Whip up seasonal bread quick

Need something easy to add to an otherwise mundane menu? Or something simple to take to a potluck, cookout or another social occasion? What you need is a good quick bread. They're called quick breads because they're quick to make, at least compared to yeast-risen breads, and they fall halfway between cake and bread. Whether sweet or savory, quick breads can incorporate the best of summer's fruits and vegetables.

Quick breads have a rich history in American foodways. Life changed for home cooks back in 1846, when baking soda — often called saleratus at the time — was marketed, making the first quick breads easy to bake at home. Mixed with acidic soured milk or buttermilk that might otherwise have gone to waste, baking soda created a chemical reaction that made possible the gas bubbles that leaven these breads.

Further innovation came 10 years later, when baking powder, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid (like tartaric acid, for instance), became available. Baking powder leavens without an acidic ingredient, further expanding the home cook's repertoire.

The quick bread family is big. Its members are baked goods made with leaveners other than yeast. The family includes muffins, biscuits, scones, tea cakes and many other siblings. Cornbread is a quick bread, and so is banana bread.

The whole friendly family requires the simplest equipment to prepare. You'll need two bowls — one for dry ingredients, one for wet ingredients — and a wooden spoon or spatula.

Whatever kind of quick bread you're making, take care not to overmix the batter. When you stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones, combine with only 10 to 12 quick strokes. The batter should still show wisps of flour and will be lumpy. Overmixing causes quick breads to deflate after baking, and the baked bread's interior will have tunnels...