Savory Zucchini Cheddar Quick Bread

by penji1
Savory Zucchini Cheddar Quick Bread

Savory Zucchini Cheddar Quick Bread

Decided to give some savory zucchini breads a try, this one was good but I’m still a fan of sweet over savory however the hubs really liked this one so give it a try.

1 1/2 cups grated zucchini

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 green onions, chopped

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray for baking.

2  Wrap grated zucchini in a paper towel and squeeze out most of the liquid.

3  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4  In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, melted butter and egg.

5  Add wet ingredients to dry and stir just until combined.  Fold in zucchini, cheese and onions.

6  Pour batter into prepared pan, sprinkle with a little additional cheese and bake for 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool 10 – 15 minutes before removing from pan.

recipe from Laughing Spatula

One Sweet Festival

by penji1
One Sweet Festival

One Sweet Festival

Do you have plans for this Friday night?  No?  Well, you do now!  Come hang out with me at the One Sweet Festival!  This is the first event that I’m attending as a food blogger and I could not be more excited!

It’s only $2 to get in or $5 for a family pass.  If you purchase from three different vendors then you can get a free grab bag!

Here are some of the vendors that will be there:

Last Course Dessert Studio

The Chocolate a Dessert Cafe

For the Sweet

Black Market Trading Company

Conte De Fee – Fairtytale Beignets

June Pie

Cowboy Donuts of Spanish Fork

Dough Gods Edible Cookie Dough

Pop N Dot Drinks and Treats

Lisa’s Passion for Popcorn

Momo’s Gourmet Cheesecake

Munchies SLC a Late Night Baked Goods Service

Fruta Crush Mexican Snacks

Goodly Cookies 

(This is not a complete list, my apologies to anyone that I have neglected to include.)

 

Buttercream Striped Wedding Cake with Lilies and Greens

by penji1
Buttercream Striped Wedding Cake with Lilies and Greens

Buttercream Striped Wedding Cake with Lilies and Greens

Latest wedding cake for my friend Joe’s stepdaughter.  It looked good from one angle, the above one.  It was so hot and the frosting was melting and getting squishy and the cake was sliding and then the car ride didn’t help and the venue was also a bit warm.  Hopefully some day they will look back on this and laugh about their wonky wedding cake!

The cake was vanilla, made from this recipe here.

The frosting was my favorite buttercream, from this recipe here (and PS use heavy whipping cream and not milk, it tastes so much better!)

Decorated with greens and lilies provided by the family.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Summer Squash and Onions with Tomatoes

by penji1
Summer Squash and Onions with Tomatoes

Summer Squash and Onions with Tomatoes

This was so delicious and so easy!  Another great recipe for enjoying all the summer produce from your garden.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 – 2 onions, chopped or sliced

2 – 3 zucchini, chopped or sliced

2 – 3 yellow squash, chopped or sliced

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic, undrained (I think I’ll try fresh tomatoes the next time I make this and just add the spices in)

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt or seasoning salt

1  Melt butter with oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onions and saute until crisp tender and starting to brown, about 5 minutes.

2  Add rest of ingredients and heat until boiling.  Cover and lower temperature to medium – low until squash is crisp tender.  Remove lid and let some of the liquid evaporate.

3  Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan before serving.

recipe from Saving Room for Dessert

Peach Upside Down Mini Cakes

by penji1
Peach Upside Down Mini Cakes

Peach Upside Down Mini Cakes

All hail summer produce!  Courtney and I went to the Provo Farmer’s Market and picked up some peaches while there along with a bunch of other yummy stuff so I decided to give this recipe a try.  Aren’t they adorable?

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened

6 teaspoons brown sugar

3 peaches

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

1  Preheat oven to 350.  Spray muffin pan with cooking spray for baking.

2  Divide 1 tablespoon of butter evenly between 12 muffin cups.  Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar onto the butter in each muffin cup.

3  Cut 1 – 2 peaches into small slices.  Put 2 – 3 slices on top of butter/brown sugar into each muffin cup.

4  Cut remaining peaches into small cubes, you should have about 1 cup of peach cubes.

5  Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

6  Beat 1/3 cup butter and sugar together until creamy.  Add egg and vanilla and beat for another 2 – 3 minutes or until well combined.  Batter should be fluffy and white.

7  Add half the flour mixture and beat just until combined.  Add buttermilk and beat for another minute.  Add remaining flour and beat just until combined.

8  Fold in peach cubes.

9  Scoop batter into muffin cups.  Bake 25 – 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

10  Cool cakes for 5 minutes in pan then place wire rack over pan and turn upside down to release cakes.

recipe from Sweet and Savory

Baked Parmesan Yellow Squash Rounds

by penji1
Baked Parmesan Yellow Squash Rounds

Baked Parmesan Yellow Squash Rounds

Do you have too much yellow squash from your garden and just don’t know what to do with it?  We took care of our neighbors chickens and garden and their yellow squash plant was going nuts so I took some home and looked for a good recipe and here it is.  They are surprisingly delicious!  Even the little boys that were over for dinner loved them.  Give it a try, thank me later!

yellow summer squash, as many as you like

garlic salt

pepper

shredded Parmesan cheese

1  Preheat oven to 425.  Line a baking sheet with foil and mist with olive oil cooking spray or brush with olive oil.

2  Cut squash into 1/4″ thick slices and place on prepared sheet, closely together.  Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper and then spread with a thin layer of Parmesan.

3  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until Parmesan melts and turns a golden brown.

recipe from Five Heart Home

Chocolate Corgi Birthday Cake

by penji1
Chocolate Corgi Birthday Cake

Chocolate Corgi Birthday Cake

It’s the hub’s birthday today so I decided to make him a chocolate corgi birthday cake to celebrate then I covered it in chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Corgi Birthday Cake

Chocolate Corgi Birthday Cake

It was delicious!  And adorable!

I found the corgi cake pan on Amazon, link here. 

I used this recipe here for the cake which filled up the corgi pan just perfectly.

For the ganache, I took 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips and heated them in the microwave for 1 minute and stirred then did 30 second intervals in the microwave until it was all melted and smooth.  I let it cool just slightly and then dripped it down the sides of the cake and spread it all over the top.

Happy Birthday Bob, I love you more than chocolate!

Ice Cream Cone Drip Birthday Cake

by penji1
Ice Cream Cone Drip Birthday Cake

Ice Cream Cone Drip Birthday Cake

I have to admit that I’m pretty proud of this cake.  I’ve been trying to experiment with the drip effect and haven’t quite managed it before this cake.  Now I just need some more opportunities to practice so if you live near me and need a drip cake, just let me know!  I made this one for my neighbor Eleanor’s birthday.

Step 1 – Bake two layers of cake from this recipe here.

Step 2 – Frost cake with this buttercream frosting.

Step 3 – Place cake in refrigerator for 30 minutes

Step 4 – Make your drip from 1 (12 oz) bag of Wilton Candy Melts and around 4 oz of heavy whipping cream, the ratio for white chocolate drip is 3 to 1 meaning 3 parts chocolate and 1 part cream however I used a little less than 1 whole part cream so start with a bit less.  Melt the candy melts and cream for 1 minute in the microwave and stir then repeat at 30 second intervals until melted and smooth.  Let cool, you can’t drip hot drip over a cold cake.

Step 5 – Remove cake from fridge.  You can apply the drip with a spoon or a squeeze bottle, I used a spoon.  Practice with one drip to see if the cake is cold enough and also if the drip is cool enough.  If not, put cake back in fridge and let drip cool more. If it’s good then just keep going all around the cake. This is where a turntable comes in very handy.  Continue dripping all around the cake then, working from outside in, fill in the top of the cake with the drip.  Work carefully around the edges so you don’t ruin your drips.

Step 6 – When top of cake is covered in drip, take an ice cream cone and put a scoop of frosting on top of it, doesn’t have to be perfect because the it’s supposed to look melted, then stick on top of cake.  Cover it with the drip and then top everything with sprinkles.  The drip will set quickly so you need to go as fast as you can without making mistakes.

Drip tips found on Blueprint here.

The Best Caprese Pasta Salad

by penji1
The Best Caprese Pasta Salad

The Best Caprese Pasta Salad

The highest praise I can give a recipe is that I will make it again.  This one will be made over and over and over again!

salad

16 ounces pasta

8 – 16 oz mozzarella pearls

1 1/2 – 3 cups halved grape tomatoes

1/4 – 1/2 cup thinly sliced basil

dressing

1 cup olive oil

2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons oregano

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

(Basically I doubled everything in this recipe except the pasta)

1  For the salad, boil pasta according to package instructions.  Drain and allow to cool a bit.

2  Combine pasta, mozzarella, tomatoes and basil in a large serving bowl.

3  For the dressing, whisk together all ingredients.  Pour half of the dressing over the pasta and stir to combine.  Put in fridge until ready to serve.  Right before serving, pour the second half of the dressing over the salad and stir to combine.

recipe adapted from Like Mother Like Daughter

Double Chocolate Yogurt Muffins

by penji1
Double Chocolate Yogurt Muffins

Double Chocolate Yogurt Muffins

Sometimes I like to play around with recipes and find ways to make them a little more healthy and contain a little less calories.  These had a great taste but a weird texture so I need to do a little  more experimenting.  I think it might have been the almond flour but I’m not positive.

1 cup flour, I tried almond flour

2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup low fat yogurt

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

1  Preheat oven to 375.  Line muffin pan with paper liners.

2  Whisk together flour, cocoa, and baking powder in a large bowl.

3  In another bowl, whisk together yogurt, applesauce, egg whites, vanilla, and maple syrup.

4  Stir wet ingredients into the dry just until combined then fold in chocolate chips.

5  Bake for 15 – 20 minutes.

Adapted from Fit and Frugal Mommy