Orange Poppy seed Bread and Loaf Cozy

        I am super late posting because I had to go to the post office and mail all of my out of state gifts. You don't even want to know how much that cost!  But, I love making and giving gifts and getting them all mailed is a big relief to me.  Now I can focus on the things I need to finish up at home.  
        Do you ever realize that just when you thought you had everyone covered, there is a friend or a neighber that you really want to do something for? Here is a sweet way to remember someone that is tasty, warm, personal and useful that doesn't break the bank, but adds that extra touch that says you gave some thought to your gift.  It is a bread cozy for a loaf of your special bread.  The great thing about this cozy is that you can use any scraps of fabric that you may have.  You can make a few in advance to have ready for when your bread is baked and your friend can use it again to keep bread warm when she takes her own bread to share at a family or church function.  (Or wherever)  

I found the original idea in this book. It has tons of great Christmas gift and recipe ideas. The original directions were for a tiny loaf, but you can adapt it for any sized loaf. You can still order this book on Amazon.

         For the Cozy: You need about 1/3 of a yard of any cotton fabric and the same amount of batting and about 1 yard of ribbon.  

•  Measure your bread pan on the outside from rim end to rim end and the sides from rim end to rim end, both going under the pan and back up the other side.  Add one inch to the measurements.
• Cut 2 pieces of fabric and one piece of batting according to the measurements.  I cut mine 12" x 16" .  In retrospect, I could have gone a little smaller.
• Place fabric right sides together on top of the batting.  Leaving an opening for turnig on one end, stitch all the way around using a 1/2" seam.  Trim the seams and corners and flip right side out.  
• Press, then stitch the opening shut. You can stitich by hand or on the machine and top stitch all around.
• Place your bread pan in the center of the rectangle and pinch up the cornors like this:

Well, I don't have the pan in it here, but I pinned it at each corner like this.

• Tie 4 bows and tack them at each pinned corner, stitching the corners together at the same time.  It should end up looking like this:     

       Now, are you wondering about that loaf of bread?  
Citrus is getting ripe and so prolific right now that this is a great time of year to bake an Orange Poppy seed Loaf. It is super quick and simple to whip up and the orange glaze makes it extra special.  Do you have lemons instead of oranges?  It works for lemons just as well.  Here is the recipe:

Orange Poppy seed Bread

        When I put the bread in the cozy, I lined the cozy with some waxed paper or parchment paper.

          Since I was giving this loaf away, I decided to put the glaze in a little container  so it wouldn't be too messy and they can add the glaze on their own.  Have you seen these cute little containers at Dollar Tree?  I use them for so many things and you can  fit just the right amount of glaze in one for this loaf.  I used a round self-adhesive label on the top.  (I just drew on it myself).  

Cute and tasty, right? I would love a gift like this, so I am sure others would as well.

          Now, here is how the loaf looks when you put on the glaze and serve it.

Put it on your cute Christmas serving plate and pour on the glaze.

Yum!

Look at the poppy seeds and the bits of orange zest. What a great combination.

          There you have it! It took me much longer to wite this post about this little gift than it took me to make it.  You can make the cozy for any special loaf you make and you will have an extra special gift for someone! I hope you enjoy it!