A late Food Friday

If you're a regular you know that I love cooking/baking & have a rapidly growing, collection of cookbooks. If not, then you do now.

Last week I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, on a few new recipes.

One of my favorite sources for recipes is Taste of Home, I get 2 of their publications delivered through snail mail & occasionally pick up others from the store. Another place I visit quite often for inspiration & guidance is Allrecipes.com . It's like my insta-source, if I'm in a hurry & don't have time to search through the recipe box (which is actually a small kitchen cart).

This months issue has a little section on jams. The last time I went to the grocery store, blueberries were on sale (the big tubs), so I grabbed a few with this Luscious Blueberry Jam recipe in mind. (TOH Aug/Sept 2010, pg 49)

8 cups blueberries
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 pkg powdered fruit pectin
7 cups sugar
Basically mash blueberries, add lemon & pectin, bring to a roiling boil, add sugar, bring back to rolling boil, & boil for 1 minute, process into freezer containers, cool for 24 hours at room temperature & freeze.

Aside from a caution that says, this one splatters alot, so keep any little helpers out of the kitchen until it's off the burner. All I can say about this recipe is HEAVEN in a jar. It would be good on pancakes/waffles instead of syrup, tastes great on biscuits or directly off the spoon (I made extra on Sunday morning just to test it out), hubby took PB&J today, it's sooo yummy!

------------------------------------------

The next recipe is a bit of a shocker, I gave some away & they had no idea what they were eating (in a good way). It's a great way to use up some of that zucchini that is over abundant in the summertime. I'm not really a chocolate cake kind of girl, but there's something about brownies that are irresistible.

Modified* Zucchini Brownies
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cups white sugar
1/2 cup Splenda*
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour*
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Frosting:
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 8x12* inch baking pan. In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flours, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched.

To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.

These are so delicious, you'll never know that there is zucchini in them. ;) Shh... feed them to the kids & they'll never know either & will get some veggies in while their at it.

----------------------------------

Last but not least on this Food Friday on Monday afternoon, is Martian Cookies. These are yummy. My first experience with them was last summer when I had zucchini overflow. I do make a few changes to the original though.

1/2 cup butter, softened*
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4* cups all-purpose flour
3/4* cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped pecans*
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips*
1/4 cup white chocolate chips*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. (Taste. I'm not really sure why, but tasting that butter/sugar mixture is one of my favorite things)

In another bowl stir together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, gradually add four mixture to butter mixture, beat until well mixed. With a wooden spoon*, stir in oats, zucchini, walnuts & pecans, chocolate pieces. (I just use the large paddle on my stand mixer for this, because it's pretty thick dough & I'm not really a stir it in by hand kinda gal)

Drop by rounded teaspoons (I like to use an ice cream scoop) about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Happy Cooking!