Dark Chocolate Zucchini Brownies -June 2012 Diaries

     Where do I begin? It seems that I've put off cooking and baking long enough that I've had a relapse. Not to mention the sampling that comes along with it.... Unfortunately, I've had a kink in my neck for over a week and my gym trips have been limited. Therefore, the extra guilt for taste-testing everything I make is heavy enough to make me want to eat more. 

     Nonetheless, I come to you with a recipe including both angelic and devilish ingredients. I would omit the "zucchini" from the title because you'd never guess it was in the recipe. However, it is a MUST or the batter will be dry as dirt. 

     Thankfully, for me, Connor volunteered to sample them for me (so I don't have to). Bless his little heart. I think he might forget that he's the queen's taste-tester tonight and I fear that I might have to do it myself....

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut oil- extra virgin, or you can use vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup Splenda
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Hershey's Dark Cocoa Powder
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups zucchini (shredded)

     Mix all ingredients except zucchini while scraping the sides of the mixer and then add the zucchini last. Mix until its turns dark and creamy. Line a 9x13 glass pan with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan. Or you can just grease all over.

     Bake for 25-30 mins or until it springs back to the touch. I like my brownies fudgy and I normally take them out 5 mins early but I didn't with these.  I wasn't sure how well it would work since I used zucchini in the mix. I baked them for a full 25 minutes.

     A favorite of mine to use is Barlean's Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. The benefits to using coconut oil over other oils are great (health-wise). Honestly, everything that I've baked and used coconut oil in has NO coconut flavor or after taste. 

Dirty Garden Fingers

     It is time to get dirty! My raised garden is already in and I have a few plants left over to put somewhere..... I'm thinking the garden will do well this year. The garden last year didn't do that great. I think the compost (au natural from a horse) was too hot and the garden was over watered. 

     I'll have a small variety, but it will be enough for the room I'm working with. I was surprised to find cantaloupe and Elephant Ears in the garden. I know I threw cantaloupe leftovers in the garden for fertilizer over the year, but how the Elephant Ears got in there, I don't have a clue. Elephant Ears grow from bulbs.....

Hot Jalapenos

Tomatoes

 

Zucchini

Yellow Summer Squash

Volunteer Cantaloupe! x3

Volunteer Elephant Ears!

     As far as the jalapenos, I'll have to buy more. I wanted to make my Uncle Pete's jalapeno poppers but didn't plant mild, I planted HOT.

     I've been searching garden plans and found a couple layouts that I plan to follow when I finally have the room. If you've ever read "Peter Rabbit" you'll know what the garden might look like.   Beatrix Potter, the English author and illustrator of the book and her gardens are English themed. This will mostly be for herbs and plants that I'd plant a small amount of. I'll have a bigger garden of course, for mass production and canning/freezing the harvest.

    

     I came across a wonderful blog this morning. It has some detailed steps on how to make raised beds, quick and easy! This may be in my future plans as well. DIY Raised Garden Bed.
     Oh how I love to play in the dirt. Free therapy that is a harvest all of its own.  It makes me reminisce of my childhood where gardening was an everyday thing at the farm.

A Fine Saturday For Bluebird Bars

     It was supposed to storm over the weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I have a friend that even cancelled the family photographs that I was supposed to take because we agreed to listen to the weather man. We were tricked into believing that the sky would be filled with big, round, and gray rolling storm clouds. It was a tad cool, nevertheless, the sun came out to play all day. So what did this mean? A rescheduled photo shoot and some extra time on my hands to play in the dirt. A few pictures of what has been growing as well.

I find that the colors are simply beautiful and it seems that PINK is in this season.

My Favorite- The Hovering Flower

     I've been attempting to landscape the back yard but the dog is driving me mad. I planted a new plot of flowers, a peony, dark sweet potato vines, and pansies; she dug them up. It is so bothersome to put up fencing just to keep her out, but hey, everybody can't have their cake and eat it too. Just a real quick story- other than the flowers she digs up, I've been having trouble growing grass where she digs along the fence line (to escape) and in the middle of the yard (for moles I suspect). Cayenne pepper only lasted until it would rain, that actually kept her out for a bit. I'll tell you a little secret, something I recently found while scouring the internet for answers. It may sound gross but when I mow I clean the yard up, the good, bad, and stinky. Now, I scatter her poop where she digs or just under the dirt where grass hasn't had a chance to grow yet. I haven't had her dig for 3 or more weeks. Unfortunately she's moved on to better places like my flower garden. Though, it is REALLY nice to have a greener yard again I must say. 

My Newest Addition

     I'm also in the process of having a back patio poured. This beauty above will be one of the first to enjoy sitting under the shaded area. I'm so excited, I even ordered a canopy tent and can't wait to put it up. There is nothing but a pile of rocks at the moment from what the hired hand broke up. 
     So, after all the work outside was complete the children were rounded up. Baths were taken and the adventure drained kids whined until bedtime. I managed to whip up a new recipe in the meantime. 
     My love's little girl thought I called them "bluebird" bars instead of ordinary "blueberry" bars, so, since I whipped this recipe up they are officially called "Bluebird Bars" in her honor.

Blueberry bliss in every bite!

Better than melt in your mouth blueberry muffins!

     I know the pictures aren't the best. That's what I get for sporting a fancy camera without proper lighting. Despite the lighting, these Bluebird Bars were sprinkled with power sugar the next morning and it was a delightful treat as our breakfast. 

It was easy to make. 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease your pan and set aside
3. Mix your drys in a bowl and set aside
4. Mix wet ingredients, blend everything well and add in eggs last, one at a time until it is well incorporated
5. Then add dry ingredients about 1 cup at a time, mix well
6. Spread batter on greased pan leaving about 1 cup aside
7. Spoon/spread blueberry filling all over
8. Dal-lop spoonfuls of remaining batter over filling  
9. Bake for about 30 minutes until top is golden brown
10. Cool completely before dusting with power sugar

   When making the filling I added the sugar, Watkin's Vanilla Extract, and tapioca to the berries then stirred until it thickened. I let it cool a bit before spooning it on the batter. I wanted to make sure it was going to be thick enough and not be too hot for spreading on the batter. 


What's in the batter mix:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon Watkin's Vanilla Extract
• 1 (15-ounce) can blueberries in light syrup
• powdered sugar, for desired dusting

Filling: 

• 1 (15 oz) can of blueberries in light syrup
•  2 tbls tapioca
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp Watkin's Vanilla Extract

      I hope everyone understands the strength it takes to not stuff my face with the food I prepare. As a fitness freak and woman of the kitchen I'm my own worst enemy! Occasionally I break but I ALWAYS, ALWAYS pick myself up immediately. It's way too easy to say, "I'll start over tomorrow" and continue gorging because it is easily repeated the day after. Those who are interested in actually eating while dieting check out my blog, The Clean Diet With Slim. Until then, I have some cramming to do and time to spend with my son.

~Don't forget, wine belongs in the kitchen with the cooks!

Xbox Controller Cake Challange

     Finally, I've made it (fondant cake that is). Though, it isn't perfect, it is satisfactory. My boyfriend had helped me bake the cakes and my sister Jess helped with some of the fondant the next day. It's always fun to have someone in the kitchen at times, you never know what topics will be discussed.  

     First thing is first. Jeremy and I made butter cakes from scratch and they were very delicious. Jeremy is so cute in the kitchen (com'on ladies, we love to see that our men can cook too). We baked a heavier cake that is supposed to work better with sculpting for fondant usage (like a pound cake). The cake recipe was good, but I honestly don't understand why it never mentioned greasing and flouring the pan, or at least placing parchment paper inside as a liner. I assumed it was because there was so much butter in the mix that it wouldn't stick. WRONG. It stuck and was very difficult to get out without tearing it to pieces. My advice (for this recipe) is to grease and flour the pan, even though it's not in the directions. Experienced butter cake bakers, feel free to school me :). After I finally got the cakes out, I put wax paper under and over them and put them in the freezer overnight. I read that it will help to keep them firm while sculpting later on. 

Butter cake recipe: http://www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com/buttercakerecipes.html

     For this recipe I think it would have been easier to sculpt at room temperature. With all the butter in the recipe it was too stiff and had to thaw a bit. Perhaps my knives weren't sharp enough to add to the difficulty. Jess and I drew a blueprint on parchment paper and stuck it on top of the cake before cutting. This way all the layers would be the same size.

     After spreading the butter cream icing in the middle we stacked the layers and dirty iced it.

     When it was finished it went in the fridge to stay cool while we worked with the fondant. We flattened the fondant out as best as we could then laid it over power sugar to roll out like a pie crust. We flipped the fondant many times to sprinkle power sugar on both sides as it was rolled out. It was flattened to about 1/8 of an inch.

      With the extra cake we made circular shapes to put on top of the sculpture where the controller knobs would go. It took both of us to lay the fondant over the cake. We smoothed it from top to bottom and cut the edges so the fondant would lay flat. 

     Since we had noticeable creases on the ends where the fondant was cut, I used a blow dryer (old school) on low heat to smooth it out. It tuned out perfect, you just want to be careful not to get the fondant too hot or it will become sticky and ruin. I noticed that there was air caught where the controller knobs would go, so I pierced the rounded areas to let air pockets out.  Then I sprayed the cake with an edible silver paint. The controller is the silver Halo edition. 

     After that we cut black fondant to lay over the silver. We used butter cream icing as the glue. It was rolled very thin. This is where the proportions change since the cake was so tall. We were also able to finish the back of the controller and knobs, which were also black pieces. You will see that the knobs were a tad small too. At this point I was running out of time and the cake had to go back in the fridge overnight.

     Condensation became an issue the next day. I was certain it was supposed to stay cool for preservation. This actually made it more difficult and the spray paint was no longer dry to the touch, it had actually moistened up. 

     I let it evaporate as much as possible before continuing my work. The silver spray paint would easily smudge at this point (insert angry face). I continued with rolling black fondant for the back of the controller and the buttons on top. 

     I had used a gel for the colored buttons. I made a slight indention on the top to put small letters in. I had formed them from fondant (I didn't have gum paste) and covered them with the gel. When I was done I free handed the drawing/etching with a toothpick using black food coloring since I didn't have edible paint or a paint brush. The cake sat out the rest of the day. I feared what it would look like if I put it back in the fridge. 

     So here it is, in all my glory. I know it isn't perfect but remember, I'm doing this for the first time with no direction. There is only so much you can learn from the internet, then hands on is the only option left!

 

       My nine year old didn't critique my work and his birthday "was even better" thanks to mom's cake. :) The cake isn't proportioned perfectly, but you can definitely identify what it is supposed to be. When it all comes down to it, this was my first time working with fondant and the entire cake tasted soooo good.  

     Well, if you have any questions feel free to post them. I know I probably did a few things the long way due to lack of knowledge or tools. However, this was still a very fun project and I will make another fondant cake next month for a little princess' birthday.

Mushroom Fry -Not Your Typical Easter

     Where oh where do I begin? My family is traditional and anything other than unoriginal. Who else fries mushrooms and fish for Easter? Well, it was time to reap the benefits of the mushroom hunt and the fish we caught between now and last year. We had more than enough food to go around for the 25 people that blessed us with their presence. 

     It all began with battering and frying the mushroom and fish. To my surprise we even had a few frog legs mixed in the batch! My personal take on these tasty little bites is, I don't normally eat fried food but these are worth it. A crunchy, salty, sometimes a maple aftertaste lingers with fried morels. Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm.

Fried Shrooms!

Fried Fish!

Fried Frog Legs!

     There was so much food to go around, I'm ashamed to say that I didn't get enough pictures because I was helping fry the fish. While the food was getting prepared most of the boys shot clay pigeons. I will say that I'm not a bad shot myself. Growing up on a farm, a girl learns how to shoot. Below are some of my brothers, my nephews, my boyfriend, and his brother. In between eating the yumminess we fried up, this was a good couple hours of entertainment.

Who doesn't like shooting guns on Easter?

     

     After all was fed and bellies were full, we hid the eggs for the kiddos to find. Wow, was it fun to watch! It certainly brings me back to my childhood, although, I didn't do a lot of Easter egg hunts. Growing up on a farm was something similar to an Amish environment for my siblings and I. We were very old fashioned and my older brother and sisters were an outlet to a lot of things that we didn't experience very often. If I recall my oldest brother was there for the first time my siblings and I participated in an Easter egg hunt (so thank you brother!).

Anxiously Awaiting

     My dear grandmother watched as the kids went nuts on the lawn looking for the hidden, candy filled eggs. My grandma had a twin sister (Auntie Helen) that passed away about nine years ago. She and Auntie Helen were dubbed "Little Grandma" because they are only 4'9. You can see the Polish genetics, but only if you could hear her North Dakota accent.

Little Grandma

     After the kids were done with the hunt they sat down to divide the pastel, oval shaped, plastics. They counted candy and coins that tumbled out as they popped open the shells. While the kids were satisfying their sweet tooth, the older kids (my siblings) played some good'ol softball. They played hard until the sun went down. This time I actually sat out to help my mom clean up the massive mess left behind from the food earlier in the day. I managed to snap a few pics before it got too dark outside.

A Perfect Evening

    The mushroom fry wasn't always tradition, but I really love the fact that my family is original and we make an event out of it from beginning to end. Family truly is where love, life, and food can be found.

Before You Eat, You Must Hunt

The White Knight

    

    Our annual mushroom hunting party was about two or so weeks late on the scavenger expedition. Not technically late, but the weather was warmer than normal. This induced the fancy little mushrooms that we like to hunt and they were about done for the season. No worries though, we snatched hundreds of shrooms that morning.

On to our destination

A beautiful morning

      Finally arriving, with a party of mushroom hungry carnivores, we set out to ravage the wooded area. We probably had four hours of straight cardio that morning. Up and down steep, moist hills until our feet were screaming for us to sit down and take a break. 

     When someone finds the first mushroom it's much like catching that big bass that you're dying to hook. Everyone normally tends to swarm to the location of the catch. In this case we had great teamwork and we all stayed in the same general area to scan the forest floors for the translucent mushrooms.

Four little pretties

     Unfortunately there were some casualties, we found many mushrooms down due to the extreme weather (early warm spring). 

Poor little guy

    Some were very hard to spot. Many were found hiding under inches of leaves. This probably caused multiple unknown casualties. 

Can you see him?

    Over all, it was a huge success. We exited the woods with the anticipation of the upcoming mushroom fry.

  

    We left happy that morning and got to celebrate two days later. The mushrooms soaked in water in the meantime so they'd be nice and clean to fry. 

    This is something my family and I look forward to every year. Whether I actually get to participate in the hunt or not, there's always plenty to go around at the fry. So now you know part 1 of 2 on the family "Mushroom Hunting" tradition. What's something you look forward to every year?

A Random Day

     So I had another busy day. It started with me spending the day with 3rd graders including my son at the STL Zoo. It was about 90 degrees out and hot weather happens to be my comfort zone; my son was dreading it. After spending the day there I was pooped and ready to come home. I didn't get those National Geographic pics that I wanted but I did snap a few decent ones.  

 3rd Grade Field Trip

     While waiting for the kids to finish their lecture (limited seating), I went outside to take a couple pics. I saw men and women with their little families and heard conversations as they walked by. I'm so very thankful that I have my boyfriend. Many of the men let their wives/girlfriends push the strollers, carry the coolers and bags, and hold the little ones while they just stood there. Not that women can't do that, but out of respect the men probably should have had helped, right? My boyfriend is always pointing out other's social behaviors like that. He is always saying that he'd never do that to me (should we ever have a child together) and it makes me smile.

Yes, that's a fake elephant

       

     Stay tuned for my annual mushroom hunting pics. I'm going to carry the camera around for some awesome in the action mushroom finds. For those of you who aren't familiar with mushroom hunting, it's morel mushrooms that we are hunting and they are D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. This is coming from someone who doesn't like the taste or texture of mushrooms. 

     Next week will be my first newly posted baking project. Will I have my hands too full? Can I pull this fondant project off? I don't know, we'll find out!

April 1st 2012

     Finally, a moment of rest. Yes, we all say it when we  FINALLY get to sit down after a busy day. Let me take a moment to acquaint you to my wonderful first day of April 2012.

     Since the weather is finally breaking, I can wear shorts and short sleeves and it has made me exceptionally happy. I started with some cardio this morning, my wonderful boyfriend, Jeremy, decided that he'd like to join me and we walked around  the neighborhood and up to our local flower nursery. We had picked up a load of landscaping rock the day before and some beautiful Japanese Maples caught my eye while we were there. After looking at them close up this morning I had decided that they were even more beautiful than the first time I saw them from the truck window; then I flipped the price tag around.  Only $160 for a 3' baby Japanese Maple tree! Okay, If you know me, or if you live in the area, it's a fairly reasonable price, keyword- fairly. Since I had seen a different Japanese Maple a few days before, about 9' tall for $85, I was shocked at the price.

     So, my morning continued, off to church we went. I greeted today, got to shake hands and chat with all the wonderful people that walked through the church doors. The message was about who we are underneath the mask we wear and how married people sometimes hide who they are until after they get married. After church, I had a quick bite to eat and stained my raised garden (bare so far) and mowed the lawn. By this point I was getting tired because at 85 degrees with no shade, ya start to feel its warmth a bit. My mind drifted while working in the yard, because one day I want to own much more land with room for many gardens and fruit trees. Right now, prepping the yard is something for the future; curb appear for when it sells.

    After cleaning up I took my son to get some summer clothes and sandals. He's turning nine soon and let me tell ya, it was like taking a teenager shopping. Talk about picky, from the shoes to the sandals to the shorts and shirts. After that incredibly dramatic task (he's a great kid by the way) we couldn't find sandals and went to the mall for a second time to finally find the pair that fit him best. When the clothes shopping was done I decided that a trip to Lowe's wasn't going to work, I wasn't going to have time or energy to plant the flowers etc. that I was going to buy. Instead, we skipped to the next stop at the local grocer to buy lunch stuff for a field trip to the zoo, which is tomorrow. I'm just about excited as he is and I get to bring my second baby (Nikon D90) with me to take killer pics. You know, those pictures of the animals that look the same every time you go to the zoo and then take more pictures. Except this time the clarity will be out of this world, I'm thinking National Geographic. I'm mostly happy that I'll be spending time with my kiddo,  he's the world to me.

     So after we got back home I took on the task of cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom, yes I even cleaned out the fridge and freezer. Wow, the things you find in the fridge are pretty scary if left unnoticed for too long. I found Mascarpone Cheese from the last time I made Chocolate Chip and Mascarpone Cheese Danishes, which was in October 2011 (about 6 months ago). While Connor was playing outside with the neighbor kids, I had this task done by the time the sun set. Now that I have resting out of my system I get to do some research for an essay that is due in two days.

Until I can catch my breath again,

Jenn

Mom, brother Nate, myself. Who's in your kitchen?

     Join me in my first fondant cake journey this week and have a glimpse into my life. Stories will be told and wine will be gulped in pulling off this project for my soon to be 9 yr. old son. Success or disaster (as embarrassed as I would be with disaster) is what you get to see. This is not just about me, it's about you too! Tell me your tips as a "professional amateur" baker or cook in the comments section. I'd love to listen and make new friends with the same passions.

Hello, I'm Jenn and Let's Swap the Stories of Our Lives While Doing What We Love Best In the Kitchen

     Hello! When I say or type "Hello!" I always replay the scene in Mrs. Doubtfire where Robin Williams smashes his face into the whip cream pie/cake to cover his identity. He turns to the lady and acts surprised she's there, then plays the whip cream off as a beauty mask. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R21imckcUE I like humor and always have, but that's not what this is all about. Unless you've stumbled across this blog, you are someone I know and you know me. In case you are a food junkie or blog stumbler, I would love for us to become acquainted. Which one of you enjoys love, life, food and sharing stories? Maybe a glass of wine on the side? Well, if you like any of those you should join in. Tell us about your day in the comments section or set a link with your own foodie blog to share. 

      Let me tell you a little about myself in addition to my profile info. I love love love being in the kitchen or outside. I'm a full time 30 year old college student (got a late start) and a single mother. I have an awesome boyfriend who has two daughters. I come from a large family and grew up on a farm. I'm very close to obtaining my Criminal Justice degree and will move onto a Ph.D. in Psychology. I almost went to culinary school while earning my Criminal Justice degree but I'd be crazy right? I love keeping busy, it makes those lazy days even better. Just about everyone in my family cooks because our family has been wonderful about passing down recipes and keeping the tradition that came with us when we settled.  I'm a huge fan of respect and traditional morals. I might have my own opinions but will not judge, and finally, I love diversity and people. Lets get to know one another over cooking and baking our favorite recipes!

My Son & I