apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Zucchini bread, for yet another work function.

What recipe are you using, cakekick? Still looking for a really good one, here...

Baklava, southern style with Pecans.

Flourless Orange and Ginger Cake from chocolateandzucchini.com

lots of stuff...already made all of the classics my g'ma used to make and mail to me as a kid (we switched roles a few years ago) -- buckeyes, iced cut out cookies, drop butter cookies, choc chip cookies with M&Ms

made zucchini, squash and red pepper lasagna last night for an auction to benefit our community garden tonight

tonight it is brownies, more butter cookies and pb with choc kiss cookies for our office party

Thurs and Fri it is mini egg nog cakes, mincemeat tarts and more cookies for family coming to visit for christmas

Am I the only one who becomes homicidal when dealing with fiddly dough and tiny cookie cutters? I never went the sugar cookie route before--no one in my family does--and now I know why. Drop cookies, cakes, tarts, brownies, lasagnes, muffins, and breads do not make me violent. Peeling little stars off the (nicely floured) counter is causing me to see red. Is it genetic? Environmental? I'd like to make these nifty cookies, but I don't want to hurt anybody.

Faith, I use Better Homes and Gardens'.

Combine
1.5 cups flour - 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon - 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg - (I sneak in 1/4 teaspoon ginger) - 1/4 teaspoon baking powder - 1 teaspoon baking soda - 1/4 teaspoon salt

In a smaller bowl mix
one egg - 1 cup grated zucchini (I use WAY more, like a cup and a half or two) - 1 cup sugar - 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Add the wet to the dry and stir just to combine. Into a loaf pan it goes.

Bake 55 minutes (ish) in a 350 oven. Cool 10 minutes, wrap in foil and hold until the next day.

darcyalaska: I'm using a Chocolate&Zucchini recipe as well- lemon refrigerator cookies with glaze for the bf's parents. Hope they hold up well in the mail!

Mostly pasta and sauce as of late ... I have no idea what to make for Xmas yet! :O

Best ever butter cutouts and macaroons as per requested every year by my family. My husband makes homemade fresh keilbassi, its a lot of work, but worth it.

cminnyc - Use a spatula to lift the cookies off the counter and on to the pan?

Stollen, and the last three kinds of cookies (coconut macaroons, cornmeal-cherry, and molasses crinkles).

cminnyc - I just made cookie-cutter cookies a couple days ago, and when I picked up the cookie cutter from the rolled-out dough, the dough stayed inside the cookie cutter. So all I needed to do was hold the cutter over the cookie sheet and push the dough out. Maybe you need a different recipe, for a different consistency of dough.

I just checked out the "Best Sugar Cookie" recipe posted yesterday, and it definitely looks like it would yield a sturdier dough than the recipe I'm using. Mine is a Martha Stewart, and the results are delicious and cinnamony and light, but light is indeed the problem here. The dough is just not heavy enough to hold together so it depends on the skill of the baker. This really isn't a great first-timer recipe. Live and learn.

I wanted to cut these out with my daughter, but she's only 2 and there is no way. But she's happy as long as she can crack eggs and doesn't really care what we're making as long as she has plenty of eggs to smack into a pie plate.

cmcinny, cookie cutters (and rolling out and re-rolling out dough) annoy me too. I don't mind making little balls of dough, however, and I've made these cookies twice now:
cashew snowball cookies
They have a nice light texture and a toasty, very nutty flavor. I'm going to try them with pistachios this year. But! Don't roll them in the confectioners' sugar while they're still hot - they soak up way too much of it. Better to let them cool and give them just a light dusting of it.

By the time I get to open threads they're always too far down the page and get ignored. Trying again...

Yesterday I tried out a slow cooker recipe and it went horribly awry. I don't know if it's the recipe's fault or if I accidentally put it way too much soy sauce, but the chicken is so salty it is barely edible. I don't want to waste this expensive organic chicken, though! What can I do with pieces of incredibly salty boneless, skinless chicken breast?

mjoe,
Your description of the extra-salty chicken reminds me of some traditional Chinese dishes that use pieces of extra-salty pork for flavouring. They're essentially meat-extending recipes that use a bland main ingredient (mushrooms, cloud fungus, wood fungus, tofu, dried bamboo heart) to soak up the concentrated flavours of a small amount of meat.

Cut up the salty meat into little pieces, add some broth and steam (or simmer slowly) with blander ingredients.

Thank you cakekick!

cmcinny, I feel your pain. I get easily annoyed with sticky dough too. That one sugar cookie recipe is the only one I use now because it's so sturdy. I actually made them with a two-year-old and her cut-outs held up fine.

I am making them again tomorrow with the same kid (now 4) and we're going to do a pre-bake egg-yolk glaze. Should be fun!

Michelle of Montreal -- Great suggestion! And thank you for reminding me to use up that bag of dried shitakes!