted (5 min. at 350)
4 green onions, chopped
2 chicken breasts, cooked, chopped
1/2 cup almonds, slivered
1 package Top Ramen soup, chicken flavored, noodles slightly crushed
Toss all ingredients in large salad bowl.
Dressing:
2 T sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 t pepper
3 T vinegar
1 t accent meat tenderizer
Packet from Ramen noodles
In jar with tight fitting lid, combine dressing ingredients. Shake well. Add dressing to salad at last minute, tossing to coat.
