Tag: baking

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Every year my garden treats us to a plethora of zucchini. As a matter of fact, we have so much zucchini that we have to give it away. Which means that by the end of the season, every time I walk out of my house with grocery bags full of garden zucchini, the sound of slamming shutters and blinds by my neighbors can be heard up and down the street. Yes, by October, even the neighbors are over it. But, I love zucchini bread, but I also like to cut calories when I can, as long as I can come up with a palatable solution. Many years ago I took a traditional recipe and completely revamped it. I recently was craving a chocolate fix and added cocoa powder to my recipe. After all, chocolate is full of surprising health benefits, and the result was delicious. I do love the taste of the rich dark chocolate,...

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Mom’s Apple Pie

My mom learned how to make her famous crowd-pleasing apple pie from my grandmother. Our entire family loved it so much that every Thanksgiving my mom made both a pumpkin pie and an apple pie for us. What a woman! The first time I made her recipe, I was blown away by how time consuming it was, and I had to recruit help from my then college roommate to get it done. Of course, in those days I didn’t know how to cook. However, the results were well worth the effort, and I’m sure you’ll agree. This is one recipe that I did not change at all, because sometimes we just need to splurge a little. Besides, apples are healthy, and so very good for you, especially when they are baked in a pie. Crust: 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup shortening 5 to 7 tablespoons...

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Cranberry Sweet Potato Bread

I’m not much into baking, but I sure do love whipping up a fresh and tasty tea bread. I also love cooking with cranberries. Fresh, not canned. Of course. When fresh cranberries start appearing in the produce section of the grocery store, I buy out the store and stock up my freezer. Yep, you can freeze cranberries for up to six months, although I have been known to keep them in the freezer for up to a year, and they haven’t killed me yet. I found this recipe with fresh cranberries and sweet potatoes so many years ago that the cookbook is literally falling apart. Although I loved the bread, I was totally bummed out by the amount of sugar in the recipe. Sweet potatoes (or yams) are certainly sweet enough on their own. So, I took out my handy dandy Ninja knives and started cutting...

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