zucchini bread - from grater to gift

A few weeks ago, I attempted my very first loaf of zucchini bread (thank you cousin Molly for sending me this recipe originating from our grandpa's sister Mary!) Strangely enough, I do not own a grater (last minute gift idea?!), so I used my mandolin instead. The mandolin worked well, however there are so many components to the contraption that clean up was an arduous task. Therefore, I'll stick to a grater next time. This recipe makes enough for 2 loafs of bread - and I decided to make 1 loaf and 12 muffins. I am happy to say that both turned out beautifully! Just make sure you keep an eye on the muffins, as they will cook much faster than the batter in the loaf pan.

My family was headed to a party in a couple of days, so I decided to wrap the loaf in parchment paper and fasten it with baker's twine for a hostess gift. After the recipe, you can see the step by step process that went into wrapping the loaf. IMPORTANT LESSON LEARNED - tape does not stick to parchment paper! Therefore it was a bit trickier to secure the wrapping - but once you maneuver the twine and paper in such a way that all flaps are fastened tightly, the twine should hold just fine.

INGREDIENTS
-3 eggs, well beaten
-2 cups sugar
-1 Tablespoon vanilla
-2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
-3 cups flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon baking power
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 Tablespoon cinnamon
-1 cup nuts (optional)
-2 cups shredded zucchini, not peeled (Molly says: i sometimes add a little more if there is extra, up to 2.5 cups)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Mix together eggs, sugar, vanilla and oil.
2. Sift together dry ingredients and add to first mixture.
3. Add nuts, if using, and zucchini.
4. Bake in well greased (Molly says: i use butter) loaf pans.
5. Fill 1/2 full. *It's very important that you NOT overfill your pans!
6. Bake at 350 degrees 1 hour or less depending on size of loaf pan using.
7. Let stand 15 minutes before removing from pans.

Happy baking and gifting, everyone!

all that glitters

Last week I made the somewhat absurd decision to buy the most amazing, sparking gold-glitter wrapping paper at Paper Source. I say absurd because I am pretty sure I'll be finding seeing glitter all over my apartment until NEXT Christmas - good thing I asked Santa for a new vacuum this year!

Here's a link in case you just have to purchase some yourself http://www.paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/item/Gold-Glitter-Wrapping-Paper/300_349/42055501.html

Here are some photos of a few ways in which I've used the paper. While I was baking cookies this morning I came up with the idea to buy some holiday candles in glass containers and decorate the outside as hostess gifts. Or in my case hostess and HOST gifts!




I also used some of the beautiful wrapping paper I bought from the Sundance Catalogue as well. In order to ensure a strong hold, I used spray adhesive to attach the pieces of paper to the glass.












Personally, I love receiving homemade gifts from people. I think that's another reason I love the holidays so much - because there is even more of an excuse to be creative and industrious and show people how much you love them!

Christmastime!

Headed to SoCal tomorrow to spend some time with the 'lil' lovebirds! I've heard the Christmas decorations on Balboa Island are like nothing you've ever seen before. Can't wait!

Mia Pasta Difinitiva

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's about that time. After years and years of experimenting with the ingredients of my own (semi)homemade pasta sauce, I think I'm finally ready to release it to the public. It is with great pleasure that I bequeath to you my recipe for the most ultimate, epic and memorably palate pleasing Spaghetti Sauce!




Ingredients:
1. I 28 OZ can of whole peeled plum tomatoes
2. 1 6 OZ can tomato paste
3. ¾ cup Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
4. 1 green pepper
5. 2 sweet sausages
6. 2 hot sausages (all uncooked)
7. 1 yellow onion
8. 1 package of sliced button mushrooms
9. 10+ Castelvetrano Sicilian Green Olives (or other young green olives if you can’t find this type)

10. shredded pecorino cheese
11. Chiffonade cut basil









Instructions:

Dice the entire onion and green pepper and add to a pot that’s been drizzled with olive oil and sprinked with a teaspoon of sea salt

Once the onions become translucent, squeeze the contents of the sausages out of their casings and into the onions.

Break the pieces of meat apart as much as you can (I’ve even had to take a pair of scissors to the meat while it's in the pot to break them apart!)

Cook the meat until it’s slightly browned, but don’t over do it because it will continue to cook while the sauce is simmering

Pour the entire can of tomatoes into the pot. Get in there with your hands and squeeze the tomatoes so that they begin to break apart – watch out, they like to squirt! Stir to combine




















Add ½ of the can of tomato paste – save the rest in case you want to add more later

Add the ¾ C of wine, stir

Add the olives, continue to stir

Add the sliced mushrooms, stir

If you prefer to make the sauce thicker at this point, add the remainder of the tomato paste

Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste









Let the mixture simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer it simmers the better the ingredients will meld together

While the sauce is simmering, put a large pot of water with 1 teaspoon of sea salt and one Tablespoon of olive oil over high heat to boil the pasta of your choice.

When the pasta is cooked (al dente of course) and you are ready to serve, ladle the sauce over the noodles, garnish with Pecorino cheese and basil and enjoy!

i pull the twine

My spools of baker's twine finally arrived today and I cannot WAIT to start my holiday wrapping with these tiny cords. I had been looking for them for a long time after I saw a simple brown paper package tied with red baker's twine.














Because I love y'all SO much I will share with you my source - Sundance Catalogue! These colors are perfect for the holidays however I am sure I'll continue to find ways to use them throughout the year.







Two days till Thanksgiving!

'Liam + Little = ENGAGED!

Last night, after two long weeks of planning, my adorable brother proposed to the love of his life - AMANDA! I say long because keeping a secret like this from Amanda, considering we talk about everything under the moon, was one of the most challenging things I've had to do - so I can't even IMAGINE what it's been like for Will!



Words cannot express how excited I am for Amanda and Will, and I feel SO HONORED to a part of their lives. The way that my brother requested my blessing in asking for Amanda's hand in marriage literally melts my heart and puts a frog in my throat each time I think about it. I feel like the luckiest girl/sister in the world to be gaining Amanda as my sister (AWP for life!) - a woman who inspires me and brings happiness and laugher to my life every day. Will had better watch out - or I might jump in and try to marry her!

I am so full of emotion and love for this couple and am absolutely thrilled for this next phase in their relationship - they are officially on the road to becoming husband and wife!

I love you two SO VERY VERY MUCH and cannot wait to celebrate with you in person - and to check out that ROCK!

indoor holiday decorating

Last weekend my friend Matt and I came up with the idea to spray paint pumpkins GOLD!! They look pretty darn fabulous if you ask me!




My new apartment unfortunately does not have a yard or balcony (someday I will have undoubtedly have a garden on par with Martha Stewart)but I still love decorating with pumpkins and gourds - so I found some fun ways to incorporate the gold pumpkins into my everyday decor.












I have a lot of cacti in my house, so I placed some of the little guys in the mix.




























Pumpkins and vintage Louis Vuitton? Absolutely!!

























And this is my crowning glory - pumpkins, persimmons, mini corns & gourds on my favorite cake stand - deee-licious!

baking baking baking baking...

August = End of summer in most of America
September = Summer in San Francisco
October = Fall colors, brisk air and HALLOWEEN!

For me, the best part about the holiday season is the opportunity it provides create, bake, and cook... AND share it all with others!





Below you will find my first attempt at holiday baking for the season. Because I wanted to bake a large batch to take to 3 different events, I decided to make one batch of regular cupcakes, and one batch of (24) mini-cupcakes - all from one bowl of cake batter.





















I did make a short-cut this time and used boxed cake mix (Duncan Hines - which proved to be a good choice), however I made up for my cheating ways by making this delicious homemade Cream Cheese based frosting. I normally do not like Cream Cheese frostings - as I like the sickeningly sweet stuff - however this recipe is very creamy and easy to use when frosting.





















FROSTING:
*1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
*6 Ounces Cream Cheese, at room temperature
*1 t vanilla extract
*3 C powdered sugar
Sift powdered sugar into wet ingredients, then whip with electric mixer until smooth








The mini-cupcakes were hard to travel with because they are very top-heavy once you frost them. Therefore, I'd suggest sticking with the normal sized cupcakes when you are planning on bringing them to another location.











The simpler the toppings, the more sophisticated your cupcakes will look. You can go crazy with the frosting color, but if you do, take it easy with the decorations. There is, however, that one special person or celebratory event in which it's necessary to go crazy with the colors and decorations - and I think we can all think of at least one person in our lives that would fit this bill (mom!).

Blueberries for Billy the Birthday Boy!

My parents decided that they wanted to celebrate my Dad's birthday at home this year. I love big birthday parties at home because everyone is comfortable and can take their time to enjoy the meal - and in one way or another Henry is bound to make some sort of performance during the evening!









In all honesty, there are times as a baker that I definitely make shortcuts - such as using boxed cake mix and frosting - but I try to never do this when I'm making a cake/cupcakes for someone's birthday. For this cake - I wanted to go BIG and try some stuff I hadn't taken on all at once before. I decided I wanted to work with one of the most delicious fruits of the season blueberries! and pair them with some mouth watering lemon curd and vanilla frosting.

I baked the cake and make the lemon curd the night before my Dad's bday dinner. I baked the cake in a 13x9 inch pan, which I later split into two layers - resulting in a sort of rectangular shaped cake.

Preparing lemon curd is an arduous process - but it's SO worth it in the end! I used Alton Brown's recipe for lemon curd - and it proved to be fantastic. Whipping up a batch of lemon curd also serves as a great way to work your biceps - who knew! Here is a link to the recipe I used:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/lemon-curd-recipe/index.html


















After spreading the glistening (and did I mention mouth watering!) lemon curd on top of one of the halves, which would serve as the layer in the middle of the cake, I drizzled the cake with blueberries.

*side note - I often refer to the food items of which I cannot seem to get enough as CRACK. My cracks of the moment include sugar free Cherry Lime punch from Target, Snyders hard pretzels, rice cakes, diet coke made with Splenda, and of course, sour candy. Lemon curd is most definitely a form of crack whenever I've got some in the house, and I've often found myself sneaking back to my fridge for a healthy spoonful as if it were yogurt - it's hard to describe the sensation that takes over my body when I taste lemon curd. It's like this cool, refreshing wave runs through your body - it awakens your senses, cleanses your palette, and titillates every single taste bud in your mouth.

LOVE me some lemon curd!!












I then tackled the frosting. After perusing several frosting recipes, I decided to try this one on my own. Therefore I combined shortening, vanilla, powdered sugar, heavy cream and blue food coloring to make this bowl of sugary goodness:












*Next time I think I will use butter instead of shortening, as the dairy component of the butter lends to so much more flavor.















And the final product was this!

















In the end, I was pleased with the final result. The lemon curd and blueberries served as the perfect Summer duo and light way to end the meal.













Happy Birthday to my favorite Doddie! You are the most selfless, affable, and generous man I know - and I'm very proud to have you as my father!

llkw