(Sorry about the picture, I had already wrapped the bread up before I took a pic and didn’t want to unwrap it and wrap it up again.)  So for last night’s Bunco prizes, I decided to have a little fun (the way we play Bunco is that everyone goes home with a prize, if you win then you get to pick first!).  I went to Hobby Lobby and hit it at just the right time as all their Easter and Spring products were on sale for 40% off and I was looking for Easter and Spring dishes or plates or trays, things like that so I was able to get all my prizes for 40% off, yippee!  Then I started baking a few days ahead of time and made some sort of treat to go on each of the dishes (as you can see from the pic, this loaf of bread is on a round lemon tray and in the pic at the end of the post, the other loaf of bread is on a pink rose sort of vintage looking tray).  So here is post #1 about the Bunco prizes! (This recipe is a “Taste of Home” recipe.)

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oil

2 1/2 cups sugar, divided

2 cups buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 – 2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts (I topped 1 loaf with walnuts, pic at end of post, and 1 loaf with almonds, pic at beginning of post)

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.  Combine oil and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a small bowl.  Add buttermilk and eggs to oil and sugar and mix well.  Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fill 2 greased 8 x 4 x 2″ loaf pans about 1/3 full with batter.  Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar and sprinkle half over batter.  Top with remaining batter and cinnamon sugar.  Swirl batter with a knife.  (A tip from me, the batter is really thick so don’t swirl all the way out to the edge of the pan as it will make the bread a little unstable after it has baked.)  Sprinkle with nuts.  Bake at 350 for 45 – 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing.