Zuchini Cupcakes - MS Cupcake Club

I was thrilled a few weeks ago when surfing the blogsphere, I found the MS Cupcake Club. This baking group is baking the recipes in Martha Stewart's Cupcake book. The book has so many great recipes. I look forward to baking along with the MS Cupcake Club.

This month's recipe was chosen by Tracey from Tracey's Culinary Adventures. You can find the blogroll of the MS Cupcake Club members here.

The recipe calls for a Cream Cheese frosting. I decided for the healthier version, just a dusting of powdered sugar.



My notes on this recipe: If you have leftover lemon zest, place in a freezer container or a ziplock baggie and freeze for next time.

Perfect Pound Cake - Sweet Melissa Sundays

I am excited to announce my first official Sweet Melissa Sundays (SMS) post. This weeks recipe was chosen by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. You will find the recipe on her blog. Check out some of the other wonderful SMS bakers here.

I wanted to do something besides just a plain pound cake. I am trying to get a little more adventurous with my baking. After some deliberation as to whether or not the recipe would work in a bundt pan, I decided to go for it. I adjusted the baking time to 40 minutes.

In addition, I thought it would be yummy to give the pound cake a touch of lemon. I added 1 teaspoon of lemon zest to the batter. As well, I made a lemon syrup to go on top of the cake.

Lemon Syrup
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
Combine over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Place cake on cooling rack. Poke holes in the bottom of the cake with a toothpick. Brush 1/2 of the lemon syrup over the cake. Let the cake cool about 20 minutes. Remove from the pan. Poke holes in the top of the cake and brush with remaining syrup.



Although the cake isn't as tall as I would like, I think it turned out beautifully. The lemon is a nice addition to the already buttery pound cake.

The Victorian Sampler Tea Room Cookbook

Remember the time when the only way to find a recipe was to go to your recipe box or flip through cookbooks?? I miss those times! It's faster and easier to google for a recipe than flipping through cookbooks. I have over 100 cookbooks and most of them are collecting dust. In an effort to force me to flip through those cookbooks, going forward each week, Little Bit of Everything will feature a recipe from one of those cookbooks.

This week's recipe is from The Victorian Sampler Tea Room cookbook. The book is a collection of recipes from a wonderful little tea room that used to be in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.






Zucchini Bread

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking power
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups sifted flour
1 cup nuts (optional)

Beat eggs until foamy. Add sugar, oil and vanilla, beat well. Sift dry ingredients together. Fold zucchini and nuts into dry ingredients. Pour into greased pans (1 tube pan or 2 loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean. Frost with cream cheese frosting if desired.

Green Tomato Cake

We have lots of green tomatoes remaining on the plant in the backyard. Since our weather has become unseasonably cool, I don't think these are going to turn to ripe red tomatoes. It seems a shame to throw the green tomatoes away. Of course, there's fried green tomatoes or green tomato relish but what else can I make with these? I did some searching and found a recipe for this Green Tomato Cake. I shared the idea with Tim. His response was "YUCK". I am up for the adventure!



Green Tomato Cake
Adapted from Diana Rattray, About.com

2 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup craisins
2 1/2 cups diced green tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350°. In mixing bowl, beat sugar, vegetable oil or shortening, eggs and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; slowly beat into egg mixture. Blend well. Stir in raisins, craisins and tomatoes.Pour into greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake for one hour, or until a wooden pick or cake tester inserted in center comes out clean. .Serves 12.

My notes on this recipe: I wish there was a way to grate the tomatoes. To me when you take a bite of the cake, the chopped tomatoes are distracting. Also, I would use more cinnamon and less nutmeg next time, the nutmeg seems to overpower the cinnamon. The cake is dense and very moist.

No Meat?

If you follow my blog, you know my husband doesn't think it's a meal unless it includes meat. This morning I told him we were having Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas for dinner tonight. He of course, said "No meat?". These are a quick and filling summertime dinner.

Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas

Serves 6 - 8

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup fresh or frozen corn

1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup salsa

Kosher salt and black pepper

3/4 cup grated Monterey jack cheese

Salsa for serving

Light Sour Cream for serving

Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a medium sized saute pan over medium heat. Add corn, and black beans. Season with salsa, salt and pepper, cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Heat 1 teaspoon of olive in oil a skillet. Lay one tortilla in a hot skillet. Add 1/4 cup filling and then top with 2 tablespoon grated cheese. Top with another tortilla and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until slightly browned on the bottom tortilla. Flip and cook on the other side until slightly browned and the cheese has melted.

Cut each quesadilla into six triangles and serve warm with Salsa and light sour cream.

Backroads or Interstate?-Outdoor Wednesdays

While browsing blogs this morning, I came across A Southern Daydreamer and Susan's event Outdoor Wednesdays. What a perfect opporunity to spotlight our recent backroads adventure. Thank you Susan!

No matter if they are scenic or not, my husband loves to drive the backroads. I prefer the fastest route, how do we get from point A to point B the quickest? Usually that means the interstate. When we left Tim's moms , we weren't in a hurry and there was a lot of road construction on the interestate so we agreed to drive the scenic route home.

Our first stop was a backroad outside of Okoboji, Iowa. Tim found this road several years ago. We affectionatly named this road, "Rock Road". The farmers dump rocks in the fields on the sides of this road. Where do these rocks come from? Thousands of years ago the glaciers left these rocks in the soil and every spring the frost pushes these rocks to the surface. They make great landscaping rocks in our gardens. Today was an especially productive day, we collected four totes of rocks.

The next stop was Arnold's Park. We treated ourselves to an Arnold's Park mainstay, a nutty bar.

Back on the road, we drove through Sac County. I didn't really notice them but Tim pointed out all of the barns with quilts painted on them. Thank goodness for google and the IPhone. I googled and found what we were seeing was Barn Quilts of Sac County. I am looking foward to driving this way again and checking out more of the barns.

Our last stop was Small's Fruit Farm. We decided to buy Honey Crisp and McIntosh apples. Have you ever eaten a Honey Crisp? If not, you should. They are the best eating apple, so sweet and crisp. One of the orchard's weekend specials was Acorn Squash, so we purchased three. I also found ornamental gourds and small pumpkins for my outdoor fall display.

Thanks Tim! Your backroads adventure made for a wonderful, memorable day!

Signs of Fall

Fall has been in the air in Nebraska for several weeks. It's made for a wonderful August and early September. Unlike years past when this time of year is hot and humid. I noticed the trees up north at Tim's moms were starting to get a glimmer of the fall colors. Fall is my favorite season. I love the trees and their changing colors. Pumpkins, Halloween, Acorn Squash, Apple Orchards...what else reminds you of fall?




Acorn Squash
1 acorn squash, cut in half
(Microwave for 60 seconds and it will be a little easier to cut in half)
3 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Salt and Pepper

Place the squash in a casserole dish. Use a casserole dish that is a size so they will stand up while baking. Place 1/4 cup of water in the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Mix together butter, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. After 30 minutes, remove squash from the oven and brush with the butter mixutre. Cover with foil and return to the oven for 30 minutes.