Crawlin' Cake

Crawlin' Cake

Here is a super-easy, quick recipe for a moist, delicious cake. You start with a couple of packaged ingredients and off you go!  There are so many flavor combinations for this cake, you can just choose whatever you are in the mood for when you make it. You can also start with white cake and cream cheese frosting and add a couple of teaspoons of your favor flavoring(s). I only buy Duncan Hines cake mixes and frostings, I don't care what is on sale! Make a Crawlin' Cake today...you will have your family crawlin' back for more!

Crawlin’ Cake

1 box cake mix, any flavor
4 whole eggs
3/4 cup of oil
1 cup of milk
1 can frosting, any flavor

(Note: I used white Duncan Hines cake mix and Chocolate Duncan Hines canned frosting for the cake in the photo. You may use ANY flavor you like!)

Preheat oven to 350º
Break eggs in mixing bowl and beat by hand with whisk. Add the rest of the ingredients except the frosting.
Mix by hand until well-blended. Fold in frosting…yes, put it in the batter!
Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt or tube cake pan. Pour mix in evenly. Place cake pan on a cookie sheet in oven. Bake at 350º for about 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into thickest part of cake comes out clean.

If you want, only put 2/3 of the can of frosting in the mix. Microwave the remainder until soft and drizzle the rest over the cake after it cools. (I put the whole can of frosting IN the batter.)

Note: Do NOT use a mixer to make this cake. It incorporates too much air into the batter and the cake will overflow in the oven, hence the name “Crawlin’ Cake.”

Don’t open the oven door to check on it because it may fall, and make sure the cake is completely cool before trying to take it out of the pan. If you have greased and floured the pan sufficiently and allowed the cake to cool completely (you may need to run a knife around the edges of the cake, just in case some batter sticks) it should come easily out of the pan. This cake is so moist…and it’s a super-easy cake to make in a hurry!

Crock Pot Southwest Chicken

The weather in much of the country is starting to get cooler and hints of Autumn are in the air! The days are sun-dappled and warm, but a cool breeze and chill mornings have taken the place of blistering hot days whose heat extends well into the night. Many hearts race a little faster because it's football season. I am married to a sports fan, so I watch as his excitement stirs at the thought of games, games and more games! I don't share his enthusiasm, but I support it. And I always provide the food for game days!

Get out your best game day kitchen friend, the crock pot! Here is a super easy, economical, crowd-pleasing recipe that you can put together the night before game day, with little time in the kitchen, and have ready by kickoff!

Crock Pot Southwest Chicken

1 (2.5 - 3lb.) bag frozen chicken breast tenderloins

8-oz. block of cream cheese (not fat free!)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed - don't skip this step; your tummy will thank you!

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 can Rotel (your choice...I use Rotel with Lime and Cilantro)

1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. cumin

Cooked rice

Mexican Blend Cheese, optional

Place frozen chicken breast tenderloins in crock pot. Add the block of cream cheese (yep, just put in the whole block), drained and rinsed black beans, drained corn and Rotel...just dump it all in there!

Cover crock pot with lid and cook on Low for 8 hours. At about 6 to 7 hours, I shred the chicken and stir things up really well, then add salt, pepper, onion powder and cumin and finish cooking. Here is the Crock Pot Southwest Chicken, ready to be served!

Ladle this scrumption chicken dish over rice in individual bowls. Sprinkle Mexican Blend Cheese on top, if desired. This easy dish is great for cold weather days, game days or any day you need a "fix it and forget it" meal.

Home-Canned Goodness

Home-Canned Goodies

From Our Garden

Pickled Okra, Tomato Jam, Bread & Butter Pickles,

Pickled Carrots & Cauliflower, Tomatoes,

 Red Cinnamon Pickles,

German Okra with Carrots & Red Peppers,

Jezebel Sauce

and Cinnamon Jelly...We've Been Busy!

Your Hometown Shapes Who You Are & Who You Become

Taylor's Pharmacy

Tullahoma, Tennessee

(Circa 1937)

Photo Courtesy of:  http://viewlinerltd.blogspot.com/2008/03/tullahoma-tennessee-1937-real-photo.html

Taylor's Pharmacy...for anyone growing up in my hometown, those two words bring back a flood of memories. It wasn't just a "drug store"...it was an icon, a gathering place, somewhere to go to always see a friendly face and eat a fantastic meal. You see, Taylor's had a "soda fountain" that was the scene of true Americana! You had your regulars, your colorful characters, 5-cent jukeboxes at each booth and counter seating which usually held the men. Men in suits, men in work clothes, men in uniform, all sitting over one of the best cups of coffee in town!

My father took me there frequently all through the week and on Friday evenings, when the "downtown" was a place to see and be seen. I would have a hard time choosing between my two favorites...the best Cherry Milkshake you could ever hope to find or the real-cream Chocolate Ice Cream, which the waitresses would put in a wax-coated Coca-Cola drink cup for me and cover with "wet walnuts" (for you Yankees, that's walnuts in syrup.) I can remember looking longingly at ladies having lunch and wanting one of the beautiful creations on their plate. I didn't know what they were, so my father could never figure out what to order for me. "Daddy, I want one of those round red things with stuff in it. It's laying on something green on a plate and has stuff on top." Poor Daddy...no wonder he had no idea what I was taking about. (My descriptives vocabulary has grown considerably since then!) I was a grown woman, and Taylor's Soda Fountain was long gone, before I knew what that intriguing dish was...a tomato stuffed with what I'm told was one of the best chicken salads you would ever eat and dusted with paprika on the top. Oh, if I only knew what it was, I could have ordered it...something so simple, but far too complex for a four-year-old to know by name.  It only made me want one more...to go back in time and feel so grown up ordering one of those Chicken Salad Stuffed Tomatoes!

I remember a time I was so sick that the pharmacist, Dr. Bill Mathews, brought medication to my home. This is the same thoughtful, caring pharmacist who presented my parents with a silver spoon, engraved with my name, my birthdate and a clock with the time of my birth, that I treasure today. There was "Ms. Annie," the lady who pierced the ears of just about every little girl in town (and maybe even a few boys in the 70s and 80s)...with a hypodermic needle! She is still around town and everyone knows her!

Yes, Taylor's Pharmacy was a huge piece of my childhood. And the food there, along with my mother's exquisite Southern cooking, delighted and intrigued me so much at such a tender age that I knew, even then, FOOD was in my blood and in my future. I have made a career out of loving food...preparing it, selling it, showcasing it, advertising it on television and radio, teaching people to cook it, feeding it to people and eating it! The places and people in our lives are an important part of shaping who we are and who we become. I'm just so thankful and very happy that I had such a wonderful town filled with wonderful people and experiences to give me part of ME and shape me through lessons, memories and parts of who they were then and, if living, still are today.

Oh, and as for the picture, it was taken a few years (quite a few years) before I was born into this town. Hey, I'm an antique little girl, but I'm not THAT old!

Giveaway and a New Foodie Friend!

Julia Child
Mastering the Art of French Cooking

Bon Appetit!

Photo Courtesy of:  http://www.apronstringsblog.com/

In the Food Blogging World, we share so many of the same interests. We also appreciate each blogger's differences because they give us new ideas, challenge us to try to new foods or techniques or just plain old entertain us! Check out my new Foodie Friend...Apron Strings Blog. They are having a super giveaway, in honor of Julia Child's 99th Birthday on Monday, August 15th, that you won't want to miss. Don't let the timer go off, because it won't be long until this giveaway is DONE! And Bon Appetit!

From Aprons Strings Blog:

Just a reminder to all our fabulous followers: THERE ARE THREE DAYS LEFT TO ENTER OUR GIVEAWAY OF A BLENDTEC BLENDER! You can enter to win up until midnight on Monday, August 15th.
In honor of culinary icon Julia Child’s 99th birthday on Monday, August 15, 2011, we will be selecting the winner through random.org on Monday at 11:59 p.m. and posting the win on Tuesday, August 16th. Be sure to stop by and see who wins!
Oh, and here’s a bonus: We have enjoyed all your comments so much that we have decided to give away three BONUS PRIZES! Yes, you read that right: we’re picking three of our favorite comments and giving away three copies of Julia Child’s Two Volume set: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the cookbook that started it all.

http://www.apronstringsblog.com/

Two Volume Set
Mastering the Art of French Cooking

by Julia ChildGiveaway at Apron Strings Blog!

Photo Courtesy of: www.amazon.com

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie, A Food Blogger's Request & Remembering Mikey

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie

in Memory of Mikey

Photo & Information Courtesy of: http://www.foodista.com/blog/2011/08/12/a-peanut-butter-pie-in-memory-of-mikey

Food Blogger, Jennifer Perillo from In Jennie's Kitchen recently lost her husband, Mikey, to a sudden heart attack. Many of us who follow her blog do not know her personally, but still grieve for her and her girls in their tremendous loss. Jennie has asked anyone and everyone in her personal blog post to make Mikey’s favorite dessert, Creamy Peanut Butter Pie, in his memory. Food Bloggers are a "sharing, caring" type of people and recognize that we are one big family knit together not only by our love for food, but our love for family and tradition. How many of us are using recipes handed down by a loved one...or make a special dish for a special someone in our life and think of them each time we make it? One of my favorite foodie quotes is from Laurie Colwin, author of several books including Home Cooking (1988) and More Home Cooking (1993)...she left us at only 48 years old:

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers."

I think we are also surrounded by the memories of those who lovingly cooked for us and those for whom we lovingly cooked. Share this recipe with the ones you love today because you don't know if you will get a tomorrow. Today is the only guarantee we have. This one is for you, Mikey.

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie
(recipe from In Jennie's Kitchen)
Serves 10 to 12
8 ounces chocolate cookies
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 ounces finely chopped chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup creamy-style peanut butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 – 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Add the cookies to the bowl of a food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Combine melted butter and cookie crumbs in a small bowl, and stir with a fork to mix well. Press mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave. Pour over bottom of cookie crust and spread to the edges using an off-set spatula. Sprinkle chopped peanuts over the melted chocolate. Place pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
Pour the heavy cream into a bowl and beat using a stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a small bowl and store in refrigerator until ready to use. Place the cream cheese and peanut butter in a deep bowl. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in the confectioner's sugar. Add the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Increase speed to medium and beat until all the ingredients are combined and filling is smooth.
Stir in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the filling mixture (helps lighten the batter, making it easier to fold in the remaining whipped cream). Fold in the remaining whipped cream. Pour the filling into the prepared springform pan. Drizzle the melted chocolate on top, if using, and refrigerate for three hours or overnight before serving.

Mikey...a Picture Taken by Jennie

on their Last "Date"

Jennie Now Wears His Wedding Ring

Around Her Neck

Photo Courtesy of: http://www.injennieskitchen.com/2011/08/for-mikey.html

Our Garden Goodies & Be Back Soon!

Just Kidding!

We have been AWOL lately from Herban Seeds and we sincerely apologize for that. However, we do have a good excuse...no, the dog didn't eat our homework, er, notes, our computer didn't blow sky-high nor were we abducted by aliens and just returned to our home. Our beautiful garden has produced a glorious bounty and we have been working day and night (no, really, not just an expression...day and night) canning, freezing, jelly-making and pickling. We have some gorgeous fruits of our labor, but it hasn't left enough minutes in the day for much else. We will be back soon with some great recipes so, for now, we will just leave you with a peek at some of our garden goodies.

Red Cinnamon Pickles...

So good, they'll make your tongue slap your brain!

Basil Pepper Jelly...Yum!

Spicy Tomato Jam

*Swoons*

Pickled Carrots, Cauliflower

& Roasted Red Pepper...Oh My!

Bread & Butter Pickles and Half-Sours
Two Tastes...Both Delicious!

Cinnamon Jelly...Oooh, La, La!

Garlic Dills & Pickled Okra

So Good!

Romas are "Plum" Delicious & How to Roast a Roma

Our Roma Tomatoes

The Roma Tomatoes in our garden are coming in daily by the dozens! The Roma, also known as a Plum Tomato or Italian Plum Tomato, is a dense, meaty, pear- or plum-shaped tomato variety. It is a great canning, paste, soup and sauce tomato because of its texture, few seeds and low moisture content. Romas can be yellow, orange, pink or red, but the red is the most commonly found in supermarkets and vegetable gardens in the United States. Leave them on the vine until they are red and evenly colored and the temperature outdoors reaches about 90°F. When it gets warmer than that, pick them when they first start to color and continue ripening them indoors, preferably in a sunny window, at about 70°F, until they are fully ripened. If you have tomatoes still on the vine and a frost is predicted, pick the tomatoes! Ripen more mature tomatoes by placing them on a sunny window sill, stem side up (placing them stem side down causes them to rot more quickly.) If the tomatoes are green, hard and immature, wrap them in newspaper and store them no more than two layers deep in a box. Ripening will take between three and four weeks, so check their progress weekly.  If you have a few tomatoes and don't want to go to all the trouble of wrapping and storing, place your green tomatoes in a brown paper bag with a ripe apple. The apple gives off ethylene gas, which speeds up the ripening process. Check the tomatoes daily. Keep the tomatoes above 60°F to ensure ripening. If you don't want to ripen the tomatoes, but don't want to throw them away or leave them for the frost to kill, there are dozens of green tomato recipes out there to turn your end-of-the-season stragglers into something yummy...and you don't miss out on a single Roma tomato that you lovingly grew!

Serving Suggestions: Slice ripe, uncooked, Roma Tomatoes and layer them in a circular manner, on a plate or platter, with Buffalo Mozzarella and fresh Basil Leaves, alternating each one. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and cracked black pepper for a Caprese Salad.  Or, make a fabulous veggie quiche and layer the top, just under the cheese, with Roma tomato slices. Roast your ripe Romas in the oven and make soup out of them. They are truly magnificent for this purpose.

Fabulous Veggie Quiche

with Roma Tomatoes

Roasting Roma Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Wash Romas in cold water and drain in a colander.
Cut tomatoes in halves, removing the stems and any hard cores.
Place tomato halves on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet or jelly roll pan, cut side up.
Drizzle each tomato half with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh coarse-ground or cracked black pepper.
Roast for 30 minutes; remove from oven and cool on baking sheet.
Store in refrigerator or freezer, or use immediately for Roasted Tomato Soup!

This style of roasting yields a juicier roasted tomato which is perfect for soups. If you desire a drier tomato with less juice and a "meatier" texture, start with a 225° oven and roast them for about 3 hours. This process yields a more shriveled, drier tomato with a little bit of juice left inside. You can adjust the length of roasting time (add or subtract) depending on a) the type of tomato you are roasting and b) the desired end result. Let your eyes be your guide!

My Own Recipe for

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup...Heavenly!

Buon Appetito!

Check out my recipe at Foodista!

Just click the link below!

Oven-Roasted Roma Tomatoes Two Ways

Jezebel Sauce & From Queen to Cuisine

Jezebel. What image comes to mind when you hear that name? There's something...well I'll be as polite as possible here...rather "naughty" about Jezebel. Two images surface in my memory when I think of Jezebel. One is of the original Jezebel, a beautiful, vain and superfluously adorned wife, queen and "power behind the throne" of Ahab, king of North Israel in the books of I and II Kings in the Bible. She practiced and promoted the worship of the false god Baal, led her husband and other people astray with false prophesy and met a less-than-desirable end when she was hurled out a window and her lifeless body left as a buffet for the dogs living in the streets. Queen to cuisine...literally.

"Jezebel" from the Bible

The second image that comes to mind is one of Bette Davis portraying a beautiful, vain, spoiled, satin-and-lace-wearing, Southern schemer named appropriately, "Jezebel," who would go to just about any lengths to get what she wanted (especially the man she wanted), including thumbing her nose at the genteel folk of Old South society, playing cat-and-mouse games with suitors' affections and pitting one good man against the other to the point where duels were involved. Both representations of "Jezebel" are women who were masters at the arts of manipulation and seduction, simultaneously sweet and spicy, desirable and dangerous. Both dressed in all her finery, made-up and bejeweled, deliberately symbolic, believing in her own dignity and royal status...determined to go out with a bang!

Bette Davis as "Jezebel"

Jezebel Sauce was named after women such as these...sweet, spicy, intense, beautiful and irresistible. The flavor is tantalizing and its color and texture make an attractive presentation on your table. Once you start consuming it, it consumes you, creating a craving that's hard to walk away from. Its roots have been traced to the Gulf Coast, more specifically the Mississippi Gulf Coast somewhere around Gulfport. It was frequently served at church dinners along the Gulf Coast and the Delta, which is a little odd considering it was named for a Biblical idol-worshipping harlot who painted her face and dressed in showy regal attire to meet such a nasty and unsavory end. It's one of those things that make you go "Hmmm."

Jezebel Sauce

Ingredients:
18 oz. apple jelly
12 oz. pineapple preserves or Smucker's pinapple ice cream topping + a little sugar (sometimes the preserves are hard to find!)
18 oz. peach preserves
12 oz. orange marmalade
1 (5-oz.) jar horseradish, well-drained (do NOT use prepared horseradish made with mayo!)
1 (1.12-oz.) tin dry mustard
1 Tbsp. cracked or coarsely-ground black pepper

Preparation:
In a saucepan, whisk or beat apple jelly over low heat until clumps of jelly are broken up. Add pineapple preserves, peach preserves and orange marmalade and whisk until well-blended. Stir in well-drained horseradish, dry mustard and black pepper. Heat and whisk just until mixture is of uniform consistency. Chill.

Place in clean jars. This sauce will keep for about two weeks if refrigerated. If planning to keep long-term or make to give away, place mixture in sterilized jars and preserve in water bath as if making jelly.

Jezebel Sauce is delish served over a block of softened cream cheese with water crackers for dipping. Pour over baked Brie and serve with crusty French bread or crackers. Baste and/or serve Jezebel Sauce with ham for a wonderful main dish!

Makes About 4 Pints

"Jezebel"

Frankie Laine

Creamy Dill Cucumbers

We have a plethora of cucumbers ready in our garden! Daily, we've eaten them washed, sliced and with a healthy sprinkle of sea salt. As much as we love cucumbers straight from the garden, we look for new ways to serve them...after all, variety is the spice of life!

Here is a simple, delicious recipe in a fun Smilebox format, complete with music. Take a bowl of Creamy Dill Cucumbers to your next cookout, picnic or church social!

Customize your own free recipe card design

Boys Love Cookies & Remembering Patrick

Today is a day filled with memories, deep longing and sadness for me and my family. Six years ago, today, our beautiful son passed away. He was 26 years old and had battled a "mysterious" illness from his Junior year in high school. Finally, years later, he would be diagnosed with the same illness that took my mother's life and that I battle daily...a misunderstood, multi-symptom intruder called "lupus." It has been an unwelcome visitor to my family for many, many years and has robbed me and my family of so much...my son, my mother and my health. There are different kinds of lupus, but my son, mother and I were diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, a chronic inflammatory disease that can affect various parts of the body, its organs and systems, especially the skin, joints, blood, and kidneys. For more information on lupus, go to the website of an organization of which I am a Member and Advocate: The Lupus Foundation of America. The LFA estimates that 1.5 million Americans, and at least 5 million people worldwide, have a form of lupus, with those numbers climbing daily. Please find out more about this disease and what you can do to help by visiting the LFA.

Remembering Patrick...A Beautiful Soul

"Tears in Heaven"

Eric Clapton

(Who lost his own son.)

Boys loves cookies...my little boy did, even when he wasn't so little anymore. He loved oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies the best. So, in tribute to my son, here is a great cookie recipe that combines both. I would give anything to have him sit down at my kitchen table with a plate of my fresh-from-the-oven cookies again. I love and miss you, son, so very much...and I always will. If there are cookies in Heaven, I know they are even better than mine.

Oatmeal Raisinets® Cookie Tower

Can't Eat Just One!

Oatmeal Raisinets® Cookies

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, softened
• 3/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 c. rolled oats
• 3/4 c. chocolate covered raisins (Raisinets®...I love the DARK chocolate, but you can use your choice of dark or milk chocolate)
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped 

Take Your Pick...

I Chose Dark Chocolate

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream together butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture.

Cream Butter, Brown Sugar,

Egg and Vanilla

Creamy, Yummy Batter

Add the Dry Ingredients

Add the Raisinets® and Walnuts



Stir in the oats, Raisinets® and walnuts.

Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing the cookies 2 inches apart. Place baking sheets in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. (Okay, confession time...I was in such a hurry to make these beauties, I didn't refrigerate the batter at all! They turned out fine.)

Into the Oven They Go!

Bake cookies in preheated oven 10 to 12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the tops look a little undercooked (I usually go a full minute under the least amount of time recommended when baking cookies...that's why I have a reputation for such good cookies that are never hard!) Allow cookies to sit on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

Yes...yes these ARE that GOOD! Mmmm.

Now, all you need is a glass of cold MILK!

Zucchini Bread & Growing Where Planted

When we relocated back to my hometown in January, much had to be done to reacclimate ourselves. This time around, I was bringing back a father who was recovering from a stroke and the loss of my mother. At first, it was difficult...there were so many memories in every nook and cranny, in familiar faces and in the geography, itself. Sometimes it's difficult to go "home," especially when home has changed so much and precious people who were a part of home are gone. But, I believe that we were led here, not by accident or chance, but for a purpose and a plan. Each day, we see a little bit more of that plan unfolding and sometimes we have to exercise patience as we wait for the next part of the plan to be revealed. So, first things first...we set about getting my father settled again and taking care of business. As the cold weather turned warm, my father started talking about a garden. That was exciting news because my husband and I had already been talking of trying our hands at growing some things we hadn't grown before, so it was on! After much hard work, blood (yeah, we hurt ourselves a couple of times), sweat and tears (okay, mine, not my husband's), some crazy weather (unseasonably cold and hot spells, rain similar to monsoon season in the tropics and a tornado or three or four) we started seeing the fruits of our labors. My husband is like a proud new father to a whole brood of vegetables, with new ones joining the family each day. We have gorged ourselves on tomatoes and cucumbers...oh, how will we ever go back to store-bought when these taste straight from Heaven? The yellow squash and zucchini are coming in, so we've been making quiches, casseroles and breads. The spaghetti squash are getting plump, but aren't quite mature yet, but we check their progress daily. It's wonderful when you have so many goodies to enjoy and many more to share with family and friends.

All of this planting and working and growing got me to really thinking about God's goodness, as well as His purpose for us. I am reminded daily that nothing in life is guaranteed except His love, goodness and grace, He is there through every kind of weather, He asks us to sow seeds, nurture important living things, keep our soil fertile, to not grow weary and leave the rest of it to Him. If we are prepared and willing to do a little work, we can grow wherever He chooses to plant us...and He brings the sunshine just in time.

"Kiss of the sun for pardon.

Song of the birds for mirth.

You're closer to God's heart in a garden

than any place else on earth." 

~~  Dorothy Frances Gurney

Zucchini Bread

Stir Together:

• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

Add:

• 2 c. unpeeled, grated zucchini, well-drained (I squeeze all the liquid out that I can and blot with paper towels)
• 1 c. finely chopped walnuts
• 1 c. golden raisins or currants
• 1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, well-drained (I squeeze all the liquid out of this, too.)

As you can see, I opted to use currants.

Beat Together:

• 3 eggs
• 1 c. cooking oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Add zucchini mixture to dry ingredients, mixing just until well-blended.

Pour egg mixture into zucchini/dry mixture and stir just until moistened - do NOT over-mix.

Grease and flour two loaf pans; put parchment paper in the bottom of the pans, if desired. Evenly distribute mixture between the two loaf pans.

Place in oven. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, depending on your oven, or until a toothpick inserted into middle of loaves comes out clean. Cool for five minutes, run a knife around edges of each loaf and turn out on wire racks to continue cooling.

You can completely cool the bread or serve it warm. This bread may have a little more spice than you are used to, but we like it that way around our house. The recipe makes two loaves, so you can keep one and give one to a friend, freeze the second one or eat them both. The bread is especially good the next day, after all the wonderful flavors meld...if it lasts that long!

Psst...the fresh mint garnish 

came from my herb garden!

"So neither the one who plants

nor the one who waters is anything,

but only God, who makes things grow."

~~ 1 Corinthians 3:7