Zucchini Bread

When my boyfriend was growing up, he had a neighbor that grew zucchini. Every year he would bring over a basket of zucchini and Dan’s mom would make some zucchini bread for him in return. This recipe for zucchini bread comes from his family and has been been tested and approved through all the years. This recipe makes two larger loaves, though sometimes I opt to make half in loaf format and half in muffins, or just halve the recipe to make one loaf. Sometimes I top the bread with a sugar glaze, granola, or nuts.

Last Sunday we went to Hollins Farm to pick fruits and vegetables, including zucchini. Truthfully, I picked five small zucchini (about the size of my finger) just for their squash blossoms. After harvesting the squash blossoms, I grated the zucchini and had just enough for one loaf of bread. Waste not, want not!

Update: This bread always go so fast, so I originally published this post with Instagram photos with the promise of updated pictures and an attempt at zucchini bread with pineapple or dried fruit in it to make this bread perform double duty. I’m happy to report that I was forced to improvise this version recently when I was short a ½ cup of zucchini and 1 egg. I added in ¼ cup pineapple, ¼ pineapple juice, and a couple handfuls of dried pineapples and walnuts. The batter was looking a little thin so I added a couple spoonfuls of Crunchy Biscoff Spread before popping them into muffin liners and topping with granola, banana chips, and chia seeds to make them “healthier”. I tasted one and they were incredibly moist and delicious even two days later. This version is great, but some people hate nuts or pineapple in their baked goods, so know your audience well.

French Silk Chile Chai Chocolate Pie

My dad is one of those people that says you’re supposed to eat hot foods when it’s hot outside. I think he just wants an excuse to eat hot bowls of noodles all year round! The weather in Washington DC has been sweltering recently, which I actually enjoy–I’m always cold so I love when I can finally wear dresses and shorts without goose bumps.

This recipe is a combination of cold and hot, as part of Marx Food’s Fire on Ice Chile Recipe Contest.

Update: I brought this pie in to work and everyone loved it — they actually liked it better without knowing there was chile powder in it since it was a surprise. They also were amazed I made my own chile powder! The contest is now open for voting, so if you like this recipe or wanted to see the other entries, please head over there now to vote.

I recently was on vacation in Vancouver and Seattle where it was a balmy 50-70 degrees. At one of the many coffee and tea shops I stopped by, I got a house-made chai made with fresh ground ginger and cayenne. That unique and delicious drink is part of the inspiration of this recipe. This recipe for French Silk Pie has been in my boyfriend’s family for years and I thought it was time for a new twist. This pie is usually served for birthdays or holidays in a normal pie crust.

I used a combination of homemade chile powder and chile syrup to get the subtle heat I wanted in this cool, rich dessert. The chile powder is a combination of dried habanero, japone, ancho, guajillo, pequin, and cascabel peppers. The peppers range from mild to hot and savory to slightly sweet, so I combined them all for a complex, multi-dimensional chile powder by following Marx Food’s directions on how to make your own chile powder. I only have a sesame seed grinder and food processor, so I used the processor since it’s used for my pie crust as well.

I added a ½ teaspoon chile powder to the crust and the chocolate filling and also added ½ teaspoon chai cocoa powder to temper the spice. If you don’t have chai cocoa powder, you can use regular cocoa powder or just decrease the amount of chile. If the heat is too much, omit the chile simple syrup (1 guajillo chile, rehydrated, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water, simmered together) and add more whipped cream.

Go check out all the other entries in the Fire on Ice Contest over at Marx Foods! Thanks again to Marx Foods for the great Chiles, I have many more plans for them, including chili oil!

Note: I was given the chiles free of charge from Marx Foods, though all thoughts and recipes are my own.

The Cucumber-some Brother

This was my response to my boyfriend’s brother’s request for “something refreshing”. With recent power outages and temperatures of over 100 degrees, something crisp, clean, and refreshing is definitely required. The problem is that so many mixers and even liqueurs are so sweet that it makes the drinks themselves heavy and quite the opposite of refreshing.

I used some homemade cucumber vodka in this drink, but there are cucumber-infused vodkas on the market if you choose not to infuse at home (Square One comes to mind). The use of a metal straw keeps this drink cold from the glass to your mouth.

Note: I made this drink, then made two more and combined, for a grand total of around three portions in the picture shown. The actual yield of this recipe is about a third of what you see.

Homemade Infused Vodkas & Gin

After making vanilla extract this past winter, we decided to try out hand at infusing booze with some other things. We have been using the results of our experiments in some delicious drinks which you’ll see here soon.

First we tried blackberry vodka and blackberry gin. The gin tasted better than the vodka, like a very clean and fresh sloe gin, but we didn’t like the amount of sugar that was used. We tried three other infusions without any sugar: Apple, Cucumber, and Honeydew, in order of successful-ness. The honeydew tasted fine, but the smell was a bit off-putting. The cucumber and apple tasted great, but the complexity added by the spices of the apple infusion earned it the #1 spot in our infusions race so far.

These recipes all yield small amounts (except the blackberry) because we wanted to test the recipe before making larger batches.

Blackberry Vodka/Gin

2 cups vodka/gin
300g blackberries
150g sugar

Using a needle, prick each blackberry a few times. Combine sugar, pricked blackberries, and vodka or gin in a jar and shake it until combined. Store in a cool dry place, shaking every day for: Gin – 3 weeks, Vodka – 5-6 weeks. Strain the fruit out (you can keep them in the refrigerator in a separate container for garnish or other uses). You can use this to replace wherever sloe gin is called for, or regular gin/vodka.

Cucumber Vodka

1 cup cucumber, sliced thin
1 strip lemon peel
1 cup vodka

Put cucumber in jar, top with lemon peel and cover with vodka. Store in cool place for 4-7 days, shaking daily. Strain, reserving the cucumbers for garnish or use in other drinks (particularly good muddled in Pimm’s Cups).

Honeydew Mint Vodka

1 cup diced honeydew melon
2 sprigs mint
1 cup vodka

Put melon and mint sprigs in jar, top with vodka. Store in cool place for 4 days, shaking daily. Strain and discard the fruit and mint.

Piña Colada Cupcakes – Happy 21st Birthday Ariel!

My sister recently turned 21 years old and to surprise her, my mom collected her friends, family, and Girl Scout troop at a local restaurant. Of course, she tasked me with bringing dessert. Since my sister turned 21, I figured I’d incorporate some booze in the cupcakes, but not too much since many people were still under age.

These cupcakes are not too sweet and are extremely moist. The coconut in the frosting keeps it from getting too heavy and while the cupcakes were cooling, I brushed some extra booze on top. My sister’s nickname is “Bear”, so I made some bear-shaped chocolates to go on top too. I put some almond extract in to simulate the orgeat syrup that is often used in tiki-style drinks.

I made some extra to bring in to work the next day; they keep great overnight because of all the moisture from the fruit.