Sweet Zucchini Relish

I plant zucchini every year, and this year I planted 3 different varieties. Even after making lots of chocolate zucchini cake, zucchini bread, fried zucchini, cheesy zucchini rice, and zucchini casserole, I have extra. I decided to try zucchini relish and I'm so glad that I did. We have used it on hot dogs, in tuna salad, and even in meatloaf. Here's the recipe. :)

Sweet Zucchini Relish
adapted from manmadediy.com 
12 cups zucchini, shredded
4 cups white onions, shredded
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 carrot, shredded
5 TBSP pickling salt
5 cups of sugar
2 1/2 cups vinegar
1 TBSP dry mustard
1 TBSP corn starch
3/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 TBSP red pepper flakes, optional
10-8 oz jars with screw bands and lids

1. Mix the veggies and pickling salt in a large bowl. Let sit at least 12 hours (or overnight). Drain the veggies in a colander; wash under cold water, then drain again thoroughly. Set aside.
2. In a large pot add sugar, vinegar, mustard, corn starch, turmeric, celery seed, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Add veggies to sauce and cook over low/medium heat for 25-30 minutes.
3. While relish is cooking, heat water in water bath canner or large pot to boiling. Place lids with rubber seal in a small bowl and add 1 cup of boiling water. Add empty jars and screw bands to the pot and boil for 10 minutes to sterilize. Remove jars and screw bands from pot and dry them with towel. When relish is ready, ladel it into the clean jars. Leave 1/4 - 1/2" of space at the top. Wipe jar rims and threads with a clean damp cloth. Cover with lid and screw bands on tightly. Place the filled jars into the canner. Water should cover jars by 1-2 inches. Bring to boil and process for 10 minutes. Carefully remove each jar and set aside for 12-24 hours to cool. Check tops of jars to make sure they have sealed by pressing middle of lids with finger. If lids do not spring back they have sealed properly. If they do spring back, refrigerate the jars. Makes about 10-8oz jars.

Banana Cream Pie

I know I need to post a recipe to my blog when I keep going back to a website to look it up and make it. I've made this a few times now and we love it. I especially like how easy it is to make the custard filling. I've made some adjustments to the original recipe. I use my own graham cracker crust and I make my whipping cream as explained below. It's one of our favorite pies and it will be one of your too!

Banana Cream Pie

adapted from chef-in-training.com
1 9 inch graham cracker crust (this is the recipe I like)
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
2 cups half and half
4 egg yolks
3 TBSPs butter
1½ tsps vanilla extract
2 large bananas, sliced
1½ cups heavy whipping cream
½ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla

1. In medium sauce pan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add half and half and egg yolks and whisk until well combined. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick. Boil 1 minute and remove from heat. Stir in butter, and vanilla.
2. Pour ½ of the filling into the crust. Top with sliced bananas to cover the filling. Pour the rest of the filling over the bananas. Cover with saran wrap directly on the filling itself to avoiding a sticky film on top. Chill for at least 3 hours. Top with another layer of sliced bananas.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla at high speed until stiff peaks form. Spread whipping cream over the top of the bananas and then garnish with a few more slices of bananas. Serve.

Fried Zucchini

If you are growing zucchini in your garden, then I hope you are making this!! Even if don't have an abundance of zucchini, this is a fun fried side dish. I planted 3 varieties of zucchini in my garden this year and we tried them all fried. This is the way I like to bread and fry mine.

Fried Zucchini

2 medium zucchini about 1 ½ lbs
2-3 cups of canola oil (you want it to be about 2 or 3 inches deep in your pan)
3/4 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups Italian bread crumbs

1. Heat oil in pan or deep fryer to 350 degrees.
2. While oil is heating up, wash zucchini and slice into ½ inch slices.
3. In a shallow dish like a pie pan, add flour. Set aside.
4. In a separate shallow dish, whisk eggs. Add milk and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
5. Combine Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs in another shallow dish. Set aside.
6. Dredge zucchini in flour, dip in eggs, then cover in bread crumbs. Make sure to really cover the zucchini slice each time. Pack the bread crumbs on a little if you need to. Repeat with remaining slices.
7. Fry zucchini a few at a time cooking 2-3 minutes per side. Remove to paper towel lined plate.

Gray and Cocozelle Zucchini

No Bake Granola Bars

This is such a great recipe and changing things ups to make all flavors of granola bars is so fun! I've tried it with a few different kinds cereal. I especially like crushed Crispix. The PB and J version is pf course yummy. There are some ideas for add ins below, but really this is like a choose your own adventure recipe. You could even make a healthy option with some flax meal or wheat germ. Keep the add ins to 1 cup or less, but other than that go crazy. 

No Bake Granola Bars

adapted from biggerbolderbaking.com
1 1/2 cups oats, quick or rolled
1 cup rice crispy cereal or any other cereal crushed up a little bit
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add in suggestions:
Raisin Nut Granola Bar
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup chopped raisins
1/3 cup chopped nuts (toasted nuts are also great)

Peanut Butter and Jelly Granola Bar (see note at bottom)
1/3 cup peanut butter (stirred in with sugar mixture)
1/3 cup chopped peanuts
6 TBSPs your favorite jam

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (stirred in with sugar mixture)
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Monster Granola Bars
1/3 cup peanut butter (stirred in with sugar mixture)
1/3 cup mini m&ms
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1. In a large bowl, mix together the oats and cereal.
2. In a medium microwavable bowl add in butter, honey and brown sugar. Microwave this mixture for 2 minutes. It will bubble up so make sure your bowl is big enough so it doesn’t overflow. You can also do this step in a saucepan if you don’t have a microwave.
3. Add the vanilla and salt to the sugar mixture and stir. This will bubble a little bit. (If you are adding peanut butter or cocoa powder this is where you put it in. Stir the PB or cocoa into the sugar mixture) 4. Pour the sugar mixture over the oats and cereal, and thoroughly stir using a rubber spatula. Mix the ingredients together until the oats and cereal are completely coated.
5. Add in your desired mix-in. If you are adding chocolate chips or m&ms and don't want them to melt, wait a few minutes before stirring them in.
6. Press the bars very firmly into a parchment lined 9″x 9” pan. If you like your bars thicker, you can use a smaller pan. If you do not press firmly enough, the bars will fall apart when you eat them. You can also sprinkle on some of your add ins on top like mini chocolate chips or m&ms and press those down so they stick to the top.
7. Place them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes then cut to size.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge or on the counter. If you keep them in the fridge they will be a little hard and chewy. At room temp they will be soft.

PB and J Note: It's best to layer these bars. I have stirred the jam in and they are a little too soft this way. So press half the mixture into the bottom of your pan, then spread on your jam, and press the other half on top.

Cheese Popovers

I've been doing a lot of live bake alongs while at home with ZERO plans. I LOVE IT! I watch two on Instagram almost everyday, Christina Tosi at 1pm central, creator/owner of Milkbar in NYC and Masterchef judge, and Bread Ahead at 8am central, an awesome bakery in London. I actually have to set my alarm to wake up for Bread Ahead, heehee. I put my earbuds in, watch, and take notes all from the comfort of my bed. It's great. Christina Tosi is posting all her recipes on her website, so I'm sharing her popover recipe. I made these yesterday and they were awesome! So easy and kinda fun to watch in the oven. I sprinkled a Colby jack cheese mix on the top of mine, but you can do any type of cheese you like. We ate them with Easter dinner leftovers. They are kinda like an eggy German pancake texture.

Cheese Popovers

adapted from Christina Tosi
3 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 3⁄4 cups whole milk
1 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps sugar
2 tsps kosher salt
1⁄4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cups any kind of cheese you have, shredded

1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan. Measure all of the ingredients except the cheese into the pitcher of a blender. Blend on medium-low until smooth and well combined. The batter will be thin.
2. Pour 1⁄3 cup batter into each cup. Each cup should be about 3/4 full. Scatter 2 TBSPs of shredded cheese evenly over the center of each of the filled cups.
3. Put the popovers in the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until tripled in size, hollow in the center, and a healthy golden brown on the outside. DO NOT open the oven while baking.
4. Pop out of the pan and dig in immediately. Popovers are best warm out of the oven, or the same day at the very latest.

Potato Casserole

I have graduated from my old potato casserole. This new recipe is a little faster with frozen potatoes, and more gooey because you mix all the good stuff in with the potatoes. It's my new favorite. Perfect with your Easter or Christmas ham.

Potato Casserole

Potatoes
1/4 cup melted butter
1 10.5oz can cream of chicken soup
2 cups sour cream
1 tsp salt
2 tsps dried minced onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 30 package of frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
Topping
4 cups cornflakes
5 TBSPs melted butter
2 TBSPs grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, add 1/4 cup melted butter, soup, sour cream, salt, onion and stir to combine. Add cheese and stir. Add thawed potatoes and mix them in until everything is well combined.
3. Pour potato mixture into a 9x13 inch pan.
4. Crush cornflakes into crumbs in a ziplock bag. You should get about 2-2.5 cups crushed. In a small bowl, mix the 5 TBSPs melted butter, crushed cornflakes, and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle on top of the potatoes.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes until bubbly.

Like Levain Bakery - Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip

If you want some big gooey chocolate cookies then this is the recipe for you. It's like the previous Levain Bakery recipe I posted that I found on modernhoney.com. They are sooo good! The recipe calls for dark chocolate baking cocoa and I bought Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder for these cookies, which was great. It's harder to tell when these are done because you can't see if they are starting to turn brown, but I make 5oz cookies and bake them for 12 minutes and they turn out perfect. Give them a try and don't be afraid to put that HUGE blob of dough on the cookie sheet.

Like Levain Bakery - Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip
modernhoney.com
1 cup cold butter cut into small cubes
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup dark baking cocoa
1 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

 1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together cold cubed butter, brown sugar, and sugar for 4 minutes or until creamy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.
4. Stir in cocoa, flours, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Mix until just combined to avoid over mixing. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Separate dough into large balls (about 1/2 cup of dough or 5-6 oz) and place on prepared cookie sheet. You will fit 4 cookies on one large cookie sheet. The dough makes 8-10 extra large cookies.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes (I bake mine closer to 12) or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for at least 10 minutes to set.