MangiaMore: ZUCCHINI bread

RER 7.17.14

There’s nothing like seasonal summer produce, so alive that you don’t want the days to get shorter. Farmers’ markets are rainbows of grown goodies; favorite summer fruits like tangy strawberries, royal colored blueberries, and pretty plump peaches or warm weather vegetables like sweet corn, deep red beets, and mysterious eggplants. Each long to be consumed in any way, shape or form.

RER 7.16.14

RER 7.17.14

For us, summer means loaf after loaf of homemade zucchini bread. Once zucchini starts popping up at stores, it’s game on. We might have a legit problem; we can’t get enough of that subtly sweet, textured moist bread. Using this recipe, we make our zucchini bread like how we make our blondies— we toss in whatever deliciousness our hearts desire. 

RER 7.16.14

RER 7.17.14

I’ve made consecutive loaves, and I am planning to whip up more (though these are hopefully headed for the freezer.) Zucchini bread is wonderful all year round. A hint of cinnamon and nutmeg add warmth for the colder seasons, while the freshness of the green zucchini and coconut feel like sunlight. Tangy dried cranberries and meaty walnuts add unexpected turns in texture and taste. Just so much yum!

RER 7.16.14

 RER 7.16.14

I want to try a sweeter variety, like a cake dense with craisins and white chocolate chips, topped with a savory sweet cream cheese frosting. Or play up zucchini’s affinity for chocolate and stud the cake with chocolate chips and fleshy nuts. Maybe this week…

RER 7.16.14

RER 7.16.14

RER 7.16.14

How do you use fresh summer produce? A blueberry pie or strawberry shortcake perhaps? A pretty salad? Corn chowder, even? Time is running out for these seasonal goods, and I want to taste the rainbow. 

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7.16.14

RER 7.17.14

MangiaMore: a tale of TWO cookies

RER 6.25.14

When my sister said she wanted cookies, I had to deliver (plus I enjoy cookies). We make the most cookies around Christmas with sporadic batches all year round. But as much as I love cookies, mine are never as perfect as I hope they would be. They end up misshapen, over-cooked, under-cooked, too this and not enough that, never the consummate cookie that I would eagerly overindulge in.

RER 6.25.14

RER 6.25.14

My sister, with her excellent taste and desire for fun sweet thangs, picked out these Salty Ritz Cracker Oatmeal Cookies (!!!) from Cookies and Cups. There was no way I could not make them. I ran into these Hi Hat Chocolate Cookies on the sweets blog and was totally crushing on the chocolate chocolate chip cookies underneath the seductive buttercream and chocolate shell. So I decided to make both. Boom!

RER 6.25.14

RER 6.25.14

And it was awesome. Not only did they look like beautiful perfect cookies, they tasted like the bomb.com. Like so awesome that I had to eat one of each every time, because there was no possible way to decide which I preferred. What I really would have preferred was every single one of them in my belly, but I did share (kinda). 

RER 6.25.14

RER 6.25.14

RER 6.25.14

RER 6.25.14

The Ritz Cracker Oatmeal cookies were buttery and moist, sweet and salty. The balance was impeccable with a melody of textures—chewy oats and creamy white chocolate chips. Crunchy salt crystals, cracker bits with one of those insanely sweet chips made for the perfect bite. My mouth is watering for these magic goodies.

RER 6.26.14

RER 6.25.14

And the chocolate cookies were just as divine, maybe my best-baked batch of cookies like ever. I used 2/3 cup white chocolate chip and the remaining third was regular chocolate chips as I don’t like too too much chocolate. Just enough sweet to counter the bitter cocoa while keeping the luxury. I really want some of these right about now too.

RER 6.25.14

RER 6.25.14

There is no way to choose which I loved more because they were so different. Other than being absolutely delicious, the only thing these two cookies had in common was their affinity for milk.

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6.25.14

RER 6.25.14

MangiaMore: BLONDIES

RER 6.19.14

And of course, the baking continues. Father’s Day required rice pudding with raisins to prove my love for my father (according to my mother), but also to get rid of that leftover white rice from Chinese take away. My sister, however, had a different agenda. She wanted  “all of the sweets,”as she would say, but yet had supreme difficulty landing on one specifically. After rattling off a list of cookies from here to Mexico (I wish it was possible to replay the dramatic reading of all said treats), a pattern emerged. It appeared that there was a particular preference for blondies. 

RER 6.15.14

RER 6.19.14

Just a few weeks ago my sister made some homemade brownies to appease someone’s sweet tooth and to gift. And just a few weeks before that, we were given some pretty good blondies. I can’t help to think that there was a connection between these incidents and her unconscious desire to make delicious, chewy, goodie packed, blondies. So she made these from One Cake Two Cake!

RER 6.15.14

AJR 6.15.14

RER 6.15.14

All I have to say is that I am extremely happy that she did. I can't recall a time I made blondies, but I will never forget the pure delight that hers brought me. My sister put what seemed like the whole pantry in them, beginning with the obvious chocolate chip, following with the just as delicious sweet coconut, and the mildly unexpected tangy craisin. The result were chewy, bar-like cookies, dotted with tasty surprises in every bite— a little chocolate here, some stringy coconut there, and a juicy craisin in between. But mostly, the combination was undeniably scrumptious and nearly unforgettable. 

RER 6.19.14

RER 6.15.14

RER 6.15.14

RER 6.15.14

Well, then again, I might need a reminder…. ::ahem:: Sis, you can make those yummy blondies again? ::ahem:: 

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6.15.14

RER 6.19.14