more cake!

Dear Kristin,

I'm back! As you know from our telephone conversations, we recently bought/sold our house, and have been so busy moving out & in that I've not had any time to cook, let alone sit down & write about it! Somehow, no matter how much we clean in the new house, we keep on finding more areas that need attention. Your poor dad has not had much rest at all since he retired in February! As a matter of fact, I've kept him so busy that he's lost 15 pounds since we started this whole thing.

Well, we can't let dad waste away any further. So, I made one of my stand-by desserts last weekend - let's just say that it only took the two of us 3 days to finish an entire 13x9 cake.This cake is one of our all-time favorites. I've been making it for years, and there are a few reasons why:
1. Both kids and grown-ups like it.
2. I usually have everything the recipe calls for right in my kitchen. (Honestly, a kitchen without peanut butter is no kitchen at all.)
3. You can snack while you bake - first, you get to lick your fingers, spatula and measuring cup after doling out the peanut butter. Next, you get to taste-test the streusel topping (Do this before you add the eggs, please!) Sugar, peanut butter & butter crumblies? This is banned in four states. Finally, you must make sure that the chocolate or peanut butter chips you are using are still edible, and the only way to do this is to taste a small handful.. (Not that they have ever gone bad in my kitchen!)
4. When the cake comes out of the oven, all you need to do is pour a big cold glass of milk & enjoy!

peanut butter picnic cake
(adapted from Farm Journal's Complete Home Baking Book c. 1979)

2 1/4 c. flour
2 c. light brown sugar
1 c. smooth peanut butter
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
Chocolate and/or Peanut Butter Chips

Combine flour, brown sugar, peanut butter & butter in mixing bowl. Beat with electric mixer at low speed until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (this is the streusel topping). Remove 1 c. crumbs & set aside.

Add baking powder, baking soda, milk, vanilla and eggs to remaining crumb mixture. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Pour into greased 13x9x2 inch pan. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs and chocolate &/or peanut butter chips.

Bake at 350 F. for 40 minutes or until cake tester or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Pour a nice tall glass of milk & enjoy!

breakfast bourbon

Dear Mom,

Well, hang on, I must first address any possible readers we have out there:

Dear Readers,

Never fear my mother is safe, she has been absolutely fine in fact, and I certainly will not sit here an apologize for her! 

OH SNAP!

Dear Mom,

Well I miss your posts, I don't know how other people feel out there, but I'm let down.  I know you've been busy (busy watching YouTube videos of funny dogs!), but come on...  Have you not been eating?  Did you get involved with the librarian mafia again and they broke your fingers?  They're silent but deadly you know...  Alright, enough with the chastising, I have a recipe to share! 

Actually I have two recipes, because its been so long!!!

The hubs and I just got back from a little mini vacation to Louisville, Kentucky.  Yes, that's right, Louisville.  Believe it or not its a fun little town with lots of good food and good booze.  There are pretty city parks, cute neighborhoods, great restaurants and pubs, friendly folk, and bourbon.  Bourbon, bourbon, bourbon.  I'm not a big bourbon fan, but the hubs likes it quite a bit.  And while we were down there we did a couple distillery tours (basically think a boozier winery tour).  I tried a few and it is still far from my drink of choice, but one great little restaurant we found made an awesome bourbon cocktail.

The restaurant is called Rye.  Its a great place with a nice interior and some really quality stuff coming out of the kitchen.  We tried a bunch of small plates, they change up the menu seasonally so one of the stand outs was a sauteed asparagus kimchi-type dish that had that addicting salty, sweet, umami, spicy combo that kept us going back for more.  To quench the heat I tried one of the cocktails that sounded refreshing after the warm spring day that we were there.  And it had bourbon in it, which even though as said I'm not a natural born bourbon lover, I figured, when in Rome...

What I liked so much about the cocktail is it was basically like you gave a mimosa a kick in the pants, hence the name "manosa" (not what the restaurant called it, but what I'm calling it).  It was grapefruit juice, orange bitters, prosecco, and bourbon.  The bourbon adds a complex slightly smokey, vanilla, spicey flavor that helps tame the sweet/sour/tart of the prosecco and grapefruit.  So, to go with the amped up mimosa, I'm also going to give you all my recipe for chocolate chip pancakes.  I found this recipe for pancakes a while ago, and its been my go to as of late.  All of the baking powder that goes into it makes them super fluffy and able to hold up to any additives such as chocolate chips or fruit if your feeling like being healthy.  They also have very little sugar in them, so you can focus on the more yummy complex sugars of the maple syrup or chocolate chips.  I've never tried making them normal sized, I always go for the silver dollar size, that way you can always easily pop them into the toaster to warm the leftovers up.

manosa

1 oz. bourbon
2 oz. grapefruit juice
3 dashes orange bitters
the juice from one slice of orange
ice cubes
3-4 oz. chilled prosecco
orange peel, for garnish
1 mint leaf, for garnish

In a standard shaker, add bourbon, grapefruit juice, orange bitters, the juice of the orange slice, and ice.  Shake until ice cold and frothy.  Pour into a collins glass.  Top with prosecco, 1 ice cube, orange peel and mint.

chocolate chip pancakes

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3-1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. sugar
1-1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tbsp. butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup chocolate chips
canola or veggie oil

In a large bowl whisk all dry ingredients (flour through sugar).  In a measuring cup stir together milk, egg and butter.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture.  Stir together until smooth.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add the oil and when the skillet is piping hot,  pour 1/4 cup measurements of the batter onto the skillet.  Cook 1-2 minutes per side, until golden.

courgettes

Dear Mom,

Zucchini as the "octomom" of the garden?  I suppose it is because the plant tends to produce a lot of zucchinis?  The more I think about that, the more it grosses me out.  I am generally not impressed with the woman they call the "octomom," and I am also slightly concerned for the well-being of her offspring.  Considering how healthy and bountiful zucchini usually is at the farmer's markets, I would assume that the zucchini plant is a far better "parent" to its little fruits than the "octomom." In other words, don't insult the zucchini!

I happen to love zucchini, its versatile, colorful, and tasty.  I even love the word zucchini, it's fun to say.  So is courgettes, by the way, which is the french term for them.  (Another random fact, is that I called them fruits above, because they are fruits not vegetables.)  Next time you're in the kitchen and you want to impress the people you're cooking for, you can refer to the lovely green fruits you're cooking as "courgettes."  You can fry, saute or grill zucchini; you can layer it into a quiche or a galette (then call it a courgette) or on top of a pizza (in that case, zucchini).  You can even bake them into bread.  I just happened to do the latter last week, with this tried and true recipe also from Cooking Light magazine for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread.  Yes that's right, not only chocolate zucchini bread, but chocolate chip zucchini bread.  This recipe is absolutely delightful.  In fact, it is so good that when I brought it into work last week it was gone so fast, I only had the time to photograph one slice! 

I highly recommend eating a slice almost right after you take it out of the oven, when its still warm and the chocolate chips are still gooey.  It's also delish at room temperature or toasted so that the chips are gooey but the bread is a little crusty from the toaster.  I would recommend no butter, but if you are a chocoholic like me, you could spread some Nutella on it.  Unfortunately, it has never lasted long enough in our kitchen to make it to Saturday breakfast where it could be transformed into french toast.  This is such a brilliant idea I really need to strive to save a slice or two for Saturday morning, I will keep you posted.

chocolate chip zucchini bread

3/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1-1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups shredded zucchini (about 1-1/2 medium/small sized zucchini)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I usually over flow the measuring cup a little)
cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 350.  In a large bowl stir together the sugar through applesauce.  In another bowl, stir with a whisk the flour through salt until well combined.  Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and stir until moist.  Fold in the zucchini and chocolate chips. 

Pour the batter into a loaf pan coated with cooking spray.  Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. 

cosmo's notes:  For shredding the zucchini, I just use a cheese grater.  I have a mandolin that could make a finer shred, but I actually like seeing little bits of green in the bread (it makes me feel healthier). 

Also, I highly recommend instead of buying a big jar of applesauce, just buy those little cups of applesauce.  Just like what Mom used to put in your lunch box that you immediately traded away for a bag of chips or a Hostess cupcake...  (oops!  sorry Mom!)  Anyway, you can just leave these little shelf-stable pups in your cupboard until your ready for your next loaf of zucchini bread (or chocolate chip cookies with applesauce, which is a recipe for another day).  They're the perfect size, and you're not worrying about the science project that has started growing in the applesauce jar that has been in the fridge for 6 weeks.