First things first: when the snow melted this week in the raspberry patch, look what was hiding underneath! The first snowdrops of the season. I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted them from across the yard; I zoomed over (in Adam's shoes, since I was emptying the compost and his were closest to the door) to make sure that my eyes weren't betraying me. Yipeee! I can't even express how very, very exciting this is. Prepare yourself for this year's garden pictures!In indoor news, I'm having fun baking this afternoon while P is sleeping and Adam's at the gym. First, I whipped up these simple and quick brownies, as per Adam's request. I can't say enough good things about them - they are what I would call a perfect recipe. One pot, 4 or 5 minutes, and into the oven they go. Delicious, too, of course. (Edited to add: I originally posted about them with pictures, here.) The second thing, which is currently in the oven, is zucchini bread. I still have some frozen and grated zucchini from last fall in the freezer, and decided that some zucchini bread would be a great way to reduce my stores. The recipe I used is from More-with-Less, and it goes like this:
Zucchini Bread
350, 1 hr, makes 2 loaves
Preheat oven to 350. Combine in mixing bowl and beat well:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 c vegetable oil (you can use part applesauce; I used butter)
2 c raw, peeled, grated zucchini (mine was frozen and thawed; I drained off some of the water)
1 tbsp vanilla
Sift together:
3 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
3 t cinnamon
Add to zucchini mixture and stir until blended. Add 1 c coarsely chopped nuts (I didn't.)
Pour into 2 greased bread pans. Bake 1 hour, or until tester comes out clean. Remove from pans and cool on rack. Yum! I like is best cold and with butter, à la post-funeral/celebration/exciting gathering in a church basement. Enjoy!
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4 comments:
Is this your fav zucchini bread recipe? So you grate the zuccs before you freeze them? Does that work pretty well?
When zuccs are in their most productive point, it's the middle of summer and it's so hot and humid in Indiana that I don't want to bake. But, I would love to preserve them somehow so I can bake zucc bread to my heart's content once the weather cools off. :)
Teresa - it's a very nice recipe; the bread is a bit more bready, and less dense and wet than zucchini bread usually is - which I think might be because I used the frozen zucc and removed some of the water. I just peeled the zucchini when they were fresh, and grated them with a regular grater. Then I froze them in 2 cup portions, and thaw them when they're ready to use. :)
Thanks, Sherrie! I think I'll do that then. :) I love zuccs in pretty much any dish, but when they go nuts, there's no way we can keep up with all of them (and even the food bank refuse to take them at that point...LOL!)
Snowdrops already? I'm jealous! The closest I've got to that is a hyacinth I picked up at the store last week, and even that is looking a bit reluctant at this point. On the other hand, I did see my first Toronto robin over the weekend...
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