Zucchini Fries

What do you do when you have millions of zucchinis (or so it seems)? The best thing you can do is try millions of different zucchini recipes!

We had some friends over for dinner the other night. We knew we were having steaks, but that was it. I was trying to figure out what we could eat as a side dish and I remembered that we had about 6 zucchini sitting in a bowl just waiting to be used. I remembered seeing a recipe somewhere for zucchini fries. I thought this would be a perfect side dish for steaks because it combine your vegetable and your starch into one delicious side dish. The first zucchini fries I made were good, really good, but all the recipes seem to be pretty much the same. I decided to try and come up with my own. This recipe would be great for deep frying the zucchini fries, but since I try (sometimes) to be more healthy I decided to bake them in the oven. Frying would make them look a little more like a french fry, but they tasted great oven baked. You are welcome to cook them however you would prefer.

Zucchini Fries

1 medium zucchinis
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg
1/4 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp adobo seasoning (optional)
Olive oil or cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet with tin foil, parchment paper or silpat. Drizzle some olive oil on baking sheet or spray with cooking spray. Set aside. Wash and dry zucchini. Cut off both ends off zucchini. Cut in half and cut into french fry sized slices.  Combine egg, oil and water. Whisk to combine. Add in salt, pepper, parsley, garlic, and flour. Mix until combined. Batter should be the consistency of pancake mix. Dip each slice of zucchini into batter coating evenly. You do not need a lot of batter, just enough to lightly coat zucchini. If you get too much it will all just drip off once you put it on the pan, but it won't ruin anything. Place the coated zucchini fries on the pan leaving space in between each one. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. I personally enjoyed mine dipped in ranch.

Homemade Yellow Cake Mix And A Winner!

First things first I am going to announce the winner of the giveaway! The lucky winner of When Life Gives You Kids from Lemon Poppy Cakes is Shirin Rose over at Diary of a Messy Kitchen. I will email you shortly to finalize all the details!

I love making things from scratch. It is one of the things I love most about this blog and baking. I love finding something that I usually would buy from the store and making it from things I have in my house. I feel that it is healthier, more fun, and usually tastes better. This cake mix is no different. This cake mix could be accredited for the beginning of my food blog escapades. My sister in law told me that there was this site that had a recipe for a homemade cake mix. I thought this was the most wonderful idea ever. She gave me the link to Mel's Kitchen Cafe and I fell in love. I fell in love with the recipe, with food blogs, and with all things foodie. I started following several food blogs and loved all the different recipe ideas. I love that I can go to the internet and find a recipe for just about anything I want to make. It really is amazing and this recipe is the one that could have started it all. Now back to the recipe. I really do love this recipe. Not only is it great as a cake, but what I really use it for most is for crisps or any dessert that calls for a yellow cake mix. The flavor is so much better (notice I didn't mention anything about healthier). I do love this cake mix and love that I can keep it in my freezer and use it whenever I need it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

*Makes enough for two 9-inch layer cakes (bake according to recipe), or one 9X13-inch cake (bake for 30 to 35 minutes), or one 12-cup bundt pan (bake for 40 to 45 minutes), or 24 cupcakes (bake for 18 to 20 minutes)

*Note: the recipe calls for cake flour, which I never have on hand so I substituted 2 3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour and 3 tablespoons cornstarch for the three cups of flour called for in the recipe. It worked beautifully.

2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons butter (2 sticks), cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Process sugar, flours (or flour and cornstarch if making the substitution for the cake flour), milk powder, baking powder, and salt in a food processor for 15 seconds to combine. Add butter and vanilla and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal (you want this much finer than, say, a pie crust). Freeze the dry mixture in a zipper-lock bag for up to 2 months or use immediately.

To make the cake, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your pan of choice (see the note above the recipe). With an electric mixer, beat the prepared cake mix, 1 1/4 cups warm water and 2 large room-temperature eggs until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan(s) and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25-27 minutes for two 9-inch layer cakes. See the note above the recipe for alternate cooking times with other baking pans. Cool the cake(s) in pan(s) for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

Recipe Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Chocolate, Sea Foam, and Pate De Fruit

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

I chose to do a few of my favorite candy recipes. Sea foam or honeycomb is something I first tried in Canada years ago. I have since had it several times and it continues to be one of my favorites. I didn't quite know how this would turn out since I have never even dreamed of making sea foam. The first experience was less than perfect. The candy itself tasted ok, but I left it out on the table uncovered for a few hours and when I came back I found that my sea foam was melting and gooey. This would not do since I wanted to dip the sea foam in chocolate. I also wanted a slight honey flavor so this gave me the opportunity to try again. This second recipe I liked even better than the first as far as taste goes. I was also quite a bit smarter and as soon as it cooled I stored it in an airtight zip lock bag. I didn't get around to dipping it for about a week and it still turned out wonderful.

Sea Foam

75 grams honey (1/4 cup)
140 grams light corn syrup or glucose (1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon)
400 grams sugar (2 cups)
20 grams baking soda (3 1/2 teaspoons)

Prepare a sheet pan (preferably with sides) with a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil and brush it with a thin coating of butter or oil. If you have a silpat, put that down and forgo the grease. Set aside.

Combine the honey, corn syrup and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan--one large enough to allow the mixture to quadruple in size (which it will do when you add the baking soda at the end). Moisten the mixture with enough water so that there are no dry patches of sugar; then wash down any stray sugar crystals that might be clinging to the side of the pan.

Set the pan on high heat and cook and cook and cook until a candy thermometer reaches 300 F or, if you don’t have a thermometer, until the mixture turns a light amber color. While the mixture is cooking, do NOT stir it at all. Stirring can cause the sugar to seize (one moment it’s fine, one moment it’s hard and crystallized). Don’t worry about it mixing properly, it will do that on its own when it starts to boil.

When the honeycomb is sufficiently cooked, take the pan off the heat. Dump in all of your baking soda and whisk vigorously until it is well combined; while you whisk, the honeycomb will foam up dramatically. After the soda is whisked in, gently pour the mixture out onto a prepared pan and allow to cool completely, about one hour.

Once cool, break into smaller pieces and dip in chocolate if desired. Store in an airtight container. Really, we mean airtight. A rubbermaid wrapped in plastic inside a ziplock freezer bag would be good. (Honeycomb is hygroscopic, meaning that it sucks in moisture from the air, leaving an unprotected initially crisp candy sticky and gooey in a matter of hours.)

Sea Foam : Recipe Source: Seattlest

I will be honest I had never heard of Pate De Fruit, but when looking at different candy options I knew that this one would be delicious! I have always loved gummy candies but never dreamed of making my own. This candy is so delicious and full of fruit flavor. I loved making it and eating eat!

Raspberry Pate de Fruits

2 envelopes unflavored gelatin

2/3 cup water

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup, seedless raspberry jam (or a cup of your favorite jam)

Vegetable oil for coating the pan

Additional granulated or superfine sugar for sugar coating

Oil an 8-inch square pan. Set it aside. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 1/3 cup water. Let the gelatin soften at room temperature until needed. Combine the remaining 1/3 cup water and the granulated sugar in a heavy medium saucepan. Place the pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Add the jam and stir until it melts into the syrup completely. Add the softened gelatin and stir until the gelatin dissolves completely.

Return the mixture to a boil and cook until thermometer reaches 225 degrees. Remove the pot from the heat and pour the syrup into the prepared 8-inch pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator until the candy is set, at least 4 hours.

Use a wet knife to cut the candy into small squares. Using a narrow spatula dipped in water, carefully remove one square at a time and coat each one completely with sugar. Store the candies in layers, separated by wax paper, in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 weeks.

Pate De Fruit: Recipe Source: A Chow Life

Ginger Cookies and a Giveaway!

I am so so so excited about today's post! First of all this is my very first giveaway and I am so excited about it! Second I have a super yummy recipe to share with you straight out of the cutest little cookbook I have ever seen. And last of all it is Friday!

So to get you all excited for this giveaway I am sharing with you one of the recipes out of this adorable cookbook. Ali over at Lemon Poppy Cakes has done such a great job putting together her cookbooks and they are full of fun family friendly recipes. She has 4 of the cutest cookbooks with another one coming next month! Let me just tell you the names of the cookbooks and you will begin to see how cute they are. Her 4 books are: When Life Gives You Lemons, When Life Gives You Friends, When Life Gives You Chocolate Cravings, and When Life Gives You Kids. She sells her books for only $8.99 and free shipping (what a great deal!) but one of you lucky winners will get a free copy of When Life Gives You Kids! I will go over guidelines in a moment but first lets get to this yummy recipe!

Gingerbread cookies are often something you think of only around Christmas time. They are such a yummy treat and so fun to do with kids (or adults) that I think they deserve more recognition all year. These cookies can be made into gingerbread people or you can make them round and eat them as is. They are great either way. I am posting this recipe straight out of her cookbook so you can get a feel of its cuteness!

 

Now if that doesn't make you want to win or buy her cookbooks I don't know what will! 

Here is how it works: I am giving away one copy of When Life Gives You Kids! You can enter one of two ways:

1. Become a fan on my Facebook page. If you are already a fan than you are already entered.

2. Become a follower on my blog. Once again if you are already a follower than you are already entered.

3. Leave me a comment telling me you are a fan or a follower. Leave a one comment for each entry (you should have a total of 2 comments if you are a fan and a follower). Please also leave me an email address so I can contact the winner.

The contest ends Monday Aug. 29th and I will post the winner on Wednesday Aug. 31st so check back often! Good Luck!

This contest is for US residents only.

Last of all since you are out in cyberspace becoming a follower and fan of various pages you should also follow Ali over at Lemon Poppy Cakes and become a fan of her facebook page as well.

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

I love zucchini. I think it is a fabulous vegetable. What other vegetables can you eat steamed, breaded, fried, shredded, in casseroles, in bread, in cookies, and in cakes? We currently have zucchini coming out our ears so I have had the opportunity to make lots of different recipes that call for them. This is another one of my mom's wonderful recipes. I honestly don't remember eating it as we were growing up, but as I get older it has definitely made its way into my memory. This wonderful cake is moist and delicious. The topping is honestly my favorite part! I'm sure I will post more zucchini recipes before the summer is over but I figured that this was a great one to start with.

Zucchini Chocolate Cake

1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder 
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. sour milk
4 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 cups finely shredded zucchini
Line a 9X12 inch cake pan with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. Blend butter, oil and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla & milk. Sift dry ingredients and beat into mixture. Stir in 2 cups zucchini. Pour into 9x12 inch cake pan and sprinkle 3/4 cup brown sugar and 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chip on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Peanut Butter Bars

I know I know, I always post desserts on here, but I just can't help it! There are so many delicious things out there that I want to make (and eat) and my most favorite are usually desserts. We live in a very fluid area, really close to a university. We have lots of new people moving into our area all the time. What better way to get to know new neighbors than to bring them a delightful plate of goodies? It really works out to everyone's benefit. I get to make lots of treats and try new recipes, they get to eat my treats, and I don't eat all of my treats and gain a million pounds! I look at this as a win win win situation. I also have many willing victims at work that so graciously eat my yummy treats. These delicious bars have been put to the same good use. I was able to take some around to neighbors, make a few new friends, then I also shared a few at work. To be completely honest though, my favorite part about these bars is the part where I get to eat them! They are fantastic! They have such a rich peanut buttery flavor combined with a delicious chocolate frosting, all with some oats in the dough to almost make you feel like you are being healthy. They really are some of the best peanut butter bars I have ever had. Every time I eat one of these bad boys I always want another. Luckily for me (but not for my waistline) this makes a large pan so I can share some and enjoy some myself.

Peanut Butter Bars

3/4 c butter

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

3/4 c peanut butter

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c flour

1 1/2 c oats

1/2 c peanut butter

Cream together the butter and sugars. Add peanut butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix the oats until a firm dough is made. Grease a cookie sheet and spread mixture in the pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and let set for a few minutes. While bars are still warm spread on the extra 1/2 cup peanut butter. The warmth of the bars helps the peanut butter spread easier. The 1/2 cup peanut butter is an approximation use less or more according to you own personal peanut butter desires. Allow bars to cool completely. Once cooled top with chocolate frosting (recipe below).

Chocolate Butter Frosting

1/2 c butter

3 1/2 tsp cocoa

6 Tb milk

1 tsp vanilla

Boil together, remove from heat and add powdered sugar until desired consistency. For these bars I preferred the frosting to be slightly runny while still warm. This way I could pour the frosting over the bars and spread easily without disrupting the peanut butter I had spread on top too much. The frosting sets up more as it cools.

Recipe Source: Adapted slightly from The Sister's Cafe

Raspberry Cheesecake Ice cream

This ice cream is so delicious and yet soooo easy! My darling friend at work told me the best/simplest way to make cheesecake ice cream and I just had to try it out. Adding the graham crackers on top and mixing a few in really made this ice cream taste like it is from an expensive ice cream shop. This basic ice cream is so versatile you could add just about any flavor that would go well with cheesecake! I love any recipe that I can change just slightly to fit my mood for that day. This is the perfect summer treat especially with some fresh raspberries in it!

Raspberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk

2 cups whipping cream

3/4 cups sugar

1-2 tsp vanilla

1 small package cheesecake flavored pudding mix

1-2 cups fresh raspberries

Graham Cracker crumbs

In a blender or food processor puree raspberries. If you don't like seeds strain puree mixture through a fine mesh strainer. In a large mixing bowl whisk together milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, pudding mix, and raspberry puree. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. After frozen you can serve immediately or freeze for a few hours for a more solid ice cream. When serving crumble some graham crackers over mixture and mix in slightly. Enjoy!

Recipe Source: Adapted from Cuisinart Recipe book