Zucchini Herb Bread

Whenever I don’t know what to make…I end up baking bread.  Bread makes me so happy, and unfortunately for my figure you can tell.  It is so easy too!  And I am sorry but the smell of cake baking cannot beat the smell of bread baking, EVER!

Since I doubled the recipe this is three cups of shredded zucchini and I still had a third of this MONSTER ZUCCHINI left over!

Anyhoo, I look forward to the summer because my neighbor has a kick butt garden and he always gives me zucchini and tomatoes galore.  He gave me these three monster zucchini almost two weeks ago and I felt so bad that it took me this long to bake anything with it.  But a dance recital and half a week camping can put a crimp in the baking schedule.  But what is worse is that he knew I hadn’t baked anything with it because I always give him something I make from the stuff he gives me.  I finally made up for it today.

Ready to be put back in the bowl for the first rise.

Now, I am a sucker for a good quick bread as much as anybody but I really wanted to make a yeast bread with the zucchini.  So I set out on a search and found one.  It was on foodnetwork.com and it is from a restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  The funny thing is that there aren’t any pictures or anything because the recipe is scaled down for home use and the first thing I was going to do was double it.  Sure I wanted to give one to my neighbor but I needed one for me too!  I also wanted to experiment with it because even though you could bake it in a loaf pan, I am a sucker for a nice round loaf.  I just wanted to see if it would work.  It did but I should have scored it before I let it rise the second time, I didn’t and it went a little wild on me.

Ready for the oven!

What I loved about this bread was that my daughter that refuses to eat fruit or vegetables (and would have stayed away from a traditional zucchini bread) grabbed a slice of this as soon as I had sliced any.  The herbs are a nice addition but it tends to make it more of a dinner bread (oooh rolls?).  That really isn’t a criticism but next time I am not sure I will add any or just add less because I do like the idea of this as a sandwich bread.  The zucchini gives it a nice moisture that is lacking in other sandwich breads that I have tried to make.

What? I have to let these cool before I slice into them?

Two GeekyLinks today.  Oh woe is me that we decided to save our kitty’s leg and now have no money for fun stuff like this.  Plus, Chris Hardwick is throwing out the first pitch.  He is pleasing to the eyes but mostly he pleases my ears twice a week with the Nerdist Podcast.  And how come I didn’t find out about this till now?  O well, just in time, because my oldest starts 5th grade in the fall and can apply next year.

Sandwich or Toast?

Sundays with Joy/Coffee Vanilla Ice Cream Pie with Chocolate Coffee Syrup

Comfort zone, Joy has smashed through you again.  This was my first attempt at making a meringue pie crust and it turned out beautifully.

Truthfully, I was this close to omitting the orange zest in the crust.  Boy, would that have been a mistake!  It complements the coffee ice cream so nicely and cuts through the sweetness just a bit.  Also, I made sure not to just crush the cookies and finely chop the nuts in the crust, I decided to pretty much pulverize them and I think that helped mine not stick to my pie plate at all.

From egg whites and mix-ins to pie crust.

So lets get on with it.  I am not a fan of coffee ice cream.  Give me mint chocolate chip anyday.  However, I had just bought some Frappuccino in bottles the other day (really just for the bottles, I don’t like to spend that much money on coffee) and just realized how sweet they were.  When they first came out I thought they were SO strong but that was before I really started to drink coffee.  This time, I almost thought they were too sweet to drink.  Almost.  So when I got my coffee ice cream out and began to stir to soften it up, I may have had a taste or two.  It tasted just like the Frappuccinos I had the week before!  I am wondering if the last time I tried coffee ice cream was before I started drinking coffee as well, and that is why I had stayed away from it.  I am not sure if I will ever order it but I will have no problem finishing the container that I bought to make this pie.

Pie out of the freezer and then complete with whipped cream.

If you haven’t guessed, I LOVED this pie!  Also, if you are not a huge fan of coffee ice cream, there is plenty of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream to cut a bit of the coffeeness.  However, I wouldn’t use the zest in the crust then because as I said before, it really complements the coffee ice cream.  I didn’t change anything up in the recipe except that I used my vanilla bean paste in the whipped cream instead of regular extract because I had used the Trader Joe’s vanilla wafers (they have visible vanilla bean seeds) and vanilla bean ice cream so I thought I would just continue with the theme.  I did also make a chocolate coffee syrup to go on top.  As always, if you want the recipe for the pie buy Joy’s wonderful cookbook.

My GeekyLink today is an Avengers/Firefly mashup, both Joss Whedon creations and now both share the same theme song!

Sundays with Joy/Kale Spinach Banana Peanut Butter Smoothie

I know what day it is.  This past Sunday I was recovering from the last night of my daughters’ dance recital and getting ready to go camping later that day for three days.  So unfortunately for me there was not much time for smoothie making or blog posting.

I know for some this post might not be for you.  Fortunately for me, I know that green things can taste good.  This tastes frickin awesome!  I finished this (really big) smoothie a lot quicker than I thought I would.  I was drinking it while I was taking pictures. You can taste the “green” to a certain degree but after a few sips it feels like you are cheating and just having a peanut butter banana smoothie.

Getting ready to chop the kale.

I am not sure how much banana I used because I just had a bag of cut up banana in the freezer and I used about half of that so I am assuming that was about one.  I did use a bit more peanut butter but it was really just a smidge.  I think I could use a bit less honey but I really just eyeballed everything except the kale and the spinach.  I also used less milk because I used the rest of my almond milk and I had to use cow’s milk for the rest.  I think it all turned out great!  I really want to make this again.  It really filled me up as well.

My chopped kale and Joy’s smoothie.

Also, I didn’t use a blender.  I have one but I HATE getting it out.  I HATE cleaning it.  And I just don’t think mine works very well, so I just didn’t use it.  I used my mini chopper for the kale and spinach and then used my immersion blender to mix in everything else.  I thought it worked just great!  I figure if I can chop up the kale and spinach ahead of time, it would really take NO TIME to make this.  I think momma found her new power breakfast for the fall!

As always if you want the recipe, BUY JOY’S AWESOME BOOK!

My GeekLink this week is from The Mary Sue.  They posted My Dream Cast For A Star Trek The Next Generation Reboot last week and it is completely AMAZING!!!  I don’t have issue with anyone and in fact I think Q and Captain Picard choices are inspired and my absolute FAVORITES!!!

Confetti Cake Batter Cookies

This was the second time I made these cookies.  The first time, I messed with the leavening and got what I thought were awful looking (completely flat, no edges at all) cookies but they were all I had made and I had made lots so I sent them to school with my daughter for whatever it was she had asked me to bake them for.  All I got for the rest of the year, no matter what I had made since (along with a request for a small stash for herself) was her teacher telling me, “(insert recipe here) was great but you know what was really good?  Those first cookies you brought.”  While I LOVE that her teacher isn’t the kind that judges a book by its cover and in the same regard, a cookie for how awful it looks, I hadn’t liked how they turned out.  So once I decided that I was going to give her an entire batch for her end of the year gift, I had to fix it.

I figured, well this should be easy.  This time I will just follow the recipe.  Unfortunately, for me, this is what happened when I did… I am sure it was my fault, in fact you can see that this “ugly” one was overbaked but I needed to do something to get it to work for me.

If I MUST point out the wrong one for you, it is the one on the right.

Better than my first ever batch but not what I would want to give to an amazing teacher for an end of the year gift.  So as I made the first batch the night before the last day of school, I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn to make a new batch for her teacher. So I did and it worked.  Whew!  It is yummy, and chewy, AND pretty, yay!  Next time I might cut down on the sugar a bit but I am VERY pleased.

Well, really that is all.  I have got to go, I am in the throws of dance recital week here at my house and I have to get dressed before I start doing hair for opening night.  So before I go all Dance Moms on you, here is my GeekyLink for today.  It is a Geeky Bucket List put together by the ladies at GeekMom (a site that once I found it, I found myself on it all of the time!).  I have really only completed a handful, I am about halfway on another handful (like #38, I have bought the books, I just haven’t read them yet).  Another handful don’t really interest me but the rest I really need to get started on.

Sundays with Joy/Avocado Pound Cake

I was super excited about this week’s Sundays with Joy.  I thought this was a great idea.

What I loved about this cake was the texture.  I mean adding the cornmeal?  Pure genius!  Also, if you are an eater of batters, it is super light and fluffy and sweet!  Really!  The cake was wonderful and I had my fair share of slices slathered in butter.

I was surprised that I even had the chance to bake these cakes (it makes two) this week.  You see, I only had one day to bake this week with TONS of stuff to do.  I baked the pound cake, a cookie cake for my 5 year old’s preschool graduation, cookies for my 9 year old’s teacher (normally I don’t condone sweets for teachers because they probably get a lot of the stuff, but I was given several hints by said teacher), and bread just because I haven’t made bread in awhile.

My busy month is not slowing down any time soon, but thank goodness for me we only have a smoothie coming up next week.  Whew!  As always, if you want the recipe, go buy Joy’s Cookbook!  You will not regret it!

My GeekyLink for today is ME!  Okay not really, it is this.  While all the other food bloggers will be returning home after hanging out at BlogHer,  I am going to nerd out on some NASA.  I went last year and had the BEST time.  My oldest daughter is going with me again and this year I am taking my nephews too.  I am so excited!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Ice Cream (or how to eat ice cream for breakfast)

So maybe I did go a little crazy with the ice cream maker last week.  So what?  I mean c’mon it IS homemade ice cream.  Plus, I did borrow the ice cream maker and I didn’t want to be a bad borrower.  I totally wasn’t.  I gave it back within a week and a half and I gave away a big chunk of the Strawberry Cookie Dough Ice Cream that I had left.  However, I did mention that I would need to borrow it again before the month was out.  With a haul like that though, I don’t think they minded.

Mexican Chocolate and Dark Chocolate

Also, I am sorry if you are tired of this flavor from me…

Okay, no, not really.  It makes me happy and reminds me of my childhood AND it is awesome!  So until there is nothing else that I can make with Mexican chocolate, I am going to be making everything with it.  The same goes for the Nutella and banana combo too.

The beginning and the end…

Onto the ice cream… or more particularly how to eat ice cream for breakfast.  It all starts for me with ice cream and cake.  Both can be eaten separately but why?  That is why birthday parties are so great.  Melty ice cream seeping into your cake, makes everything SO much better.  And maybe, on occasion, I haven’t waited for a party to put some ice cream upon, say, a slice of pound cake that I had in the house.

So once I made this ice cream and really just LOVED the way it turned out, I knew I needed to buy some pan dulce to put it on.  I know, I know it is technically bread, but whatever.  The pan dulce goes with the chocolate so I just had to try it together and I am so glad I did.  Pan dulce can just be a treat but normally I would eat it for breakfast with a hot mug of Ibarra or Abuelita.  I have transformed that mug of hot chocolate into ice cream that you can eat with your pan for breakfast on a hot day in the summer.  DO IT!  I did!

My GeekyLink for this week is for something local.  The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory is having a contest for 25 of their social media fans (guilty!) to join them for a 3 day NASA social that will hopefully culminate in the landing of the Curiosity Rover on Mars which is anticipated to land on August 5 around 10:30pm PDT.  I got to see a prototype of the Curiosity last year at their open house.  The actual one was there too and you could’ve gone to see it (it was going to launch a few months from then) but the group that we went with didn’t go see it

Sundays with Joy/Strawberry Cookie Dough Ice Cream

This is for all those people out there in the world that thought cookie dough bits of goodness were only for vanilla ice cream.  YOU FOOLS!

For our sixth week of Sundays with Joy, we tackled something I have never made before on my own, ice cream.  The only memories I have of making ice cream as a kid involve my siblings and I eating the rock salt and my parents doing nothing to stop it.  I also have another vague recollection of making ice cream and rock salt but it involves Reese Witherspoon and Jason London so it may not be my own.

Custard and a Cookbook

I did change the recipe a bit partly because some in the group had a little trouble with it and partly because I completely boiled my eggs in my first attempt.  Ooops.  So I switched things around a bit.  I made my custard with only one cup of milk and added all of the ingredients that Joy has us put in the eggs and put those in the milk as well.  I also cooled my custard first in a chilled bowl without adding the cream and vanilla for about two hours, whisking to help cool it every half hour.  I then added two cups of heavy cream along with the vanilla and continued to chill until ready to use.

The pretty color it becomes after adding the vanilla and cream.

You know what else my siblings and I used to do?  Make eggless cookie dough, just for us to eat raw.  I say “I” but it was mostly my brother (I was the baby, they totally corrupted me).  Joy has that in here as well.  If I was going to eat it raw I would add a bit more flour (she does have THE perfect recipe here), I think she was making it to be a bit soft so it wouldn’t freeze too hard in the ice cream.

Again, though, Joy has me out of my comfort zone this week in a good way.  As always, if you want to make this you NEED to buy this wonderful cookbook!  I borrowed the ice cream maker I used and I am now tempted to buy one.  It is simply making the custard, cooling it, and putting it in the ice cream maker.  Now a days, those things do the work on their own!  No more rock salt.  It even makes sorbet!  I did almost buy one, they are on sale at Costco for one more day but I can’t justify it to the husband.  My girls’ dance recital is coming up and that just sucks up all the extra money and plus he is going to be on vacation in a few weeks and he actually wants to do stuff with us so I am supposed to leave us money for that.  It is not his fault, I didn’t really want one till now.  But my birthday is coming up soon so…

My new future toy churning up some goodness!

Speaking of my birthday, we don’t have a date for Doctor Who’s return as of yet but it should be sometime around my birthday or just a bit after, so yay!  One of my GeekLinks this week is regarding the new companion.  Here is a picture along with the name of her character.  I am disappointed it is a young female (I really wanted a boy) but at least she is a brunette!  I also have one other Link that is book related.  Apparently, I have another book nerd in the house!  While I spent lots of time and energy trying to get my oldest to read, she still didn’t advance much in that area till she got to school.  My middle child just taught herself how to read and she doesn’t start kindergarten till the fall!  This delights me to no end, however, I am kind of bummed that now she is too advanced for these BabyLit Classics for Pre-Schoolers.  Super cool!