Soccer Camp and Orange Chocolate Chip Bread

It's been a crazy summer for us, so much drama and stress that I decided the kids needed something fun to do. In the Spring, I thought for sure there was no way Sydney would be interested in a Soccer Camp, 3 hours everyday of Soccer... I wasn't sure she would enjoy it. However over the spring we got a small soccer net and she already had a ball so the girls started having fun kicking the ball around. Given that the kids loves to run and there aren't any organized running leagues at this age I asked her if she wanted to attend Soccer Camp and she was ecstatic! She's attending Soccer through Euro Soccer Camps and today was her first day. I hadn't bought her any soccer gear as I wanted to see if she would actually enjoy it and if she did I would enroll her in our local Soccer League for the fall.

We picked her up and got to watch the last 20 minutes of camp.

This was the last drill they did, one player from each team runs to the cones to circle around it as they comeback, the ball is thrown into play and whoever gets the ball and scores a goal earns a point for the team.

Showing she is as speedy as her competitor

In the end he scored the goal, but she did good! 

 Needless to say she was thrilled and tired when we picked her up and said she loved it! So we went out afterwards and bought cleats, shin guards and some new dry wick gear for her. I hope she enjoys the sport I think it will be very good for her.

On to some grub! Yesterday morning I was watching the Food Network and they were featuring a bakery that makes all of these delicious coffee cakes and breads. One of the breads they made was an Orange Chocolate Chip Bread and it looked amazing. So I was off to find my own version! Here is what I made yesterday.

Ingredients

• 1 medium navel orange
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Wash and grate orange. Place orange peel in a small bowl. Juice orange. Add enough boiling water to the juice to measure 1 cup. Pour over orange peel; let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. In another bowl, beat egg, butter, vanilla and reserved orange mixture; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. 

To top this off I made an orange simple syrup. I may experiment with this more but this is what I did. I took one navel orange and grated the outside and juiced the orange. I added both to a small pot with 1 cup of sugar and some water to the orange juice to make 1 cup of liquid. I boiled until it became like a syrup.

Once the loaf came out of the pan I pricked the top of the loaf with lots of holes with a toothpick and than brushed the syrup all over the top. The idea is for the syrup to sink down the holes and help keep the bread moist as well as add a glaze to the top of the bread.

Enjoy!