Iris week - Spiced Custard

More pumpkin colors today - and I found that recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake,

I'll try and link it in, if I can find it

The falls (bottom three petals) look browner in this picture than they do 'in person.'

This iris is rich in color, and a bit different than most. The description from Blue J Iris describes the iris as a tall bearded iris with creamy yellow blend selfs (the upper three petals) and the lower three petals are cinnamon brown in color. The beard is a maraschino red. Pretty nice, eh?

A zucchini cake that is NOT chocolate

This is the last of my Zucchini Week recipes.

My daughter recommended this recipe from the inimitable Pioneer Woman's blog.

I was going to make it, so I could share a picture and some firsthand testimonials, but I am tired, so all you get today is a recipe.

However, it looks delish! Let me know if you try it out before I do.

(lame! I know! but I gotta run, Women's Weekend is this weekend)

Pineapple Zucchini Sheet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (can Use All White Flour If You Don't Have This)
1-¼ cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
Freshly Grated Nutmeg, To Taste (1/4 To 1/2 Tsp?), Optional
1 Pinch Ginger (about 1/16 Tsp Or So), Optional
3 Tablespoons Canola Oil
2 whole Large Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
2 Cups Grated (unpeeled) Zucchini (*see Note)
1 (20 Oz.) Can Crushed Pineapple In Juice, Drained (reserve In Case You Need It For The Cake Batter Or The Frosting)

FROSTING
2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
8 Ounces Low-fat Cream Cheese, Softened (can Use Full-fat Cream Cheese)
2 Cups Powdered Sugar, Approx.
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Splash Of Milk Or Pineapple Juice, If Necessary
Chopped Walnuts Or Pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare cake, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.
Combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Stir egg mixture, grated zucchini, and pineapple into flour mixture. Batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together. If it still seems too dry, just add a little splash of the pineapple juice.
Spoon batter into a 13 x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 33-35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare frosting, combine butter and cream cheese in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla just until smooth. Add a splash of milk or pineapple juice if necessary. Spread frosting over top of cake. You can garnish with chopped pecans or walnuts, if desired.
NOTES : If your zucchini are huge, scrape the seeds out of the center before you shred it so it’s not too watery. Also, I spread it all out on layers of paper towel to drain it and dry it off a bit. Then I measure out 2 cups. Not sure if this is critical though. Nuts can also be added to the cake batter if desired. This recipe makes a very generous amount of frosting.
And this recipe can be turned into a Carrot Cake just by substituting shredded carrots for the zucchini.

'Mooommm... why are my hash browns green?'

So, as 'Zucchini Week' continues, it occurred to me that as a rather bland-flavored veggie,
I could add it to potatoes and make hash browns.

I grated the zucchini and stirred it together with my grated potatoes, and, voila!
How did it taste? My assistant here at ZRI (Zucchini Research Institute), says it tasted 'kinda gross.' I found it to be merely tolerable, myself.
However, I am excited about the possibility of St. Patrick's day hash browns,
which would be a lovely visual accompaniment to the traditional green orange juice.

I've spent some time looking around in the blogosphere for zucchini recipes and ideas, and this has to be the funniest idea I've come across-

I have an unusual use for excess zucchini and it requires no preparation, no cooking, and there is never a leftover.
I live on a narrow country road that should be quiet,
but since a recent influx of newcomers who have turned corn fields into acres of grass with ill-conceived houses plunked in the center,
my quiet road has become a race track. Oversize zucchini make ideal speed bumps!
Simply place a few in the road.
Cars roar over the
hill crest, encounter the unexpected greenery in the roadway and instantly hit the brakes.
True, they are only good for a few hits, but as fast as zucchini grow, this isn’t a problem, is it?

Now, don't try this at home!
But thanks for the chuckles, Karen, who commented on the Urban Garden Casual blog.

Zucchini is better than Eggplant, y'know

This recipe is a variation of the Moosewood Cookbook's Ratatouille recipe.

I know, I know, eggplant is THE ingredient in Ratatouille,

but I don't care for it, and decided a long time ago that when I make Ratatouille,

I would throw tradition to the winds and just leave it out.

Gourmet I'm not, and we are not even going to talk about that cute Ratatouille movie.

I love this flavorful stew with some grated parmesan cheese and brown rice:

Ratatouille sans Eggplant

1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium bell peppers, chopped
2 small or medium zucchini, cubed
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2-4 tomatoes, crushed
1 t each basil and marjoram
1 t oregano
Dash of ground rosemary
½ c. tomato juice
(2 T. tomato paste)
2 t. salt, approx
black pepper to taste
¼ c olive oil
freshly –chopped parsley

grated cheese / rice/ black olives


Heat olive oil in large pot. Crush the garlic; add garlic and onion to pot. Sauté just until onion begins to turn transparent. Stir in tomato juice and herbs, then cover and simmer on low for about 10-15 minutes. Add zucchini and peppers, cover and simmer about 5 minutes, then add salt and pepper, tomatoes (and tomato paste if you think it will be too thin), and stir together. Cook briefly until all vegetables are tender, but not limp!
Just before serving, mix in fresh parsley.

Serve over a bed of rice, or in a bowl with French bread.
Top with grated cheese and chopped black olives.

In other zucchini related news, I found this article that alerts you to the fact that you MAY have too much zucchini if...

Let me credit Robin Wedewer, who wrote this article last year for the Los Angeles Examiner.

My fave is you may have too much zucchini if "you have a zucchini bread for breakfast, a zucchini omelet for lunch, zucchini casserole for dinner and chocolate zucchini cake for dessert."

In today's Relish, a food insert in my local newspaper, there was another article and recipes about zucchini. One thing did crack me up, though - the recommendation that a family of four should plant ' four to six plants for a family of four.'

Yea, that's the kind of advice that ends up with people plotting to stuff giant

green vegetables in people's cars , and on their doorsteps!

Don't forget, Saturday is National Leave a Zucchini on your Neighbor's Porch day, so bag up those zucchinis, print out a recipe or two,

and figure out which neighbor you are going to 'Zucchini Ditch'

Zucchini days continue

They keep coming, and now they've brought a cousin along !

My DH likes the yellow summer squashes much better than the traditional green zucchini, but I don't notice much difference, myself.

There is an old joke comparing zucchini to the manna the Israelites relied on, but came to despise for its blandness. I've googled, but can't find who originated that particular joke.

Zucchini certainly could've been manna, really. It multiplies rapidly, is bland in taste, and people do get tired of it.

I found one reference, along with a joke about locking your car doors in the church parking lot, at Feminist Mormon Housewives.

There is a tasty looking recipe in comments called 'Parmy Zuke Strips' that definitely looks worth making.

At any rate, here is today's recipe - a long time fave of mine. When I first got this 'recipe', I made it so many times that my DH said, 'please, no more!' I don't hear that from him much, really.

Summer Zucchini and Tomatoes with Cheese

(this one is not written down, but I think most everyone has made this at some time or another)

butter,

zucchini, sliced in abt 1/8-1/4" circles

tomatoes, sliced

garlic, diced

onions,

oregano,

thyme,

salt and pepper to taste

bread crumbs

mozzarella cheese, grated or parmesan cheese

In a skillet, saute zucchini in butter, briefly.

Add tomatoes and onions; let them cook a bit to cook off some of the tomato juice.

Add garlic and cook to soften garlic.

Sprinkle crushed oregano and thyme over the top, add salt and pepper.

Put bread crumbs on top, then

sprinkle cheese over the top. Cover briefly to let cheese melt, then serve.

Let me know in comments if you know the origin of that zucchini/manna joke, and I'm always looking for a few good zucchini recipes!

Zucchini mania continues....join with others to spread the joy (and zucchini)

BloggersUnite.org is a place I've just found,

and there are a few folks over there who are banding together to promote zucchini.

Take a look at:
http://www.bloggersunite.org/event/sneak-some-zucchini-onto-your-neighbors-porch-day
Such lovely, positive bloggers,

who want to educate everyone about the happiness that can result from

sharing zucchini with others.
Their objective:
Teach people there is no such thing as too much zucchini !

Today's recipe is just a homey casserole.

Impossible Zucchini Pie

Remember those old ‘Bisquick’ impossible pies that you just stirred together?

– well, this is another one.

2 c. grated zucchini (or you could grate other summer squash, in, too, for more color)
¼ c. chopped onion
a few slices of tomatoes, if you like

1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (or swiss would be nice, too)
1 ½ c. milk
¾ c. Bisquick
3 large eggs
1 t. salt
1/3 t. pepper
1-2 T. whole wheat flour (just to make it seem more nutritious)
½ c chopped ham, if desired

Heat oven to 400°. Lightly grease deep dish pie plate, or an 8x8 square pan works, too.
Place tomato slices on the bottom of your pan, if you are using them.
Combine milk, Bisquick, eggs, salt, pepper and flour in a blender for about a minute, or until smooth. Pour into bowl, and add zucchini, onion and cheese and ham.
Pour mixture into baking dish. Bake 25 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and knife comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serves 6

Zucchini week continues... Angel hair pasta w/ pesto, zucchini and chicken

Hey, back for more?
Glutton for (zucchini) punishment?
Or maybe just looking for a zucchini - loving glutton???

I can't help you with that, but here is another delish zucchini recipe:

Angel hair w/ pesto, zucchini and chicken

Chicken breast in bite size pieces

Julienned zucchini

Garlic, chopped

Angel hair pasta

Fresh basil, lightly chopped

Pkg pesto mix

Oil

Parmesan cheese if desired

Mix the pesto mix with a little oil and water.

Marinate chicken in some of the pesto mixture.

Drain pesto marinade from chicken, (discard marinade)

then cook chicken in small amount of oil until lightly browned.

Remove from skillet, then add more oil and cook garlic and zucchini briefly.

Meanwhile, cook angel hair pasta (hey, they have whole wheat angel hair pasta! Who knew?)

Add remaining pesto mixture to skillet,

along with cooked chicken and fresh basil.

Drain cooked pasta, and serve chicken/ zucchini over angel hair.

Voila! pretty tasty, I'll say!

Oh, and Rachael Ray has a very similar recipe -Zucchini Fettucine.

Remember to let me know in comments if you have a zucchini recipe to share!

ZUCCHINI - week begins and Garden Blogger's Muse Day

Just a heads up, National Leave a Zucchini on your Neighbor's Porch day is coming!

Mark next Saturday, August 8th, and be sure to celebrate,

especially if you, like me, are being inundated by your zucchini plants.

Just to 'sweeten the pot' so to speak .. or maybe just so your neighbors won't hate you,
I'll be posting a new , tasty zucchini-using recipe every day.
You could make a copy and tie it to the zucchini-bats you so generously share with your neighbors. :)

As it is also August 1st, I even found a poem that rhapsodizes about the unique properties of zucchini:

It was an an itsy-bitsy,

teeny-weenysilver striped green zucchini.

While we slumbered, what went wrong?

Overnight it's two feet long!

from http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1146421, which has quite a few poems about zucchini.

I am hoping that you will be inspired to share your own zucchini recipes. Let me know in the comments!!!!

Here's my first recipe, and it is a winner - everybody has a recipe for chocolate/zucchini cake-brownies, etc. I've tried a lot of them over the years, and this one is THE best.

Self – Frosting Chocolate Zucchini Cake

½ c. margarine
½ c. oil
1 ¾ c sugar (1 ½)
2 eggs
2 c finely grated zucchini
1 t soda
2 ½ c flour
1 t vanilla
1/2 c sour cream or buttermilk
4-6 T cocoa
½ t cinnamon (optional)
1 t salt
1 t b powder

Mix oil, margarine and sugar. Add eggs.
Sift the dry ingredients together, including the cocoa. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk to sugar mixture.
Add the remaining ingredients except zucchini blend well.
Stir in the zucchini by hand and pour the batter into a greased 9x13 pan

Mix the following and crumble on top of the cake:

¾ c chocolate chips
¾ c chopped nuts
¾ c brown sugar

Bake @ 350º for 35-45 minutes or until done. Serves 12

(Omit cinnamon to bring out better chocolate taste)

This is a great recipe, folks! Help me out this week, and let me know about your tastiest zucchini recipes.

A new recipe tomorrow. Yum, yum, yum.

Show and Tell Friday -cake plate and apricot nectar cake recipe

It's Friday, and time for Show and Tell - be sure to go to Kelli's blog to see what everyone else has to offer today!
This old cake plate is from one of my great grandmothers, I am not sure which one. I received it from my grandmother, who kept it in her china cabinet.
It is not a fancy one, or an expensive one.
But it is cherished because it is a piece of the past I can enjoy.
And those green candles are pine scented, just Christmas leftovers that smell great when I open the hutch doors!
If I'm showing a cake plate, I think I should add a recipe.

This recipe is from The Cake Mix Doctor by Ann Byrn.

Favorite Apricot Nectar Cake

Cake:

1 pkg (18.25 oz) plain white or yellow cake mix

1 pkg (3 oz) lemon gelatn (but we have used peach in a pinch)

3/4 c canned apricot nectar

3/4 c. vegetable oil, such as canola, corn, or soybean oil

grated zest of 1 lemon (1 t.)

4 large eggs

Glaze:

3/4 c. confectioners' sugar

2 T fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)

4 T. canned apricot nectar ,or more as needed

Lightly mist Bundt (or angel food cake) pan, then dust with flour.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix all of the 'Cake' ingredients together with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then mix at medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes more. The batter should look thick and smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. PLace the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until is is light brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger 35-42 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 10 - 15 minutes.

Prepare the glaze by combining the 'glaze' ingredients in a sauce pan and heat over medium heat, stirring, untilthe sugar has dissolved, about 3 - 5 minutes.

Run a knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a serving platter (or beautiful cake plate!)

While the cake is still warm, poke holes in the top with a toothpick or wooden skewer. Spoon the glaze onto thecake so that it seeps down into the holes . Let the cake cool before slicing.

This is a flavorful, moist, not too sweet cake! Try it if you are having trouble keeping your weight up (j/k :) !

Show and Tell Friday - Parsnips from last year's garden

Parsnips have always seemed like one of those old-fashioned veggies, like turnips. Who EATS parsnips, or turnips, or kohlrabi? Well, somehow we tried them. I think our youngest daughter somehow got us started on parsnips. We like them, and I really only put them in a pot roast.

At any rate, last year was our second year to grow them. (and I planted them too close together, and then didn't thin them properly or vigorously enough). But then I didn't get them all pulled in the fall, as much out of laziness as anything, I suppose. But I knew we could see if the parsnips and the carrots that were left in the ground would overwinter like 'the books' say they will.
On one of my ventures into the back yard bog (spring run-off and snow melt), I grabbed a gardening fork and checked the parsnips. Yup, they were still there, and so I decided it was time to see if they were any good. You can see they were a muddy mess in the first picture (above).

So I rinsed and scrubbed them off outside, and then brought them inside for a second cleaning.

They don't look too bad! Then on Sunday we made Pot Roast with them. Here's my recipe for the crockpot, but it is nothing remarkable:

Crockpot Pot Roast

1 2-4 lb beef pot roast, chuck roast or something similar

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, pureed

meat tenderizer, if desired

1 pkg. pot roast, beef stew, or onion soup mix

onions, chopped

garlic, minced

carrots, chopped

parsnips, chopped

potatoes, optional - or serve w/ mashed potatoes

I usually leave out the potatoes, otherwise there isn't enough room in my standard sized crock pot.
I put the meat in the crockpot about 9 a.m., and add the meat tenderizer, soup mix, and pour the tomatoes over the top. Cook on low for about 3 -4 hours.

About noon or 1 p.m., I take the meat out of the crock pot and add the veggies. Put the meat back on top. Let it cook another 4-5 hours on low, and it is done.

This is great as a stew the next day, add some more veggies and cut up the meat.

So, that is it- the pot roast was great, the parsnips delicious, if small, and I'll have to dig up those carrots soon!

Go to Kelli's blog, home of Show and Tell Friday, to see what everyone else is showing today!

Show and Tell Friday - glass frig storage

The week has just flown by- it's Friday already. Head over to Kelli's blog There is no Place Like Home, to see what everyone else has to show today. This is a glass refrigerator container (pre-Tupperware?) that I found in a thrift shop. I didn't even know what it was, but my friend, Dona, did. I like the fruit on the lid. I don't use it a lot, I just keep it in my china hutch. It doesn't have any manufacturing name or mark on it that I can see. If anyone knows anything about these glass boxes, please let me know!
It looks like just the right size to hold cornmeal mush in. Maybe some of you remember fried cornmeal mush for breakfast? I don't make it very often, it is a recipe too full of fat and sugar for me, but it sure is a tasty breakfast. Also, as I've learned from feeding it to my husband, it is one of those recipes that you have to 'grow up with' to enjoy. (i.e., it is one of the few things he doesn't really care for!)

I found a recipe for Fried Cornmeal Mush at Taste of Home that seems like the way my mom used to make it for us.

Fried Cornmeal Mush

4 cups water, divided
1 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
Oil for frying
Maple syrup
Directions:
Boil 3 cups water. Combine remaining water with cornmeal and salt; add to boiling water. Stir until mixture returns to a boil.
Pour into a greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pan.
Chill for 8 hours or overnight. Slice 1/4 to 1/2-in. thick. Fry in a large skillet with shortening or oil until browned on each side.
Serve with syrup. Yield: 14-16 servings.

As I said, I don't make it very often. It is best when it is cooked thin and the edges are crispy. A cheap, if not particularly nutritious, breakfast.

Pickled beets and pickled eggs

My last post reminded me of something I haven't made in a long time, pickled beets with hardboiled eggs. This was something I grew up with, it is simple, just put equal amounts of vinegar and sugar together, and add peeled beets and cook, then add peeled, hardboiled eggs and refrigerate for a day or two. The egg whites turn pink, and take on some of the 'pickled' flavor. I was surprised when my DH, who generally eats just about anything, said, 'what's that?' when I served him some, but he had not had them before. I guesss it is a bit odd, when you think of pink eggs and all. Tasty, though. I've heard of recipes with spices in them, too. Anyone else grow up with pickled eggs and beets? (how about fried mush w/ syrup??! yum!)

Pasta salad with fresh basil and tomatoes

I found this recipe in my files, it is pretty tasty, and I am also looking for other good recipes that use basil, so let me know if you've got a good one. This one has tasted good enough that I've made it two days in a row.

Pasta Salad

Cook pasta and drain – cheese tortellini or bowties
While hot pour (Paul Newman’s) Italian Salad dressing over the pasta and let cool
Prepare fresh snipped basil (a lot) , and a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and cut into chunks.
Add to : pasta mixture and chill for 3 hours.
Just before serving drain salad dressing from the pasta.
Add to mixture quartered red tomatoes, and large black pitted olives.
Mix together and sprinkle with fresh Parmesan or Romano cheese, and coarse black pepper.

Salsa time

I have been processing tomatoes, I made some tomato sauce last week, as well as salsa last week and this week. It is a lot of work, chopping all those veggies. This last session went better, though, because my 11 yr. old helped. She was a great assistant! I even tried to make some 'hot' salsa - mine is typically very mild - even when I try to make it hot. We'll see if I finally succeeded. Next time (if I make any more) I'll use my LaPresse- I think it is called.

Here is my recipe for salsa, I got a great recipe from a friend, and made a few changes:

Salsa

½ bushel tomatoes (about 28 lbs)
2 sliced garlic cloves
2-5 green peppers (or red, orange, yellow)
2-5 other types of peppers (banana, Anaheim, poblano, etc)
3 large onions
2 T salt (non-iodized for canning)
2-3 jalapeno peppers
lemon juice

Scald and peel tomatoes. Dice them and put them in a colander to strain out some of the juice. (I press the tomatoes against the colander, then put the drained tomatoes in a saucepan to cook briefly, and drain and press them again- this results in a thicker salsa)

Clean and chop all other vegetables, put all veggies in the large saucepan to cook until onions are soft, and salsa reaches a low boil, stirring occasionally.

Add salt, and 1 – 3 T. of hot crushed bottled peppers, if hotter salsa is desired. Stir.

Add 1 T. lemon juice to each pint of salsa, process in pressure cooker at 15 lbs pressure for 15 minutes.
Some of my friends use a water bath canner to process this, but I am a bit cautious, and use the pressure cooker. The best thing to do is to check with your local extension office for their advice.