National Zucchini Bread Day

There appears to be a bit of mystery surrounding National Zucchini Bread Day.

While some online sources state that it is observed on April 23, others report that National Zucchini Bread Day is actually observed on April 25.

Personally I can't help but wonder why National Zucchini Bread Day is celebrated at a time of year when most of the nation is not able to harvest fresh zucchinis from their home gardens. But I only wonder that for a moment because the truth is I would happily celebrate National Zucchini Bread Day any day of the year!I preserve pint jars of shredded zucchini in the summer when the zucchini is bountiful so I can make zucchini bread throughout the year.

This is an old recipe. I don't remember how I originally came across it, but I have seen it reincarnated many times in cyberspace. You can visit one of its reincarnations here.

ZUCCHINI IN PINEAPPLE JUICE

4 qt. cubed or shredded zucchini
46 oz. canned unsweetened pineapple juice
1-1/2 cups bottled lemon juice
3 cups sugar

YIELD: About 8 to 9 pints

PROCEDURE: Peel zucchini and either cut into one half inch cubes or shred. Mix zucchini with other ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes. Fill hot jars with hot mixture and cooking liquid, leaving one half inch head space. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water canner.

Process as recommended by altitude:
Up to 1000 feet process for 15 minutes
1001-6000 feet process for 20 minutes
Over 6000 feet process for 25 minutes
To make the zucchini bread first whisk together some flour, salt, baking powder, and spices.In a separate bowl combine eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla.Blend it with a hand mixer until it's foamy looking. Stir in a jar of Zucchini in Pineapple.

Gently stir the wet and dry ingredients together. Add some dried fruit and nuts. Pour into two well greased 9x5 loaf pans and bake!ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 pint Zucchini in Pineapple juice
1 cup walnuts (You might like to use some black walnuts!)
1 cup raisins or chopped dates

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9x5 loaf pans. Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Set aside. In a separate bowl combine eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer for a few minutes until mixture becomes foamy looking. Stir in Zucchini in Pineapple Juice. Gently stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Stir in nuts and raisins. Pour into prepared loaf pans. Place in 350 degree oven and bake for about an hour, until the bread begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool bead in pan for 10 minutes before removing bread to a wire cooling rack.

Muddy Day Pie

It's been really muddy around here.

A series of downpours has waterlogged quite a few folks.

Fields are flooded. Roads have been closed due to high water. Animals slop around in muddy pastures. And everything is covered in mud.

Just doing everyday chores is a mess. My shoes sink into the ground and get caked with heavy clods of wet mud. Clumps of mud splash up on my pants and my coat. And dogs track it into the house.

I see mud everywhere. Even in my dreams.

And on my plate.

Yes, I have seen so much mud that I just couldn't help myself, I just had to make a mud pie!I made a graham cracker crust for this pie. It was tasty. And really super easy.

This rich tasting pie would definitely be nice with a pastry crust (my pie crust recipe can be found here). But this graham cracker crust was a snap to make. And making it only dirtied one dish (the little pan I used to melt the butter). Having only one dish to wash seemed like a pretty big deal to me after cleaning up ten million muddy dog footprints. A pretty pie crust and just one little dirty dish? Yes, please!

This pie is a rich mocha filling poured over crunchy toasted walnuts that bakes into a delicious brownie like goodness. I used mostly English walnuts, adding just a few black walnuts. To be completely honest, I was just too lazy to shell out a whole cup of black walnuts. Luckily, I think my laziness turned out to be a good thing. Adding a few black walnuts added a nice earthiness to the flavor of the pie, but I think using only black walnuts would have been too strong, and may have drowned out how well the chocolate and coffee blended together.

Speaking of chocolate and coffee... I ate a piece of this pie with my coffee this morning... ohmygosh!!!MUDDY DAY PIE

For the crust:
9 graham crackers
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter

For the pie:
1 cup chopped walnuts (toast them first for a few minutes on the stove to really bring out their flavor)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup corn syrup (light or dark)
2 tablespoons instant coffee
2 tablespoons coffee liqueur
3 eggs

Melt 6 tablespoons of butter and then let butter cool to slightly warm. Place graham crackers in a resealable plastic bag and use rolling pin to crush crackers into crumbs. Add sugar. Shake bag to blend sugar and crumbs. Then pour melted (and slightly cooled) butter into bag and squeeze bag all over to blend all ingredients. Pour crumb mixture into a 9 inch deep dish pie plate. Press crumbs to bottom and sides of pie plate to form crust. Spread 1 cup of chopped walnuts over crust. Set aside.

Gently heat 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup corn syrup. Stir together well and set aside until slightly cool. When cooled to just warm, add 2 tablespoons of instant coffee, 2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur and 3 eggs. Beat well. Pour over walnuts in graham cracker crust.

Cook for 45 minutes in 350 degree oven. Let cool completely before slicing.

Quart of Canned Carrots Cake

Did you know that today is National Carrot Cake Day?

A whole day dedicated to carrot cake?! Yes! Let's celebrate!!!

If you've visited here before, you may recall that I once shared with you the best idea that I ever had in my whole life... a fabulous way to store fresh carrots, a way that keeps them so fresh that they "snap" when you break them, for months! Really! You can read about it here.

But that doesn't mean that I don't pressure can some carrots, too. Because I do. Home canned carrots are nifty because you can whip them up into this fabulous cake...

But first, another carrot tip:If you have a little strainer like this, hold it over your jar of carrots and use it to drain your carrots... talk about nifty! Drained carrots in a jiffy!
By the way, I tend to be partial to simple, quick recipes. And this one is no exception. Combine your drained carrots and a few other ingredients in your blender, stir that into your flour and spices, and bake. It can hardly be easier than this...
QUART OF CANNED CARROTS CAKE

For the cake:
1 cup vegetable oil
1 quart canned carrots, drained
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9x13 inch baking pan. Process oil, drained carrots, eggs, sugar, and vanilla together in blender until smooth. Stir flour, baking powder, spices, and salt together in a large bowl with a wire whisk. Pour blender ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Spread into buttered pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. Spread frosting on cake.

For the frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter
8 ounce package cream cheese
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 cups confectioner's sugar
optional: stir in a handful of finely chopped black walnuts

Use hand mixer to blend ingredients together in order given. Add 3 to 4 cups confectioner's sugar, until frosting is the consistency that you like. Stir walnuts in by hand, if using. Spread on cooled cake.

Maple Black Walnut Cookies

I don't know if it's because December is here... or the bitter cold temperatures we're having... or because the everything around me looks like it's been covered in powdered sugar... but I could not stop thinking about Maple Black Walnut Cookies yesterday.

Black Walnuts remind me of Christmas (although that doesn't stop me from eating them any other time of year). And turning the oven on just seemed like a good idea when the thermometer read 18 degrees. But I think the thing that really got me was the light layer of snow... it looked as if God shook confectioner's sugar all over the earth. Yum!Black Walnuts are a bit smaller than their better known cousin, the English Walnut. Additionally, their shell is thick, resulting in a very small nut meat. And they are hard to crack. To get the tiny nut out of it's shell I kneel down on some concrete, crack the shell with a hammer and then use a toothpick to pry the pieces of nut out. Broken bits of nut hide within deep caverns of the shell. It's tedious work.

Luckily, a little bit of Black Walnut goes a long way. Unlike mild English Walnuts, Black Walnuts are powerful. A small amount will impart their unique rich earthy goodness to your cookies. They taste musty and wild to me.Maple Black Walnut Cookies may appear similar to some other cookies you know under the aliases of Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Noel Nut Balls, and Pecan Butter Balls. But Maple Black Walnut Cookies stand out from that crowd because of their distinctive taste. And because you work so hard to get those delicious nuts.

Don't be disheartened if you don't have an accessible Black Walnut tree, or if you don't feel like going through all that fuss to get the nuts out of their shell. You may likely find small bags of shelled Black Walnuts at your local grocery market (especially around Christmas time). And this is an easy recipe once you have a few shelled Black Walnuts in your hand.MAPLE BLACK WALNUT COOKIES

1/2 cup soft butter
1/4 cup finely chopped Black Walnuts
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 cup flour

and a small bowl of confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix first six ingredients together in order given. Roll into walnut sized balls and place on parchment lined baking sheet. (These will not rise or puff up when baking so they can be placed quite close together on baking sheet.) Bake for 12-15 minutes, when their bottoms start to turn golden. Let cool for just a few minutes. Roll in small bowl of confectioner's sugar while still warm. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Green Tomato Cake

This cake is one of my best secrets...
It's delicious.

It's full of flavor and texture. It's moist. And it doesn't need any kind of frosting.

It keeps remarkably well. It does not dry out even if you make it and cut it into squares the day before you need it for an event.

This cake makes a standout dessert for a special dinner party.

But it can also double as a fine coffeecake for overnight guests.

And no one will ever know that there are tomatoes in this... until you tell them.

C'mon, I'll share my secret with you...

GREEN TOMATO CAKE

4 cups chopped green tomatoes
2 cups flour (all purpose flour or cake flour)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup soft butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts*

*Use wild grown black walnuts, if you have them!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Beat together butter and sugar, add eggs, and beat until light and fluffy.

Stir chopped green tomatoes into the batter.

Add whisked dry ingredients, raisins, and walnuts. Stir until just combined.

Spread into baking pan. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean.

Serve warm, just out of the oven, or cooled. This cake is good both ways!