Porcupine Cheese Grater...

Pretty much enough said already, but this is AMAZING. And I want it. =)

Zucchini Bread

First of all, zucchini bread is crack-a-lackin delicious. No matter how you figure, it's pretty much cake. With zucchini in it. So therefore you can justify eating a lot of it. Which anyone in their right mind would most definitely want to do.

And now... a picture of my beloved Viking Range. Enough said. Oooooh! And also... my newest kitchen gadget. No more hairs in my zucchini bread from an old paintbrush I used to use to butter pans! =)

To start with, you will need:

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup oil

3-4 cups grated zucchini

1 Tbs. vanilla

2 cups flour (I use whole wheat flour, or a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbs. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cloves.

THIS RECIPE MAKES 2 LOAVES. Trust me, you will eat them both. Quickly. But, if not, it freezes very well and thaws perfectly in the toaster or on a griddle.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Beat eggs until frothy

Add sugar, oil, and vanilla, and beat until thick.

(At this point I usually switch from the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment on my KitchenAid mixer, but you could also just do the rest of it by hand.)

Mix in zucchini

Mix in dry ingredients

Pour into 2 buttered loaf pans (This is the part where you get to use the ol' paintbrush to butter the pans!!) I almost always up for melting the butter and then brushing it on, rather than shmearing softened butter. It's faster and makes less mess that way!

Now bake your loafs of gold for approx. 1 hour. And then eat them quickly! Before someone else does!

• Note: If you have a habit of letting zucchini's get away from you in the garden, make sure you put the giant ones to good use making lots of zucchini bread! If they're big though, make sure you scoop out the mushy, seedy middle before grating them. Also, I freeze lots of zucchini in 4-cup increments, which are perfect to pull out in the winter to make zucchini bread or other yummy treats! Just make sure you drain most of the liquid off after you thaw it before adding it to the batter.

4th of July Cheesecake

This is just a plain old cheesecake topped with lemon curd and fresh berries. But I must say, it was yummy! Before you make the cheesecake, make a recipe of lemon curd (look down one post) and stick it in the fridge to cool. Then preheat the oven to 350 for the cheesecake.

To make the cheesecake crust, combine 1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/8 tsp salt, and 5 TBS melted butter in a bowl, then press into the bottom, and 1 inch up the sides of a spring-form pan. When I made this, I didn't cook the crust at all before adding the filling, and it got slightly soggy on the bottom. So next time, I'm going to bake the crust for a little bit before adding the filling. I'll post saying how it turned out next time I make it. But for the mean time, experiment around for yourself! =)

In the bowl of a mixer, combine 3 (8-oz) packages of cream cheese (softened), and 1 cup of sugar, and beat it until smooth. Then, add the eggs one at a time, and beat in the sour cream and vanilla.

Pour the filling into the crust (baked or unbaked, however you choose), and bake it in the oven until set (about 45 minutes). Make sure a knife will come out cleanly. Don't worry if it puffs up over the top of the pan, it will lower significantly as it cools. Run a knife around the edge of the pan before letting it cool completely.

Once it's cool, spread the lemon curd over the top of the cheesecake. Then, cover it with berries if you want, or make a Fourth of July design on top like I did!
I just made a star out of blueberries, then a ring of raspberries around the outside, and then filled in with strawberries. Make sure you chill it for a couple hours before serving. Delicious!

Lemon Curd

This is a super yummy, very versatile recipe, courtesy of Chama Bovee <3. Use it recipes, put it on toast, stir it into your coffee, top it with some bacon, use it in anything, cause it's delicious.

Combine 3/4 cups sugar, 1 TBS lemon zest, and 2 eggs in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring with a whisk. Cook it until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is light (about 3 minutes).

Stir in 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice, and 2 TBS butter, and cook, stirring with a whisk until thickened (about 5 minutes).

Strain the hot lemon curd, then put it in a bowl, and chill it in the fridge. Enjoy!

Pancakes

I've been told I make some dang good pancakes, so I'll share the goodness. Keep in mind that you can add stuff to pancakes, I really like blueberries, bananas, or chocolate chips. In this case, I used blueberries fresh from the garden, and let me tell you it doesn't get much better.

First, preheat your griddle to about 275. If you don't have a griddle, a cast-iron pan on the stove will do just fine, only you can't cook as many at once.

In one bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (1 cup flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, and 1/2 tsp salt)

In a second bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (1 cup buttermilk, 1/2 to 2/3 cup plain yogurt, 1 egg, 1 TBS melted butter, and 1 tsp vanilla) Try 1/2 cup of yogurt and add a little more if it's too thick. Depending on the thickness of the yogurt, it might still be too thick. In this case, add a little milk if you need it thinner.

Next, whisk the wet into the dry. Mix it until it's just combined, it should still be lumpy. If it's smooth, you've over-stirred it.

Now that your griddle or pan is preheated, slap some butter on there and use a spatula to spread it around. You want a decent amount, maybe 1-2 teaspoons depending on the size of your griddle, so the pancakes don't stick. DON'T YOU DARE USE PAM. YOU WILL DO YOURSELF, AND ANYONE ELSE EATING THE PANCAKES A GREAT DISSERVICE. You really, truly need butter.

Use a measuring cup to plunk pancake batter on the griddle. I use about a 1/3 of a cup per pancake, and fit 6 on my griddle. If you're going to add berries, or anything else to your pancakes, now would be the time to do it. Wait a minute or two after putting the pancakes on the griddle though, so whatever you're putting in doesn't sink right to the bottom.

When the pancakes look cooked on the sides, you can see golden brown under the bottom edge, and they are bubbly on top, it's time to flip 'em. Let them cook through and brown on the other side and then they're done! I like them with just plain old maple syrup, but experiment around and see what you like!

Mango Bread Pudding

I made this for my family/cousins who were over for dinner. It was really pretty easy, and as my cousin Camilla said "Avery, this is officially totally delicious." =) The recipe is from Anna Getty's Easy Green Organic, with a few variations.

Preheat the beast of an oven to 350. I love my Viking, by the way. It is the most wonderful thing. EVER. And butter 10 ramekins.

In a saucepan, combine 4 TBS butter, 2 cups whole milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/3 cup sugar, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp cardamom, and 1 tsp ginger. Cook all this over low heat until the milk is hot and the butter is melted. Then turn it off and let it cool a bit while you work on the rest of the prep.

Cut up 2 large mangoes (the Co-op currently has huge, delicious ones on sale, which I was quite excited to discover!) into 1/2 inch cubes, and 6-8 slices of country bread (I used Country White from the Co-op), into 1/2 inch cubes (about 6 cups total). Combine the bread and the mangoes in a big bowl and mix it all up.

Whisk 3 eggs in a small bowl. Then, whisk the eggs into the warm milk. Pour all of this over the bread and mangoes, and mix it well. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes.

Spoon the mixture evenly into 10 buttered ramekins, and stick em in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and not squishy when you press on them. Don't worry about them being taller than the ramekin sides, they'll deflate a little as they cool.

Once their not piping hot anymore, serve them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream atop each. And don't you dare use anything but Lochmead icecream, it's simply not worth it. Enjoy! =)