Archive for July, 2010

• Chocolate Almond Zucchini Bread

  Date: 2010.07.29 | Category: Recipe | Response: 0

  This recipe is taken from page 41, of the “Best of the Best from Wisconsin Cookbook”.  If you’re looking for an excellent series of cookbooks as you move around the country, the “Best of the Best” series is the way to go.

  3 eggs

  2 c sugar

  1 c oil

  2 oz melted chocolate

  1 tsp vanilla

  2 c zucchini, shredded

  3 c flour

  1 tsp cinnamon

  1 tsp salt

  1/4 tsp baking powder

  1 tsp baking soda

  1 c toasted almonds

  Ingredient notes: I use almond extract, and whole wheat flour. When I don’t have almonds on hand, I use pecans and place on top)

  Beat eggs until lemon colored. Add sugar and oil. Mix. Add chocolate, extract, and zucchini.  Mix. Add dry ingredients; mix. Mix in almonds.  Bake 350* in 2 greased or Pam-sprayed loaf pans for 50 min.

  Note: I have also baked in a bundt pan. When using loaf pans, I sprinkle nuts on top with a few chocolate chips.

• Blueberry Pound Cake

  Date: 2010.07.29 | Category: Recipe | Response: 0

  1 c butter, softened

  2 c sugar

  4 eggs

  1 tsp vanilla

  2 c flour

  1/2 tsp salt

  1 tsp baking powder

  2 c fresh or frozen blueberries, tossed in additional 1 c flour.

  Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time an beat until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla.  Sift 2 c flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture and beat.  Fold blueberry/flour mixture into batter.  Pour into tube or bundt pan which has been buttered and coated with sugar.

  Bake 325* for 1 hr and 15 min.

  Notes:

  This recipe is from my friend Sonia.  She and I used to pray together every Sunday night.  Thanks to her for copying this recipe for me as part of my wedding gift.

  I used cinnamon sugar, my friend Wendy plans on using purple sugar.

• Traditions

  Date: 2010.07.09 | Category: Holidays, MFM, Twins, personal | Response: 0

  It’s Friday. It’s July. And I haven’t posted a Marriage & Family Monday post on a Monday in I don’t know when. In my Draft folder, I have 5 drafts. Five! I don’t know when I’m going to get around to completing them and posting. So I’m taking the rest of this post to talk about traditions.

  One of our family mantras is “have an adventure, make a memory.” Part of what makes life so memorable is visiting the same places over and over, doing the same things, eating the same foods, and creating happy times in that place.

  This past weekend was the Fourth of July weekend.  “My gentle readers,” please take a minute to comment on this post and share with all of us what traditions you have for the Fourth of July.  Do it for people who are looking to build a family legacy of happy memories.  My first post on the Fourth summarizes a conglomeration of traditions and experiences from the last 13 years of marriage.  Building your own traditions for your family when you and your spouse come from different areas of the country can take time.

  This year, we took a last minute trip to Memphis for the Fourth of July.  Hallelujah!  It was “the way it was supposed to be.”  Hot. Sweating in 95 degree sun at Mud Island. Frozen drinks that thaw in minutes (instead of hours). Weird running bugs and enormous swallowtail butterflies.  Grilling with a new Rub (The internal temp of the grill before it was turned on was 125+).  Corn. Running through the sprinkler and chasing each other with the hose.  Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream (better than ever).  Germantown Fireworks (Running commentary by Rachel).  101.3 degrees.  Crunchy Grass.  Sparklers. Now that’s a real Fourth.  No campfires. No blankets for warmth.

  When my girls look back on the Fourth of July, I want them to remember sparklers, home made ice cream, and fireworks with the family.  I want them to think about our nation’s history — why July 4 is different from June 4.  I want them to have traditions and rituals that can be expected during birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July, and Back to School.   Building the same foods and activities into a special day makes a tradition, builds a memory, and creates exciting anticipation for next year.