As we experienced about five days of cool temperatures last week, I found my kitchen calling me to bake. At the beginning of the week I made a new Banana Bread recipe that contained more than normal mashed bananas and instant pudding mix.
Saturday Wayne and I volunteered to sign up new voters outside the thrift shop from 11 - 2. I thought it would be nice if I surprised the volunteers and picked up three of my favorite Amish cookbooks to see what I could find.
It just amazes me that I can pick up a cookbook and find recipes that sound interesting that I had not noted before with some little post-it tabs. That's what I did. The one I chose to make on Friday was from the Amish Cooking cookbook for Cherry Zucchini Bread. Fortunately I had all of the ingredients - even a zucchini and a 5-oz bag of dried cherries. The recipe said to wrap the bread in foil after it cooled and store in the refrigerator so I made the bread Friday afternoon, wrapped it in foil, and put it in the refrigerator and didn't cut it until the next morning at Hillcrest.
When we got to the thrift shop, I went to the Community Room where the volunteers gather for a break and Volunteer Doug (sporting goods) and another man were sitting in there talking. When Doug saw me he said, "Hello, Patricia. Did you bring us something? I've been waiting for you." 😊 They came over for a piece before I could get it all cut and gave me the Hillcrest Volunteer Seal of Approval.
When I finished cutting it, I sneaked a piece and had to agree with them. You don't taste the zucchini at all, which is not unusual when you use it in recipes, but the dried cherries were a delightful addition!
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup shredded unpeeled zucchini
2/3 cup dried tart cherries
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel (I used dried lemon peel)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the bottom only of an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 - inch loaf pan. Set aside.
Put eggs in large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 3 to 4 minutes or until eggs are thick and lemon colored.
Add sugar, oil, lemon juice, and water; mix well.
Combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and cinnamon with a whisk.
Add flour mixture to egg mixture; mix well.
Scrape the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Stir in zucchini, cherries, and lemon peel.
Pour batter into pan.
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Let cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes.
Loosen edges with a knife or metal spatula.
Remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap or foil and store in refrigerator.
Slice to serve.
Here's a picture of Wayne and me sitting at the table waiting to sign up someone to vote. In our three hour shift, we signed up five new voters.
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