Savory Zucchini Bread

I saw this recipe over at Food Blogga http://foodblogga.blogspot.com/2010/06/get-excited-over-savory-zucchini-bread.html and just had to test it out. This recipe has the perfect combinations of zucchini, scallions, and cheddar cheese. It's a great accompaniment to a bowl of vegetable soup or a spring salad.

Savory Zucchini Bread with Cilantro, Scallions, and Cheddar

makes 2 loaves

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cups of whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon of sea salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of baking powder

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups of shredded zucchini

3 scallions, chopped

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/3 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 350', Coat 2 loaf pans with cooking spray.

2. Combine flour, salt, pepper, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

3. In a medium bowl beat eggs and sugar with electric mixer. Add oil and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients and stir by hand.

4. Fold in zucchini, scallions, cheese, and cilantro.

5. Divide batter evenly between the two loaf pans. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.

6. Cool for 10 minutes in pan. Remove from pans and place on wire rack

Enjoy!!



Cherry Preserves

A couple weeks ago, Cherries were in season here. They were so sweet and delicious. I just had to try this Cherry Preserves from Canning for a new generation. DELISH!

I heart the library

The library is definitely one of the best public resources we have. I love going to my library or reserving books online that I get to ponder.

Reasons why I love the library:
1. Being able to borrow all kinds books
2. Wide variety of Audiobooks
3. Almost every cookbook and crafty-book I want to peruse
4. Librarians are friendly and resourceful
5. Huge selection of Movies and TV DVD's
6. Free classes on everything from knitting, wine, gardening, etc.
7. Quiet place to get away and read/study
8. Great selection of music cd's
9. And it's all basically free (tax dollars at work)

Here's what I have currently checked out from the library

From left to right:
The Tudors: Season 3 DVD
Fly Away Home- Jennifer Weiner
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
Breaking Dawn - Stephanie MeyerNew Moon - Stephanie MeyerCommitted - Elizabeth Gilbert

From Top to Bottom:
The One Pan Gourmet - Donald Jacobson
Beyond the Master Cleanse - Tom Woloshyn
Vegan Cookies Invade You Cookie Jar - Isa Moskowitz
Living Food For Health - Gillian McKeith
The Kind Diet - Alicia Silverstone

The Conscious Cook - Tal Ronnen

Almost Meatless - Joy Manning

Everyday Raw - Matthew Kenney

The Raw 50 - Carol Alt

Living Raw Food - Sarma Melngailis

Breaking Bad Habits in Dogs

Beautiful Handmade Natural Soaps

Welcome to 2011: Happy New Year

Wow, I can't believe 2010 is all finished up. Did last year fly by to anyone else as well? We welcomed the new year in camping at Sebastian Inlet State Park with the newlyweds, Krissy and Luis. We saw some amazing sunsets, cooked some delicious meals over the fire, and checked out some beautiful kayaking spots.

Christmas was great. I received some exciting new project books to create with. I look forward to sharing them with all of you.  Also, My hubby got me a dehydrator for Christmas; I'm can't wait to start playing with that.

(Canning for a new generation, Sew and Stow, One-yard Wonders, Rebar Modern Food Cookbook,

Florida's Fabulous Canoe and Kayak Trail Guide).

I have many new adventures on the horizon and will be sharing them you all as they are happening. Stay tuned.

Christmas is here.. and I'm almost ready

I'd like to start by apologizing it's been so long since I've posted anything. Life tends to get in the way. :) My sister, Krissy, got married over the weekend to my husband's best friend. Saturday that cold front moved into South Florida and it rained most of the day until 3:30. The weather cleared up just in time for the ceremony. YAY, perfect timing! :) Their wedding turned out absolutely beautiful. (Stay tuned for pictures and details.) Finally, I have time to write some new posts.

As many of you know, I have been making jam and other goodies all year. My jams and sauces are all labeled and ready for gifting. Some of my techniques and recipes come from the amazing advice of Marisa over at http://www.foodinjars.com/. On her facebook page, she reviewed a jam jar tutorial at http://localkitchenblog.com/2010/10/14/labels-a-tutorial/. This is the template I used for my jam labels. Check out the fruits of my labor--

Our Nations Capital

Wow, it's been forever since I've posted. We travel often during the summer months. Justin and I were in Washington D.C. last week visiting family. I was thankful that it was overcast most of the time. It helped cool off the streets of D.C. We had a great time. My sister-in-law, Brittany, took us to some delicious restaurant's like Matchbox, Sonoma, and Zaytinya. We checked out the Holocaust museum (which is depressing), Air and Space, and the Natural History. My dad and his wife came to visit and we wondered around the National Mall.

We knew Virginia has wineries??? And they have an Annual Virginia Wine Festival. I never knew. We drove out of the city one day and checked out Pearmund Cellars. We tried some great wines and sat on the back deck and drank a bottle. I personally enjoyed the Cabernet and the Riesling. Check them out at /www.pearmundcellars.com

Back to Reality

We are back from my birthday vacation. We had such a great time. Lots and Lots of wine tastings and exploration the finger lakes region of New York. If you haven't been to this area of New York, you should definitely check it out. It's beautiful and the people are very friendly. Special Thanks to my New York family for the hospitality and our boston friends for coming to spend the weekend with us.

On my birthday night, Justin took me to this little gourmet cafe at Red Newt Vineyards. It was the perfect setting for a quiet, romantic dinner. The food was excellent. For dessert, I had a slice of blueberry lemon cheesecake. It was heavenly.

We bought a bottle of Hermann J. Weimer 2005 Pinot Noir. It had flavors of bing cherry, touches of vanilla and earthy notes with a smooth, long finish. Very yummy. Unfortunately, we did not make it to Hermann J. Weimer's Vineyard.

Off to wine, dine, and birthday time

Bright and Early, Wednesday morning, Justin and I are flying out to the Finger Lakes in New York. We are headed out to see our New York family, attend the finger lakes wine festival, hang with our very good friends from Boston, and R.E.L.A.X. I am so excited I'm having trouble sleeping. LOL.. I love vacation time. Check out some pictures from our last trip to New York.

This is where we are staying... Jen and David's cabin

Gorgeous views from the cabin on Seneca Lake

Hiking at Watkins Glen

















We will be attending the Finger Lakes Wine Festival. Here's the link to check it out: http://www.flwinefest.com/. We are going to bring back lots of wine. =) Back in a few days. Ciao!

Getting Crafty - Part Three

A couple weeks ago, Jen and I had another half day of crafting. We didn't make as much as usual but had some fun and checked some projects off the crafting project list. That week we made another round of Homemade ketchup (yum), homemade mozzarella cheese, chai tea, preserved lemons, and hazelnut chocolate sauce for ice cream. Also, we made some new body products to try including: eggyolk hair conditioner, coffee body scrub and soy milk face cleanser. (Sorry about the poor picture above, it's the only one I have from that day)

Delicious Summer Salad

My sister, Krissy, and I made the most delicious summer salad. We took most the veggies from my fridge and created this colorful and vibrant salad. I love to make salads like this. Usually I call them my "vegetable drawer" or "kitchen sink" salads because I literally put everything I have in refrigerator in the salad bowl. The salads always come out delicious. This particular salad has fresh spinach, baby greens, vine-ripe tomatoes, sliced ripe avocados, boiled eggs, and walnuts. We dressed the salad with Annie's Balsamic Vinaigrette Salad Dressing.

May 11th Share

Our first share in May was full of colorful and delicious organic fruits and vegetables.  The share included cauliflower, bi-color Florida corn, baby artichokes, spring mix lettuce, cucumbers, eggplant, peaches, cantaloupe, brocolini, yellow squash, mango, strawberries, and bananas. Also, we did the $10 add-on for Heirloom Tomatoes. Yum.. They were sweet and perfectly ripe. I just love heirloom tomatoes.

Getting Crafty -- Part Duo

Mother's Day weekend was another long weekend of crafts. While the men did some gardening, the girls did some serious creating. We made another round of beauty products including: Chocolate Brownie Lip Gloss, Hemp & Lemongrass Soap, Clove Soap, Bath Bombs, Lemon-Sugar Hand Scrub and Eye Makeup Remover. The Eye Makeup Remover is awesome. I didn't realize how effective it would be. 

(12 completed projects)

We made some jams including: Kiwi-Lime Jam, Strawberry Spice Jam (my favorite), and Blackberry-Apple Jam. We made the Chai recipe from the Jam it, Pickle It, Cure it book. The Kiwi-Lime Jam is pretty while it is cooking.

The most amount of work was when we made Salsa Fiesta and Homemade Tomato Sauce. Oh Man, Oh Man, peeling 40 LBS!! of tomatoes was quite the chore. Not sure if we will do that again this year. However the Salsa and the sauce came out delicious. Check out the stack of tomatoes we peeled, seeded and chopped, & the rest of the pictures.

April 27th Share

The share we received on April 27th was full of fixings for a Mediterranean  or Greek meals. We received Pineapples, Bananas, Apples, Blood oranges, kiwis, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Avocado's, Blueberries, Fava beans, Rainbow Chard, Arugula, Raspberries, Lemons and Garlic. Yum... I made the most delicious meal with Rainbow Chard and Fava Beans.

Ginger-Braised Bok Choy

Bok Choy is a type of Chinese cabbage, which has a delicate flavors. This cabbage is featured in all sorts of Asian dishes from appetizers to soups to Stir-Fry's. Bok Choy is a great source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium and it is super low in calories. Look how pretty this delicate cabbage is.

Ginger-Braised Bok Choy

Adapted from Food to Live By

5 heads, baby bok choy, cut in half lengthwise

1 teaspoon of sea salt

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil

1 tablespoon of grated peeled ginger

1 garlic cloves, minced

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of sea salt and the bok choy. Cook for 1 minute.

Drain the bok choy in a colander and pat it dry with a towel

Heat the sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the bok choy, ginger, garlic, and red pepper flakes and cook.

Stir occasionally until the bok choy is crisp-tender and lightly browned on both sides (5-7 minutes)

Lightly drizzle Teriyaki sauce over the bok choy and serve immediately.

**I used the recipe below for the Teriyaki sauce.**

Better than store bought Teriyaki Sauce

As promised the homemade Teriyaki sauce that I made to go with the Shrimp-Daikon Fritters. This recipe doesn't even come close to commerical teriyaki sauce. It's so easy to make. I will never buy Teriyaki sauce again. I used an empty soy sauce bottle to store it -- Just make sure you label & date the bottled sauce.

Teriyaki Sauce
adapted from Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook (Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbk)Food to Live By by Myra Goodman

1 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup of pineapple juice (no sugar added)
1/4 cup of packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup of light corn syrup
1 1/2 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Place all the ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, the reduce the heat to low. Let the mixture simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until thickens and reduces. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, covered for up to 3 weeks.

Makes 8 ounces.

Shrimp-Daikon Fritters

Daikon is a type of Asian radish that looks like a large white carrot. It's commonly used in many Asian dishes, it is the main ingredient in these daikon fritters. We received these radishes in one of our Annie's Organic Shares. After doing some research, here's the recipe I came up with. It's an adaptation from the Nook and Pantry Blog.

Shrimp-Daikon Fritters

About 3 cups of grated daikon (about 1.5 pounds)

1 TBL salt

3/4 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

3/4 cup cooked shrimp, chopped

3 green onions, finely chopped

1 egg beaten

2 Tbsp flour

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix grated daikon with tablespoon of salt in a colander. Let the mixture sit with a heavy pot pressed on top for about 30-40 minutes.

Sautee shiitakes until fully cooked, about 15 minutes. Let cool and chop.

After 30-40 minutes, squeeze the water out of the daikon with your hands. You want most of the moisture out of the shredded daikon.

Mix the daikon with chopped green onion, egg, flour, sesame oil, and white pepper. Make 8-10 fritters with your hands.

Completely cover the fritters with panko bread crumbs.

Heat 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pan fry the fritter until they are golden brown on both sides.

Serve Hot with soy sauce or Teriyaki  Sauce

(Stay Tuned for the Homemade Teriyaki Recipe)