Vegetables Are A Must On A Diet...

"Vegetables are a must on a diet; I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie."- Jim Davis

Zucchini is one of the most versatile veggies on the block that is why I was more then happy to take a couple of my neighbours garden variety giants off their hands. The best thing about home grown zucchini is that they grow to be massive, like a great big squash. Grocery store varieties are often limb and small. I have been baking slices with a little oil, salt, pepper and parm. and they are delicious. I have used some sliced in lasagna instead of noodles and I even made an epic pot of tomato sauce riddled with half moons of tender, garlicky zucchini. I personally feel it is painfully underrated; The Edward Norton or Sam Rockwell of the vegetable garden.

I also had a little fun tricking all kinds of people at home and at work into eating the green and yellow vegetable. You see zucchini (like the potato) when grated and mixed into cake and bread batters yields the most tender and moist baked goods. No matter how much oil, butter or soda one uses, nothing will compare to that of a treat made with shredded zucchini in the moist department.  I have so much zucchini that I experimented a little and made a lemon zucchini loaf and a chocolate sheet cake both teeming with zucchini. Neither lasted long on the nursing desk at work. Respiratory therapists, ward clerks, ward aids, nurses, physicians, physiotherapists and cleaning personnel made quick work of both and I ended up with many people requesting both recipes. Success! Satiating the three pm sweet tooth and grumbly bellies while providing full servings of veggies one recipe at a time....ah no, I though that would sound cool, kind of like a super hero. Totally didn't...shifty eyes. Anyway recipes to follow!
-m

Lemony Zucchini Loaf (adapted from all recipes)

• 1.5 cups of shredded zucchini (I grated it on the smaller side of my cheese grater...skin and all!)
• 3/4 c white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1.5 c of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• 1/2 tsp of lemon extract if you have it (don't really need it! Be flexible people!)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbs (you can do half if you are not a cinnamon buff like moi!)
• zest from one lemon

Lemon glaze....

• Juice from one lemon
• 1/2- 1 cup of white sugar
• tsp of vanilla 

Pre-heat old Bessie to 325 degrees and grease an 8x4 inch loaf pan.  In a bowl combine all of the liquids plus the zucchini and lemon zest then beat until thoroughly mixed. In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients with a whisk then slowly add to wet ingredients and mix until JUST blended (don't over do it people, you will have a hard lump of dough). Pour into pan and bake for about 45 minutes until a knife or toothpick comes out clean. When that bad boy is cooling, combine lemon juice, vanilla and sugar (go with the cup if you find it too tart!) in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil to dissolve sugar. While loaf is cooling, brush multiple times with glaze for a beautiful shiny finish. or poke some holes in the top and pour some over for a little extra tart zing!

Chocolate zucchini sheet cake and the best ever chocolate buttercream!

• 1/2 c of oil of your choice
• 1.5 c of sugar
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk (but regular milk works too!)
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 egg at room temp
• 2 heaping cups of grated raw zucchini (I left the skin on and just grated it all on the cheese grater's smaller grate!)
• 2 c of all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder (I used dutch proc.)

Pre heat over to 350 and grease a 9x13 cake pan or baking dish. In a large bowl mix together oil, sugar, milk, vanilla and the egg.  Add zucchini and mix until just incorporated. In a separate bowl combine all of the other dry ingredients and give a spin with a whisk to mix well and break up any lumps (cocoa is extremely lumpy!). Slowly add to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined (a little flour visible is fine!). Pour into baking dish and bake in oven for 25-28 minutes, until knife or toothpick comes clean and the edges begin to pull away from the side of the pan a little bit. Allow to cool completely and then dust with icing sugar or frost with chocolate butter cream. Please find recipe below for the best buttercream ever.....dun dun dun.

Best ever (!!!!) chocolate buttercream

• 1 c softened butter
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 3-4 tbs of cream (I only had 5% coffee cream...it worked and I bet plain old milk would too!)
• 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
• 3.5 cups of icing sugar (powdered sugar)

In a stand mixer or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat cream and butter until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla followed by the icing sugar a half a cup at a time (or it will be snowing sugar in your kitchen!). Whip on med or high until all mixed, smooth and pale in colour. Lick the beaters ('cause life is too short and it is seriously the best ever!). Frost your cake with a nice thick layer. This is also dreamy piped on to cupcakes and birthday cakes!

A Good Deal Is Only A Deal..

I"A good deal is only a deal when you actually need it ." Nanny lecturing my Papa

I have many qualities and some are more endearing than others. One of the least endearing ones is how much I love the thrill of a sale. Yes, I said a thrill. Not much can make me happier than getting an amazing deal on something I need. I will wait and scour and wait and scour for the perfect price. Don't get me wrong, I am not cheap and have no problem paying full price for something. I really do believe there are certain things you should not be looking to get a good deal on and those would include a hair cut and furniture (often times you do get what you pay for!). I also believe that buying fresh local produce is worth every penny. My general mindset is why pay someone for something you could do yourself and why pay full price when you can wait and get it on sale.

Why am I telling you this about myself? Well I took a risk this week that could have gone either way. This risk was taken due to an incredible price on a can of paint. I have needed to paint my final spare room since the day I moved in. It was the only room I didn't paint and the only room that was stuck in a boring, beige funk. When I moved in it was the best colour in the entire house and although I am not really a fan of neutral beige, it won by a long shot over the rusty brown and nicotine yellow that danced upon all of the other walls in the house. My plan had been to paint that room a light, airy grey. I even had the colour picked out and the swatches taped to the wall but the little make-over kept being pushed to the side as one project popped up after another. This week I was at Kent looking for Adirondack chairs and hoping they would be on sale (see it is a disease...) when I wandered through the paint isle and noticed a mis-tint . Now a mis-tint is a can of paint that was tinted wrong by the paint machine. It is never a true colour and therefore can't be replicated and a swatch can not be found to see what it may look like on a wall. Because of all of this they are usually half price. Mis-tints generally go for $20, which is a great deal if you are looking for a very cheap face lift (and let us be honest, paint is cheap to begin with!) but most of the times the colours are hideous. Well this can was $7. Yes, $7. That is the price of a grande' latte at Starbucks. It was what appeared to be a robin's egg blue and it was a paint and primer in one which was a $55 can of paint. Clearly my disease of good deals would not let me leave it there. Even though it was not at all what I wanted I figured it had to beat beige and if I hated it, it was a little time and $7 wasted.

Now I must remind you at this point that it is August. August on the East coast is humid and muggy and there is very little air circulation in older homes (like mine) that have the windows propped up with old books and pieces of dowel. To say I was sweaty and hot after painting my basically free paint on the walls is an understatement. When I left the room 2 hours and two coats of a bright blue later I looked as if I had jumped into the shower fully clothed (and not in the attractive way, if there is an attractive way to do that!). I must confess I waited an entire day to look at the finished room. It was brighter than I anticipated from the the little thumb print of dried paint on the top of the lid. In day light and with the room put together I surprisingly  love it. It was the best $7 I have spent in a long time and potentially the cheapest update my house has had to date. The next time you are in the paint section at your favourite hardware store make sure to check out the mis-tints, you may find what you didn`t know you were looking for!
-m

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