Cranberry Bread # 1

This has been my go to recipe for years. I usually make it after Thanksgiving when all the stores have cranberries on sale. Whatever is left after making cranberry sauce, I use it to make cranberry bread. 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup butter

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 tsp finely grated orange peel

2/3 cup orange juice, preferably fresh squeezed

1 1/2 cups cranberries, thawed if frozen , then halved

1 cup coarsely chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X5X3 inch loaf pan. 

In a large bowl stir together the first 5 ingredients Cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl combine egg, orange peel and juice.

Add to flour mixture and stir just until moistened. 

Fold in cranberries and nuts and spoon into prepared pan.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes until golden and a toothpick poked into center comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes then turn out of pan and cool completely. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.*

*In spite of the admonition to 'wrap and store overnight before slicing,' I don't usually have that kind of restraint, especially if I've made it early in the day! A cup of tea in mid afternoon would beg a slice. Just to let you know the world will not end if dig in while it is still warm - but give it at least an hour.

Chocolate Hath Charms

*** It's not Lent anymore, it's almost Christmas in The Year of Covid 19. I just found this, lingering for almost three years in my drafts folder. It's still a great recipe so there you go!

I cut this recipe out of a magazine way back in 1974. I know the date because it's still visible on the curled edges of the age-yellowed paper! That was forty years ago and it is still a hit wherever it goes (or is taken.) I lost count long ago of how many times I've made it. It was my go-to cake recipe to send to my children when they were away at college since it travels and keeps well. Whenever I was asked to bring dessert to a gathering, I knew I couldn't go wrong with this. And even more recently, when I worked in the office at a mental health clinic, having once tasted it, my co-workers would beg for this cake, one in particular who usually didn't eat cake but made an exception for this as it was "nutritious!"

It's in the oven as I write. Like Winnie the Pooh and his pals in the Hundred Acre Wood we like a little smackerel of something sweet with our tea in the evening around here. Of course it's Lent and the guilt is always with me, the nuns saw to that. We swore off candy and cakes for the forty days then gorged ourselves with chocolate on Easter Sunday. I promise not to do that. And besides, women need chocolate! I'm sure anyone reading this has had chocolate attacks in the middle of the night, getting up and rummaging through the kitchen cupboards, muttering darkly "there has to be something chocolaty here," and when there isn't taking to our beds to suffer until someone thinks to bring us some and save us from sinking into depression.....

Chocolate Oat Nut Cake

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsps salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1cup quick cooking or old fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup packed light brown (I've also used dark brown)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs at room temperature
1 pkg(12 ozs.) semisweet chocolate pieces
3/4 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans, whatever you have)
Confectioner's sugar

Sift together flour, salt, soda and cocoa and set aside.
Put oatmeal in a bowl and stir in boiling water let stand 10 minutes. Stir in butter and the brown and granulated sugars. Add the eggs and mix well. Beat in ther flour mixture and stir 'til well combined.
Fold in half the chocolate pieces and spread in a greased 13x9x2" pan. Sprinkle remaining chocolate and the nuts on top. Note: I prefer to not mix the choc pieces into the batter. I use just a handful and sprinkle them on top with the nuts. Why? Because I found that the pieces sink if you mix them in the batter!
Bake at 350 degrees in a preheated oven for 35 - 45 mins.Poke it to check. If a toothpick comes out clean, except for chocolate(!!) then it's done.
Cool in the pan. Sprinkle with pwdred sugar if desired and serve in squares.

Appelpannekoeken (from The Netherlands)

Special request from younger daughter who is in bad need of comfort food this week.

We used to make these apple pancakes when she was growing up. Sprinkled with powdered sugar they're obviously not something I make often thesedays now that I'm all about healthy eating! But we didn't know any better back then. All that mattered was that they were comforting and delicious!

Dutch Apple Pancakes  (makes 4 large)

2 cups All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 lrg eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups milk
12 Tbs butter (1/4 lb stick)
2 med. sized tart cooking apples, peeled, quartered, cored and cut into 1/4" thick slices
Syrup for serving (optional)

Combine the flour and salt in a deep bowl. Make a well in center and pour in the eggs. Whisk to gradually blend Then, stirring constantly, pour in the milk in a thin stream and mix until batter is smooth. Do not overmix.
Melt two Tbs butter in a non-stick skillet over moderate heat. When the foam subsides add one fourth of the apple slices to the pan stirring until lightly and evenly browned. Pour in one cup of the batter and cook the pancake for 2 -3 minutes. When it is browned around the edges place a plate over the pan and turn the pancake onto the plate, browned side up. Add 1 Tbs butter to the pan and slide the pancake back in for two minutes longer to brown the underside. Slide out onto a heated plate. With a fork roll the pancake into a cylinder, cover loosely with foil to keep it warm while you fry the remaining pancakes.
Serve as soon as possible with syrup, whipped cream or ice cream.

Variation: Spek pannekoeken (bacon pancakes.) Instead of apples cook 8 slices of bacon and use two in the center of each pancake.

Palachinki (aka Crepes)

When our children were growing up one of their favourite treats was palachinki. Whenever we visited their Ukrainian grandmother she would make palachinki. As fast as they came off the pan they'd disappear, like worms down hungry baby birds' gullets! At the time I was pretty much intimidated by anything that smacked of French Cooking. Julia Child I was not, though I could manage a close enough imitation of her voice to have the kids rolling around the kitchen --- impressed either by my nailing it or by how ridiculous I sounded in the effort. I'm chill with going to my grave not knowing which. My children liked them best plain --- with just a sprinkling of powdered sugar or a thin scrape of jam. Roll them up close your eyes and munch! Delicious.

I am no longer intimidated. Palachinki/crepes are simple and quick to make. You can make them savoury or sweet and fill them with anything - fruit, vegetables, cheese, whatever.

Grandma's Palachinki:

3 eggs
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbs sugar (for dessert crepes.) Omit for savoury.
2 cups flour

Mix everthing together in a blender or whisk in a medium bowl.

Let sit at covered in the fridge for an hour.

Heat a small pan, then brush lightly with butter or oil. I use a small ladle to spoon out just enough to swirl quickly over the bottom of the pan. You should have just enough to cover it. Adjust the amt. for subsequent crepes.Cook about 30 seconds, until it looks dry, then flip and cook the other side 10-15 seconds until brown freckles form on the underside. flip out onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool while you continue making more. When they are cool you can stack them with wax paper between. Will keep in the refrigerator for several days -- but probably not if you have little people or palachinki seeking big people around.
 Just warm up when ready to serve.

As Julia would say - Bon appetit!

Note# 1: Be sure the pan is good and hot before you start otherwise the first few panachinki will be rejects..

Note# 2:  I also like Alton Brown's recipe which you can find on the internet. He adds 3 tbs melted butter to the batter. In that case you won't need to butter the pan as you go.

Grandma's Coleslaw

In conversation with my friend M recently she said to me "Coleslaw? Who makes coleslaw for Thanksgiving?" As though it were an abomination. As though she had just opened her fridge and been blasted backwards by the overpowering smell of the cabbage within. I patiently explained to the poor bemused woman that no significant gathering of Bons, or Bon friends and neighbors, was complete without my mother-in-law's coleslaw. I'm sure all your ears are ringing from the praises being heaped on cabbage and other members of the cruciferous family these days for their valuable work in keeping us all healthy and out of the cardiac ward. The secret lies in not just reading these articles, saying "Hmmm..." and making vague mental notes to eat some cabbage soon, but rather in hying thee to the kitchen and making some coleslaw today!

And then, of course, eating it.

Having explained the reason for coleslaw at the Thanksgiving table to my mystified friend she has now requested the recipe.  In the interests of keeping hearts healthy everywhere I am waiving my usual procrastination period and supplying her with the recipe immediately.  Here it is:

1 head of cabbage --- hard and solid, like a small bowling ball
1/4 of a medium onion
2 medium sized carrots
1 clove of garlic
mayonnaise
vinegar
salt and pepper

Shred the cabbage finely. I do this with a mandolin, but use whatever works for you. Before I got the mandolin I muddled through with a grater though there was probably a larger percentage of shredded finger in that cole slaw, but my children are all still alive.

Next, grate the onion and carrots and mix with the grated cabbage.

In a small bowl mix together about 3/4 cup of mayonnaise with 2 large Tbsp vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper and an (optional) squirt of Tabasco. Blend the dressing with the vegetables. The easiest way is to mix it with your (clean) hands. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours, or overnight, to blend the flavors.


As it turned out, I did not waive the procrastination period since I started this right after Thanksgiving and am only now, a week before Christmas, finishing it! But still in time for M to be daring and serve coleslaw with Christmas dinner.

French Silk Pie

French Silk Pie is one of my oldest recipes. Got it from the wife of one of the OC's colleagues when we were stationed in Montana almost 40 yeatrs ago. I have found and made recipes since then that are just as good but, at the time, since I could barely boil an egg, the ease and deliciousness of this dessert made me feel like a five star chef! My kids all loved it and California Girl just sent an SOS for it as she wants to bring it where she's invited for Thanksgiving. That way, and I quote "At least I'll be sure there'll be a delicious dessert and if no one else wants it I'll eat it all myself !" --- not recommended!


Crust:

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
6 Tblsps melted butter

Mix together and press into a buttered pie pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Cool.

(Can also use store bought graham cracker crust)

Filling:

1/2 cup butter (not margarine) at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 sqs unsweetened chocolate melted
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, room temperature
2 Tblsp brandy

Cream butter and sugar. Add melted chocolate. Beat well. Add vanilla and beat some more.  Add eggs one at a time beating for two minutes between each. Beat in brandy.
Spoon into the prepared crust and refrigerate at least 5 hours or, preferably,  overnight.
Decorate with whipped cream, chocolate curls and 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs.

Refrigerate any leftovers.

Servings:1-8, depending on your taste and/or tolerance for butter, sugar and chocolate. (Mine is pretty high.)

Reindeer Droppings

Reindeer Droppings

1/2 cup of butter [1/4 lb.]
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup cocoa[unsweetened]
1/2 cup milk

Mix all the above in medium saucepan until butter is melted. Simmer for one minute.
Remove from heat and stir in:

3 cups of quick cooking oatmeal
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup of peanut butter [smooth or chunky] ---optional
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup of nuts [walnuts or pecans]
You can throw in a handful of shredded coconut if you wish [I don't]

Drop by teaspoonfuls on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. You can put them very close together as they won't be growing. Lightly cover with more wax paper. Chill in fridge.

Cecily Brownstone's Raisin Walnut Bread

1 pkg. dry yeast

1 1/4 cups warm water

3 Tbsps. butter, soft

1Tbsp.sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

1 1/4 cups golden raisins

3 1/2 cups (approx.)whole wheat flour---If I have wheat germ on hand I substitute 1/4 cup for 1/4 cup of the flour....

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup of the warm water.

Stir in remaining water, butter, sugar and salt.

Stir in nuts and raisins, then enough of the flour---about 3 cups---to make a firm dough.

Knead on a lightly floured surface about 10 minutes, until smooth and stretchy, working in as much of the remaining 1/2 cup of flour as needed to keep it from sticking.

Form into a ball and place in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top.

Cover and let rise in a warm, draught-free place 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until doubled.

Punch down and divide in half. Form each half into a ball. Do not flatten.

Place well apart on a large, greased baking sheet (I just sprinkle mine with flour or cornmeal, skip the grease.)

Cover with a clean dish towel and let rise, as before, for 45 to 60 minutes or until doubled.

Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree (F) oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

*Cover with foil during the last 10 minutes to prevent raisins on the surface from overbrowning. (I forgot to do this so had some burnt raisins to deal with---lesson learned!)

Remove loaves to wire rack to cool completely (if you have more patience than I !)

Make a cup of tea. Cut a few slices. Butter lavishly, and enjoy....

Sour Cream Curry Dip

I got this recipe when we were at Edwards AF Base, out in the middle of the Mojave Desert in California, on our first Air Force assignment. I've been making it regularly ever since. It's always a big hit, served with an assortment of raw, fresh vegetables.

1 cup sour cream
6 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 Tbsp ketchup
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
!/2 tsp curry powder, at least
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, less if desired
1 clove garlic finely minced [I use 2 or 3]
dash salt

Mix all ingredients together and chill in refrigerator to allow flavours to blend.

The original recipe called for half of these proportions, but that would be like feeding buns to elephants, so....

Easy Asian Chicken

8 chicken drumsticks, skin on
1 cup water 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
 1 clove garlic, peeled and bruised
1 small hot chili pepper, slit open, seeds removed

Place all ingredients in a saucepan over high heat.

Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer for about 20 mins.

Remove any scum that rises to the surface.

Increase heat, turning drumsticks frequently in sauce, and cook until liquid reduces to a sticky glaze.

Arrange chicken on a platter, remove garlic clove and chili and spoon glaze over chicken.

Serve with rice and a salad, or refrigerate, and when cold, remove skin and bones and cut into bite sized pieces to use in stir fry.

Palachinki a la Maria

Every time I make crepes [once in a blue moon] I wonder why I don't do it every week! You'd expect that something so delicate and dainty and scrumptious would be difficult to make but they're super easy.......
My mother-in-law, Maria, who is gone to her hard-earned, eternal reward, R.I.P. called them palachinki, which seems to cover Ukrainian, Czech and Polish versions, and possibly others. She always made them with a sweetened cheese filling, and if she needed something from The Prince, making palachinki guaranteed she'd get it! Back in the Old Country,  The Prince's  mother went to what would now be called "culinary arts school" but was probably called plain old cooking school back then! He frequently waxes poetic about what a wonderful baker and cook she was. Maria, my mother-in-law, was the only cook who came close to being the equal of Mama!

He is 89 years old now. Mama is long gone, and so is Maria. And his teeth don't fit properly, and are uncomfortable, in spite of the small fortune he spent on dental work. He can't hear, and doesn't listen anyway, and keeps his hearing aid in the safety of a velvet lined box. He's on a mission to find a cure for old age, but he's not having much success. Everything but the blandest food upsets his stomach.  He laments loudly and frequently that Americans don't know what good cooking is. And me?  Can't refuse a challenge. He's probably manipulating me!  But no matter. Today I made palachinki. Because I can! I mixed up the batter last night which didn't take more than five minutes. The crepes are lighter if the batter sits overnight [or at least a few hours] in the fridge.

My first few are  usually not so good, but after I hit my stride [or the pan gets hot enough!] I'm as good as his Mama! Who's going to prove me wrong?!  I cook them just until the edges look dry,  then flip, or, if  not feeling courageous, turn them with a spatula, and cook a few seconds  more, until some freckles form on the underside.

I cool them on a wire rack, then stack them on a plate with wax paper between.

The cook always has to sample a few. Wouldn't want to go poisoning anyone! This cook tried a few, a la Blister, with a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon. Oh, yum!

She did manage to restrain herself so there were a few left for The Prince! This last one, obviously, would not pass quality control....but the cook's not fussed. It tasted just as delicious to her as the perfectly round ones!

When the children were growing up palachinki disappeared as fast as they came off the pan! Sugar and cinnamon was the favourite topping.  Roll them up and eat them on the spot!  They also taste yummy spread with your favourite jam. And, if you want to get really fancy,  pour brandy on them, light a match and you have Crepes Suzette!  Leave the sugar out of the batter and you can fill them with vegetables or any other savory filling.

But for tonight---Maria's cheese filling, which mixes up in about five minutes. It consists of 1 lb.Farmers' cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1-2 tsp vanilla, a handful of raisins, two egg yolks and a dash of salt. If Farmers' cheese is not available you can substitute half cream cheese and half cottage cheese, well drained, or half ricotta. If the mixture is too thick you can add a tablespoon or two of sour cream.

Mix  together, spoon onto the crepes, roll them up and place in a single layer in a baking pan. Sprinkle with sugar and chopped nuts and they're ready for the oven.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for twenty minutes. Remove the foil and bake five minutes more.

After his first bite The Prince gave me a thumbs up! Gasp! No complaints? I hope Maria is watching from the Great Kitchen In The Sky. I was never quite good enough, but damn! I can make palachinki fit for a Prince!

Brat Wraps

This recipe makes an interesting change from grilling steak, burgers and hot dogs. It is basically a bratwurst wrapped in a tortilla and crisped on the grill.

Ingredients:   

4  fresh bratwurst [1 lb]  [or more. Adjust other ingredients accordingly.]

1 12oz. bottle beer

1 cup chopped onion

2 Tbsp. oil

1 lb. fresh sauerkraut, rinsed and drained, or use a 1lb. can.

2Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

4 10" flour tortillas

1/4 cup honey Dijon mustard

4 slices smoked Swiss cheese

Place bratwurst and beer in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low.

Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat; let bratwurst cool in the beer.

In a 10" skillet cook the onion in oil over medium heat until browned, 8-10 minutes.

Add sauerkraut, sugar, salt and red pepper; mix well. Continue cooking for 5 minutes to blend flavors.

Grill bratwurst 5-6 minutes, until browned and heated through, turning once. Split each in half lengthwise.

Place about 1/4 of sauerkraut mixture down center of each tortilla. Place 2 bratwurst halves on top.

Spread 1 Tbsp. mustard on the bratwurst and top with a slice of Swiss cheese.

Fold in a little on each side of the tortilla, then roll up, burrito style, and secure with a toothpick.

Place wraps flap side down on the grill and grill 3-4 minutes or until browned and heated through, turning once.

The original recipe recommends a Muscat from Alsace as a wine to accompany this dish, or a strongly malted lager such as the French beer Kronenburg.

Grandma's Potato Soup

7 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium onion, chopped

Fry onion in 1/3 cup butter in large pot over medium heat until it starts to turn yellow.

Add 1 1/2 full Tbsps. flour and fry a little longer.

Add 1 tsp. paprika. Boil water. Add slowly to onion mixture. Bring to boil.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Add cubed potatoes and cook for 15-20 minutes.

Add one small container [8 fluid ozs.]of heavy cream. You can use milk instead but cream is yummier! Cook 3-4 minutes until cream is warmed through [do not allow to boil.]

Stir in 1 1/2 -2 Tbsps. vinegar just before serving. Sprinkle chopped parsley and some grated Parmesan cheese on each serving.Serve with hunks of fresh bread.

Sometimes I substitute a couple of leeks for the onion. Use only the white and pale green parts. Rinse thoroughly and thinly slice.

Optional: add some chopped carrots and/or celery along with the onion/leeks and any herbs you have on hand.

Turkey Gravy

4 tablespoons turkey fat[from the drippings]
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups turkey stock, chicken stock or chicken broth heated almost to boiling
defatted drippings from the turkey roasting pan to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the turkey fat in a medium saute pan or pot over medium heat.
Whisk the flour into the fat and cook for two minutes.
Add the hot stock or broth whisking to combine.
Continue to heat, whisking occasionally, until the gravy shimmers and thickens, about five minutes.

Add the defatted drippings and the salt and pepper to taste and strain if desired.

Thin with a little more stock if necessary. Serve immediately. [About two cups eight servings.]

This is from the Washington Post---according to my aged newspaper clipping!

Yummy Yams

This is our all-time favorite way to cook sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving.
I read the recipe over the phone to California Girl every year. She makes it, loves it, then promptly loses the recipe. So, a few days before the next Thanksgiving [namely today!] she calls, begging for the recipe, again! So, here it is, on the blog for all future Thanksgivings!

Yummy Yams

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 Tbsp butter at room temperature

3 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

6 medium yams or sweet potatoes--about 3 lbs. peeled and sliced 1/2 thick

1 1/2 cups heavy cream, heated.


Work brown sugar, butter and flour 'til well combined. Work in the pecans. Set aside. Can be prepared up to eight hours in advance and kept at room temperature...

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the sliced yams/sweet potatoes. Cook until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Do not overcook! Drain and rinse under cold running water.

Arrange yams in overlapping rows in the pan.[This can be done up to eight hours in advance of baking time, covered tightly with cling wrap and refrigerated.]

Pour heavy cream over yams and bake for twenty minutes.

Crumble pecan mixture over yams and continue baking 'til yams are tender and topping is browned, 20-30 minutes longer. Serves 8-12.

Tortilla Torte

Our California Girl turned twenty eight this week.


Twenty Eight.


How is that even possible? Wasn't it just yesterday that she was in Mrs. Garrison's fourth grade class? And just the week before that, that all the kids in the neighbourhood crowded into our bedroom to hang over the sides of her crib and coo at the wonder of her, all curvy lips and petal-soft ears folded around her tiny-ness like a little pink rosebud? Not that life racing by me at breakneck speed is news....


Since I'm not there to bake her a cake, she decided to make one herself. One that doesn't even require baking. One she has loved since her teens. In a word [or two...] Tortilla Torte!

I searched and searched through my admittedly disorganized recipe "files." I almost gave up, but then it appeared, in a fairly predictable place. So without further ado, here it is, for California Girl, and you......



Tortilla Torte


1 12 oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate chips

2 8 oz. cartons sour cream

10 8" plain flour tortillas


In a medium saucepan melt chocolate over very low heat, stirring occasionally.

Stir in sour cream.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.


Place`one tortilla on a plate.

Spread a scant 1/3 cup chocolate mixture on top.

Repeat until all the tortillas and chocolate are used.

Chill, covered, several hours or overnight.


Decorate the top with whipped cream [or 1/2 cup sour cream mixed with 2 tablespoons powdered sugar] and strawberries.



While I was typing this on here for her, I got a call from California Girl.


"So mom, where's the recipe?"


"I'm typing it onto my blog for you, even as we speak! This way, next time you want to make it, and I have once again lost the recipe, we'll both know where to find it."


She had gone grocery shopping earlier in the day, knowing that she needed, at least, tortillas, sour cream and chocolate chips.


I started to tell her how to make it when, suddenly, she stopped. Silence.


"You're not going to believe this mom! I got the sour cream; I got the chocolate chips; I even got the strawberries, but I forgot the tortillas!"


Kind of like trying to build a house without the bricks!


This cake looks like one of those expensive European tortes with the multiple layers of paper-thin sponge cake! And it tastes surprisingly good for something requiring so few ingredients and so little time.


So, Happy Belated Birthday, Cali Girl! Don't eat it all at one sitting!

Zucchini Bread

Another favourite from when we had zucchini coming out our ears in the garden in Montana. We often made the mistake of seeing a zucchini on the vine, and thinking we'd wait and pick it the next day. Then, next day, when we went to get it, we'd find it had tripled in size overnight! So....lots of Zucchini Bread!


Ingredients:

3 eggs

2 cups of sugar

1 tsp. of vanilla

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 cups grated zucchini

1 cup of vegetable oil

1 tsp. of salt

1 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 a cup of nuts, chopped

Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together in a large mixing bowl 'til well blended.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Stir the 2 cups of shredded zucchini and the vegetable oil into the egg mixture. Add the dry ingredients and stir until they are thoroughly moistened. Turn into two loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes, until a skewer or a toothpick, inserted in the center, comes out clean. Let sit on a rack in the pan for ten minutes, then invert bread onto the cooling rack. Cool thoroughly.

Wrap in cling wrap or foil and store in the fridge.

Tina's Banana Bread

I think I got this recipe when we lived in Montana..........Long time ago! Been making it regularly ever since.

Ingredients:
3 mashed, ripe bananas
1/2 cup melted butter [or margarine]
1 [scant] cup of sugar
1 1/2 cups flour [I sometimes mix half brown, and half white, flours and throw in 1/4 cup or so of wheat germ.....
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt---barely.

Mix the flour, salt and soda together in a medium bowl.

Break eggs into a larger bowl.

Add the sugar to the eggs and blend well.

Stir the mashed banana, the half cup of melted butter and the tsp. of vanilla into the egg and sugar mix. Blend well, then stir in the flour mixture until it is incorporated.

Grease and flour a bread pan [9"x5"x3"].

Pour in the batter and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.

It gets very dark but must be baked the full time to make sure it is baked in the middle! Poke it with a metal skewer. When the skewer comes out clean the bread is done. Let the pan rest on a cooling rack for ten minutes, then invert the pan over the cooling rack and gently remove the loaf from the pan. Cool thoroughly before eating or storing.

To store, wrap in cling wrap or foil. It tastes even better if you store it wrapped, in the fridge, for a few days before eating, and it freezes beautifully. Defrost by letting it sit at room temperature for about an hour....

Tastes very good with butter or cream cheese.

Can make 18 regular size muffins....Bake for twenty minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool in pan for five minutes or so, then shake loose and cool thoroughly on wire rack.


Note: A handful of chopped nuts can be added with the banana.

Hummus

We can't have Tanya eating, or worse, feeding her husband, hummus that tastes like bean dip with peanut butter! I've been making hummus for several years now, ever since various of my children declared they were becoming vegetarians, whether I liked it or not! I have nothing against vegetarians but I would have preferred they waited until I was no longer in charge of their care and feeding.....

When we lived in Belgium we used to buy the most delicious hummus from a vendor at one of the local open air markets. Back in the States, all we could find was the supermarket variety, a very anemic cousin of the real thing. And so the experiments started. I have made it with peanut butter, but never with soy sauce. Here is a version that seems to work for us:


2 cans of chickpeas
1 cup of tahini
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of one lemon, more if you like it lip-puckery!
3 Tablespoons water
good pinch of cayenne pepper
dash of Tabasco
several cloves of garlic, chopped
salt to taste
1/2 cup of chopped parsley or cilantro [and a little more for garnish]
1/4 tsp paprika

Place all ingredients in food processor bowl and puree until smooth. Taste for seasoning. Amounts of all ingredients can be adjusted until you have a blend that tastes right to you. Good luck. It's so easy to make. You'll never buy store bought again....I hope!

Serve in a bowl sprinkled with extra chopped parsley and the paprika.

Can be used as a dip with crackers, or spread on bread....or eaten with a spoon!

Lily's Delicious Salmon Rub

This is one of our favourite ways to season salmon........

1 Tblsp brown sugar

1 tsp each garlic powder, oregano, chili powder, paprika

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp thyme

Mix all together and sprinkle on salmon...Grill....Serve....Ummm, ummm, good!