Send More Zucchini Please

This year's garden has had a lasting effect on our home.



What started as an attempt to use up an over abundance of zucchini has morphed into something entirely different.



An obsession perhaps. An addiction more likely. It struck again last night.



Yes, it's true... we've become addicted to zucchini bread. Over the past 2 months or so DQ has made countless (at least a dozen) loaves from this recipe and it never lasts more than a day or 2.



The finished product may not be pretty and it certainly isn't all that photogenic but it's delicious. DQ and Bruce battle over the ends (unless I swipe them first) and we all enjoy it for breakfast, lunch and any other time of day. It's really good stuff.

Unfortunately we have no more zucchini in our fridge. Must. Buy. More.

Happy Birthday Stinkerbelle and ECL

Look what I did last night. After attending DQ's chorus concert at her school I went home and baked, and baked, and baked. Birthday cupcakes are a big deal in my house and I try to come up with a different design for each batch. Apparently they are a huge hit at school and kids tell my girls that they look forward to them every year. Anyway, I believe that the final tally this year was 64 and all but 4 of them were decorated.

The occasion for these cupcakes is Stinkerbelle's 9th birthday and she's going to bring most of these to school to share with her classmates. The rest of them will be a yummy birthday snack for her team after their game tonight.

Daria is an amazing kid. She works so hard in school and has a natural curiosity about the world around her. She is strong and confident although she's got a wonderful soft side too. She is empathetic and loving and still one of the best snugglers in the world.

Daria is the best helper there is and loves to go with me wherever I go. Here she is at the FDR Memorial last Sunday. She decided to join Carole and I for some last minute touring. She loves to accompany me to do the grocery shopping and if I am cooking she is always at the counter helping stir things and peel things. My Stinky wants to be a pastry chef when she grows up but she is multi-talented - building with Legos, playing softball, drawing and playing a very aggressive game of chess.

Happy Birthday Daria! I love you more than words can say.


I'm sending a virtual cupcake to my sister Jess (AKA Erica Chopped Liver) too. Mwah!

Smell My House

We all had plans for Saturday night. DQ was going to a Bat Mitzvah, Hubbo and I were going to a party for his office, and we'd made arrangements for Stinkerbelle to spend the evening (I knew better than to call it babysitting) at my friend Felicia's. Then Hubbo threw his back out bagging leaves so no party for us and no need for Stinky to go to Felicia's. I thought that Stinkerbelle would be happy to stay home with us. It turns out that she was looking forward to her evening plans so I had to come up with something really good to justify keeping her home with us. Once I mentioned baking she brightened considerably.
I bake a lot but usually it's cakes and cookies - I haven't tried to make bread in ages. In our old apartment I'd make challah that would look wonderful until it went into the oven. Something would happen in there to turn gorgeous loaves into yummy but very flat and wide bread.
Saturday night I made challah with Stinky and we had a blast. She was fascinated by the yeast and the way something that smelled bad to her would yield such wonderful results. She was impatient with waiting for the dough to rise. We had a blast and in the end we had lovely, warm bread and the house smelled marvelous. Is there any better smell than bread baking? Yum! If only we could bottle it. The braided loaf is mine and the other 2 were Stinky's. After I put them into the oven I went online and found out the proper way to do a 4 strand braided loaf. I'll just have to make more bread soon to test it out.
I must've been in a real cooking groove because I just couldn't stop. I made a huge pot of vegetarian chili. No pictures of that because chili isn't terribly photogenic. Apple-cranberry crumble looks good in pictures though. Don't you think so? it smelled really good too.

Tea and Cream Puffs

I'm feeling a little under the weather today. I was boxing up a ton of books yesterday and I attributed the scratchiness in my throat to the dust but today it continued. Despite the copious amount of tea I drank, by the end of the day my voice was gone and I felt lousy. Naturally, being sick sucks, but the Drama Queen has been so helpful. Not only did she keep me supplied with hot tea to drink, she was very busy shushing me all night. She didn't want me to strain my voice.
Anyway, I was feeling slug-like even before I got sick because I'm really behind on my Bloomin' Feet. The problem is nothing new - just terminal indecisiveness on my part. My collection of sock yarn in the colors that my pal likes is pretty deep and I had a hard time choosing one. Now I have, Socks That Rock in Lapis. Next I need to choose a pattern but I think I have a good idea about that already. If I can just free up a set of size 2's (my favorite needles) then I can start knitting these up.

On another random note, I did a little baking last weekend. Stinkerbelle and I were at one of our favorite stores recently and they were giving out samples of frozen cream puffs and we bought some. As we drove home, I suggested to Stink that we could try making some ourselves. She was totally up for it. I love cooking with my girls.

Then, last week, I saw Carole's post about Cream Puff Day and it inspired me to fire up the oven last weekend. These are the results. They don't look that bad and they taste really good. We all enjoyed them except for Stink - she decided that it was more fun to make them than eat them. Do you see a little trend here?

Cake and Candles

I awoke this morning about an hour before my usual time feeling a little heartburn and general unease. I popped a Tums and headed to the kitchen because I knew exactly what was wrong. Last night I made a cake for an office party today. I like to bake and, except in very unusual situations, if it comes from my kitchen it was made from scratch. Last night at 10:30 pm as I was fiishing off the cake, I ran out of homemade frosting. Noting my ongoing difficultywith my feet, hubbo convinced me that it was fine as it was so I went to bed.

It was not fine and we both knew it. He was able to move on and go to sleep and put it completely out of his head. I was not. This is why, at o'dark thirty this morning, I was whipping up another batch of frosting. I think that we can both agree that this is much better. Not perfect - but better.

Now that the cake issues are resolved I can return to the regularly scheduled display of the last of the holiday gifts I finished while I was stuck on the couch. These are the second set of votive sleeves that I planned and I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

I used the pattern for Wire Menorah/Votive Sleeves from Melanie Falick’s Handknit Holidays again but this time the 24 gauge wire I used was gold tone. I wanted to use a red and gold theme and I couldn't believe how hard it was to find beads in these colors that pleased me. I wanted glass beads in true reds and most of what I saw was coral or pink - not red. I think that these worked out well. I like the randomness of the placement and, although you can't see in this picture, they catch the light very nicely.