Apple Pie!

Yesterday I came to the sad realization that apple cider prices were probably going to stay outrageously high because of the wonky growing season. Sighs. Just like maple syrup the other year/still. This drink was well worth the money I spend for that gallon of cider! I might have to make another one tonight.

Apple Pie Martini

(Pinterest Find!)

Ingredients:
1 ounce vanilla or whipped cream vodka
2 ounces apple cider
a sprinkle of cinnamon
Directions:
1. Add ingredients to an ice filled shaker. Shake well. Strain into glass.

Crock Pot Soup

It's been a soup week and I'm loving it! Wednesday I made a crock pot full of Savory Bean and Spinach Soup (the leftovers have been good too). It's a perfectly fine soup, it just tastes healthy (the site said it had 150 calories per serving!). As you can see from the ingredient list there is not any one ingredient to give it that pop of flavor so I added a good shot of Sriracha sauce to mine. I would also add another can of beans to it because there weren't enough in each spoonful for me. So it could be a keeper with a couple of additions.

Savory Bean and Spinach Soup

(Pinterest find! From fitnessmagazine.com)

Ingredients:
3 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
1 15-ounce can tomato puree
1 15-ounce can small white beans or Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 garlic cloves, chopped
8 cups coarsely chopped fresh spinach or kale leaves
Finely shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions :
1. In a 3-1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker, combine vegetable broth, tomato puree, beans, rice, onion, basil, salt, pepper, and garlic.
2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting 5 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.
3. Just before serving, stir in spinach or kale and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Birthday Cake!

Poor Mr. Lawyer's birthday was a bit overlooked this year with our holiday weekend in NYC, me starting school again, and our engagement party so I made him a birthday cake! Technically it's still his birthday month so it's okay. He requested a coconut cream cake...that's right, cake not pie. I had to go to three different stores before I found coconut cream! Actually I ended up with cream de coconut which is sweeter so I just added less condensed milk. I also decided to use two round cake pans and layer them in order to make it more festive. I also toasted the coconut for some color. It was a hit! And the reviews said it gets better the next day. Mmmmm....cake for breakfast.

He was surprised when he walked in and saw a cake with candles!

A work in progress....thank god for frosting!

 mmmmmm cake!

Coconut Cream Cake

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1 (14 ounce) can coconut cream
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 cup flaked coconut
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, water and coconut flavoring. Beat for 2 minutes and pour into 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
3. In a medium bowl, combine coconut cream with sweetened condensed milk and stir until smooth. 

4. When cake comes out of the oven, poke holes into it in even rows using a large fork or chopsticks. Pour milk mixture over, allowing it to soak into the cake. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
5. In a large bowl, whisk cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar and continue whipping until stiff. Spread over cooled cake. Sprinkle top with flaked coconut.

Crafts & Cleaning

Man oh man. Pinterest is dangerous and awesome. In addition to being a great source of recipe inspiration and day dreaming it has over taken my day off....in a good productive way, not in a I just wasted an hour drooling over things I want in my future house way.

First up: cleaning your mattress. I needed to wash our bedding so this seemed like a fun project. Put 1 cup of baking soda in a tupperware and add 5 or so drops of essential oil. The pin suggested lavender because it makes you sleepy. I had peppermint oil on hand and Mr. Lawyer preferred that because he didn't want anything to flowery. Shake up the container to mix and then sprinkle over your mattress. You can use a wire mesh strainer or flour sifter to spread it more evenly. Let it sit for an hour and then vacuum it up with the handle attachment. It smelled delicious!

Um. This is my naked bed with baking powder on it.

Next up on the pinterest list: a time out bottle! Also known as a meditation jar/calm down bottle etc. Some pins had it has a calming/time out tool for their kids at home and others used it as a classroom tool. As I deal with a variety of behavioral issues in my classroom I was intrigued. You need a fun bottle (I used plastic because I can picture it getting thrown across my room. Joking. Not really.), a bottle of glitter glue, additional glitter, clear tacky glue, and super glue. 

Step 1: Fill the bottle with hot water (it helps dissolve the glue) and add all of your glitter glue and desired amount of extra glitter (I used about half of the glitter).

Step 2: if you want it to take longer for the glitter to settle you add the tacky glue to slow things down (I added one good squirt). Then top off the bottle, screw on your cap and shake! If it's too slow you can take some out and add more water.

Step 3: Super glue that top on! Dry off the cap treads, smear on some super glue, and twist it on tight!

It looks amazing in different lights and the swirls are so mesmerizing! Now I'm not sure if I want to bring it in to school, I can't stop shaking it!

Kung POW!

Quick and easy with a decent flavor, this recipe worked for us. The heat built up slowly but I might add a bit more chili oil for a quicker zip. I also used brown rice, which Mr. Lawyer isn't a fan of, but he really didn't notice.

I know I said I'd save the Fiesta until after our wedding but yeah....that's not happening. I had a lunch date with Amanda and she decided that she wanted Fiesta in her new apartment when she moves so we planned out her color scheme and I got all super excited again. I figured that the salad/cereal bowl would work well for this rice dish and it did! Once Mr. Lawyer saw mine he wanted to eat it in a Fiesta dish, win! I told him that we needed to try everything out before we commit to it on our registry, I don't think I'll have a problem convincing him...the two bowls have been perfect for a variety of dishes!

Easy Kung Pao Chicken

(from Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons chinese rice wine
3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons asian chili oil
3 tablespoons peanut oil
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 1 1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 bunches scallions (whites cut into 1/2-inch pieces, greens sliced)
4 cups precut stir-fry vegetables
1/2 cup cocktail peanuts
Cooked rice, for serving (optional)
Directions:
1. Mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 2 teaspoons each rice wine, cornstarch and water in a medium bowl. Add the chicken and toss; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Whisk the remaining 2 teaspoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice wine and 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, the sugar, chili oil and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stir-fry 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate.
4. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon peanut oil in the skillet. Add the garlic, ginger, scallion whites and precut vegetables; stir-fry until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 5 minutes. Add the chicken and peanuts and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir the soy sauce-chili oil mixture, add to the skillet and cook until the sauce thickens, 30 seconds. Serve over rice and top with the scallion greens.

Sad Cocktail

This cocktail made me sad. It wasn't for me. It was too biting and I had to add more orange juice in order to drink it. I think Mr. Lawyer was a bit heavy handed with the fake lemon juice, I'm sure fresh would have made a difference but even then I'm not sure if I would have liked it.

Bebbo Cocktail

(Finger Lakes Distillery Newsletter)

Ingredients:
1.5 ounces Seneca Drum Gin
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
.5 ounce honey
2 teaspoons orange juice
Directions:
1. Stir all ingredients (without ice) until honey is dissolved.
2. Add ice, shake, and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Perfect Sunday Afternoon

Nothing like a chilly, lazy Sunday afternoon with soup simmering on the stove and football noise in the background. We liked this soup more than the Tomato-Basil Soup I made in the spring and Mr. Lawyer declared it a keeper. It was quite tasty and while turning your grilled cheese into croutons is completely unnecessary, it was fun. We used a delicious Pepperidge Farms sourdough and Cooper cheese ("because that's what mom always gets"-Mr. Lawyer), a winning combination.

Recipe Notes: 1/2 cup of orzo doesn't look like a lot but it will puff up and soak up some liquid. The original recipe called for 1 tablespoon of salt which is a ton! I changed it to taste. I also used diced tomatoes and it was fine. If you wanted to be more healthy you could probably omit the cream. I was tasting as I went and the soup tasted fine before adding it, I don't think it made it very creamy texture wise. Obviously I omitted the saffron because I'd rather pay our utility bill this month.

Check out my new Fiesta bowl totally rocking this soup!

Tomato-Orzo Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons

(Adapted from Ina Garten, Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons good olive oil
3 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, preferably San Marzano (I used diced)
Large pinch of saffron threads (I omitted this)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup orzo
1/2 cup heavy cream
Grilled Cheese Croutons
Directions:
1. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in the chicken stock, tomatoes, saffron, salt (to taste) and 1 teaspoon pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, fill a medium pot with water, add 2 teaspoons salt and bring to a boil. Add the orzo and cook for 7 minutes. (It will finish cooking in the soup.) Drain the orzo and add it to the soup. Stir in the cream, return the soup to a simmer and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring frequently.
3. Serve hot with Grilled Cheese Croutons scattered on top.

Grilled Cheese Croutons

Ingredients:
4 (1/2-inch-thick) slices country white bread
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated
Directions:
1. Heat a panini grill. Place the four slices of bread on a cutting board and brush lightly with the melted butter, being sure to butter the corners. Turn the slices over and pile Gruyere on two of the slices. Place the remaining two slices of bread on top of the Gruyere, buttered sides up.
2. Grill the sandwiches on the panini grill for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Place on a cutting board, allow to rest for 1 minute and cut into 1-inch cubes.

Harvest Pumpkin

These cupcakes were satisfactory but they didn't wow me. My co-workers and students raved about them so part of it might just be I'm too critical of something that I made, it does always taste better when someone else makes it! I was excited because the batter tasted so amazing (yes Grandma, I still lick the bowl....haven't died yet.) but a lot of the pumpkin flavor baked off. Once the cream cheese frosting was on it tasted like a carrot cake to me. Sometimes pumpkin cupcakes/muffins get too dense but this cupcake was nice and fluffy. 

Harvest Pumpkin Cupcakes

(from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
4 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
Frosting:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated orange peel
4 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
1. To make cupcakes: Blend the eggs, oil, sugar, and pumpkin in a large mixing bowl; set aside. 

2. Stir together dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and beat until well blended. 

3. Pour into lined muffin tins. Fill about 2/3 full. Bake in preheated 350 degrees oven for 30 minutes or until center springs back when touched. Cool 30 minutes. Spread with frosting.
4. To make frosting: Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cupcakes.

The orangey-brown color looked amazing.

 Fun with Frosting!

 I didn't have enough room in the fridge so I kept them out on the balcony until school the next day....because it's fall now and chilly enough to do that!

Chili Dogs

Nothing like a spicy chili dog to warm you up on a chilly fall day! Or it means that you really need to go grocery shopping. The last of the chili and some frozen hot dogs from our engagement party. Tomorrow: the store!

Happy Ramblings

I want a restart button for this day. Nothing like doing 65 mph on I-95 in the 55 degree weather with no driver side window. Baller. I'm pretty sure I caught a chest cold, lost some hearing in my left ear, and my hair looked a mess when I walked into school. It's cool though, I know the slang for cars like this: hoopty. My kids got a good laugh out of it. Since this whole day requires a restart, or at least a stiff drink, this is a post about loosely related kitchen things that make me happy.

I love sleeping in on Saturday (well...to 7) and having this adorable bed headed fool make me waffles.

I love that he was worried that my maple syrup stash was getting too low.

Grade B baby.

I love that he doesn't realize that I got this real maple syrup thing on lock down.

In addition to this full half gallon there is a large maple leaf container in the fridge, a small travel container, and an emergency stash of 4 sampler bottles in my baking closet.

I love fall and am super excited to have picked up my first batch of cider. 

I love it cold, hot, mulled or spiked.

I am excited to have gotten some Fiesta in the mail today!

This picture doesn't do the color justice. It's more of an orange. I'd call it Mac&Cheese from the box orange!

When Dad and Melissa first moved to Watkins Glen (my senior year in college) we went into Ithaca and were exploring the shops. The kitchen store had an amazing display of rainbow Fiesta dishes. I informed them that one day I would be having a rainbow collection of dishes. They were skeptical and asked if I wouldn't prefer just one or two colors. Nope. Skittles dishes all the way. Fast forward to being engaged and already having a lot of quality kitchen stuff/standing to inherit a ton of fancy china. What to register for? FIESTA. It appeals to the ocd collector in me and the colors make me insanely happy. I can't wait to pull them out on a depressing winter day and be like "BAM! Sunshine in your face!" One friend asked what we were thinking about for china/registry stuff and when I replied Fiesta she said "oh my god that's SO you!" (and looking at other friend's registry items I can totally see them represented in the fancy china pattern or fun wine glasses they pick. It's really interesting to look at). I planned out an elaborate "colorscape" which Mr. Lawyer doesn't really care about, meanwhile I have been dreaming of it for weeks. I limited myself to four colors for the main dishes, three different colors for everyday serving bowls/platters, and another three-four colors for specialty serving pieces thus insuring I would have a rainbow. My ultimate goal being to have one or two of every color for the main place settings.

Anyway, while doing all this planning and registry stuff I found out that the Marigold color is going to be discontinued this fall. It was a limited edition color to celebrate the 75th anniversary and was only to be in production for 75 weeks. That meant that this color would be discontinued before our wedding and I refuse to pay some outrageous amount on ebay for a limited edition run. Luckily multiple stores have been having insane sales on it. I ended up going with Kohl's at half off with an additional 15% off at checkout. I got two of the four piece place settings (dinner plate, salad plate, soup/cereal bowl, and mug) and two "gusto" bowls which are nice and deep (and more conducive to eating your soup on the couch). Mr. Lawyer thought I was crazy and should wait till our wedding but it won't be there! I promised that we would pack it away, pretend it was a present, and not use it till after our wedding when we get the rest of the Fiesta but it is SO HARD!

This is what I want in my future house.

So pretty.

I also want to be the lady from thelittleroundtable.com , she has been doing amazing things with her "tablescapes" for years and from what I can see it doesn't look like she has repeated anything!

A Kitchen Guest!

Welcome to my very first guest post! My mom shares lots of yummy recipes with me and I don't always have the time to try them out so she's here to pick up the slack! Also, I don't have two huge basil plants in my backyard to make yummy drinks. Or, like Mr. Lawyer, she thinks I'm slacking in the food/blogging category and this is a big hint for me to stop eating the chili from the freezer and cook something new.

The Mother Unit and I after a day on the winery/brewery trail

From the Mother Unit:
Happiness is sharing recipes with your daughter, especially after she decreed (as a teen) that she was never going to learn to cook. She just wanted to eat out all the time. Welcome to the real world of bills and budgets. It’s fun that we have developed a mutual interest in recipes involving alcohol. For me, it’s now flavor versus effect.

Here’s a recipe I tried as I had some strawberry flavored vodka. I’ve muddled up a lot of things in my life but never strawberries with simple syrup. My effort was to process the daylights out of the two of them, ending up with a red sludge. With my handy cocktail shaker (thanks for the gift kids) I put the sludge in with the basil and the vodka. So, my effort was murky and sweeter than I would like. I think if it had been straight up vodka that would have cut the sugary taste. The basil added a nice taste to the background. I have two huge basil bushes in the new garden. Time to experiment more with it.

Strawberry Fields

(from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients: 

3 parts strawberry vodka
2 parts strawberry puree (or 3 strawberries muddled with simple syrup)
1 part fresh lemon juice
1 part simple syrup (or agave nectar)
Basil Leaves
Directions:
1. Muddle strawberries and basil (to taste) with lemon juice in a cocktail shaker.
2. Add 1 part simple syrup (or agave nectar) to cocktail shaker.
3. Shake with ice & strain into a chilled martini glass.

Um, did my mother just call me an alcoholic?!

Grad School Staple

Um. Where did the city sky line go? Poor Mr. Lawyer was coming home just as the skies opened up but luckily he grabbed a cab and walked right into a nice warm dinner! This recipe is from one of my Syracuse roommates from when we lived on Buckingham Ave, hence the name. She was always cooking pork chops in various bbq sauces and dressings. It always smelled divine! Plus the minimal ingredients was perfect for a couple of broke grad school girls.  I steamed the carrots and drizzled maple syrup over them just like my dad use to. The perfect hot meal for a rainy stormy evening!

Buckingham Pork Chops

(from the kitchen of Jessie)

Ingredients:

4 pork chops

1/2 cup bbq sauce (I used a brown sugar one)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place pork chops in a oven safe dish, coat with sauce (tops and bottoms!)

3. Bake for 30 minutes covered and then 15 minutes uncovered. If you have thin pork chops reduce the time so they don't get dried out!

Chinese Walnut Chicken

I've been on quick and easy chicken and rice dinner mode as I re-adjust to school and find my cooking mojo! This is an old recipe that my mom use to make, I remember the Dork and I just dying for this. It's a nice basic recipe, no crazy flavors or anything weird. I did ad a dash of sesame oil to it because I'm all fancy and worldly now.

Chinese Walnut Chicken

(from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 teaspoon pepper, salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
5 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Directions:
1. Mix cornstarch, salt, pepper, sugar, soy, and 2 tablespoons oil. Add chicken and stir.
2. Saute walnuts in 1 tablespoon oil. Remove from pan.
3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil and add chicken. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Add walnuts.
4. Stir in chicken broth and stir fry until chicken is cooked. Serve over rice.

Fall! and drinks of my childhood.

Fall is (mostly) here! I am so excited. Chilly in the morning, chilly in the evening, nice and toasty during the day....it's heaven! I'm sitting here in one of my beloved Glimmerglass Triathlon sweatshirts, Grandma Nancy's afghan, and a mug of spiked white hot chocolate.

Look at these bad boys ready to go! Eight sweatshirts/hoodies, three lighter zip ups, sweaters....Bring it on! We'll see if I can break last year's record of not turning on the heat till mid-december

Right, so hot chocolate. I use to get really bad sore throats in middle/high school. Sometimes I would wake up at 2 in the morning and there was no way I was getting back to sleep. My mom would fix me up some special white hot chocolate to soothe my throat. Years later I would find out that she was spiking it with butterscotch schnapps! Gold Star in parenting my dear Mother Unit. Gold Star. I highly recommend it for chilly fall nights or when your children won't go back to bed.

Spiked White Hot Chocolate

(from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:

1 package of white hot chocolate (mom always used Hershey's)

1 mug full of hot water

1 shot of butterscotch schnapps, preferably from a sweet mason jar like mine

Directions:

1. Mix it all together and enjoy!

Spicy Chinese Chicken

When we sat down for dinner and Mr. Lawyer took a bite he said something along the lines of "wow, it really has been a long time since you cooked a meal." Yikes! Good thing this spicy chinese chicken was a decent hit. I say decent because I had higher expectations for certain parts but it was completely delicious and edible. The chicken was very moist. After reading the comments I was worried that the vinegar would be overpowering so I decreased it a smidge and replaced that part with water. It worked out fine. We served it up with some steamed broccoli and rice.

Issue #1 - I wanted it to be crunchier! If I make it again I will probably follow the coating recipe for my General Tso's Chicken. Doing the egg last was creepy and it did puff up and cook when you threw it in the oil. 

Issue #2 - I wanted it to be spicier! When I tasted the sauce before I cooked it I thought it was spicy enough but after baking it the spice went away! It was more of a tangy and sweet sauce instead of spicy.

Issue #3 - Not enough sauce! Sad story. I suppose it was healthier that way.

Spicy Chinese Chicken

(Pinterest find! From Mandy's Recipe Box)

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt & pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
Spicy Sauce:
1/4 cup sugar
4 tbsp ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
Sriracha Hot Sauce to taste (I used 1 teaspoon)
Red Pepper flakes
Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. 

2. Cut chicken into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. 

3. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your Spicy Sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken.
4. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes. Sprinkle with Red Pepper flakes before serving.

Engagement Leftovers

It's been a leftover kind of week. Engagement Party leftovers, while delicious, are not designed to help with fitting into your wedding dress. I sense a salad week in my future. I have completely appreciated the fact that I didn't have to grocery shop this week, it allowed to me to put together all the vocab and readings for my upcoming unit. Woo! I also brought some of the sunflowers in to beautify my classroom....spreading the cheer!

Leftover sunflowers in gin bottles. So pretty!

 Leftover hot sausage and peppers on a yummy roll.

Leftover Grandmom's chicken, shredded on a roll

 Leftover engagement cake....oh the frosting!

Basil Gin Smash

After a ridiculously crazy and amazing weekend we needed a good cocktail to help us unwind. This gin cocktail was up to the task and pleased all parties involved. It was fresh and sassy. I loved it.

Basil Gin Smash

(from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:
Ice
1 1/4 ounces gin
3/4 ounce lemon juice
3/4 ounce simple syrup
12 large fresh basil leaves (plus more for garnish)
Directions:
1. Add ice, gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and basil to a cocktail shaker. Shake like the dickens!
2. Strain into an ice filled glass. Garnish with basil sprig.

Smooth Moves!

So last month when we had our appetizer dinner at the shore I had a bunch of leftover sourdough bread from my shrimp toasts. I was leaving for NY the next day so I just threw it in the freezer. Well last night we decided to use it up by making Aunt Marie's Strata that Grandma Nancy made for us on one of our trips. It was delicious! The sourdough added a nice taste to the eggs and cheddar. Add a dash of sriracha and it's heaven! Plus it's super nice to have a warm filling dish for breakfast all week!

The recipe is HERE!

Zucchini Muffins

Yesterday, on my last day off, I made zucchini muffins for breakfast! They were okay but not nearly as good as my Grandpa Norm's recipe for zucchini bread....but it was too early in the morning to convert recipes. Even Mr. Lawyer noticed right away that it was not Grandpa's recipe....yikes! Guess I learned my lesson. Once you give a boy the best you can't go back!

Zucchini Muffins

(from Taste of Home)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I doubled this)
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dried currants or chopped raisins
Directions:
1. In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Combine the egg and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the zucchini, walnuts and currants.
2. Coat muffin cups with cooking spray or use paper liners; fill three-fourths full with batter. Bake at 350° for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 6 muffins.