The end of school for this year is almost here and it’s really hard to believe. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was freaking out about catching the school bus, and adjusting to having two kids in school? Surely it was mere days ago that I was figuring out how to pack cool lunches for Will and worrying that he had enough to fill him up at lunch. Right?

Ok, ok. We all know that was really10 months ago. It just went so fast. Where did the time go?

Now that school is ending, we like to give tokens of appreciation to the teachers and bus drivers who made a difference in my kids lives this year. And after three years of having at least one child in school, I have the whole appreciation gift thing in control. (Well, at least in better control than in years past.) Sort of.

I decided on a dual gift for the teachers — something special from my kitchen and a gift certificate.  For Teacher Appreciation Week, I’d given a few of the teachers Chocolate Chip Banana Bread in a Jar, so that was out (along with anything else in a jar). And I wanted it to be something a little bigger — something they could share if they wanted. Mini-loaves of bread were the perfect solution.

I went with this mouthwatering recipe for Cinnamon Zucchini Bread Mini-Loaves. They have a lighter crumb and a fabulous, rich flavor. If you’ve never had zucchini in bread before, ignore that it’s in the title and try this anyway. As long as you like cinnamon, you will love this bread. The zucchini lends a moist crumb to this bread along with speckles of green — but that’s it. So, don’t fear the zucchini, I swear.

When I was making this, I modeled this bread after my Cinnamon-alicious Zucchini Bread. But really, they are different loaves. This one is a little less sweet, but with a bigger punch of cinnamon. Try it warmed, it’s so good like that.

What’s your favorite food gift to give?

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A few weeks ago, Will spied a lone very ripe (ahem, brown) banana on our kitchen counter and declared that I should  make banana bread. He adores banana bread. And bananas, for that matter. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to whip up a batch then.

Today I finally got around to baking some … in jars, of course. I was tempted to call this one Chocolate Chip Banana Cake in a Jar, but really it’s basically banana bread … or banana muffins, depending on how you look at it. Really the only difference is the vessel I used to cook it in. What would you call it?

Anyway, one of the reasons for making this today is that I wanted something to send in to Paige’s classroom for her teachers tomorrow. It’s teacher appreciation week at our school (yes, I know most schools already celebrated that!), so it seemed like the perfect time to gift them with a little something. We’ve been blessed with wonderful, patient and kind teachers who love kids and make their school days so special.

Really, this is the perfect something for a teacher gift. Just top ‘em with a canning lid and tie a little card to the top to let them know what’s inside. I used basic kitchen twine, but you could go fancy with some pretty ribbon too.

As for the Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, it’s positively lovable. It’s perfectly moist, with a light crumb. I’ve added just a touch of cinnamon that gives the flavor a little depth, without really making its presence known. It’s subtle. And mini chocolate chips are the perfect addition to the sweet banana batter. It’s based on my recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread, but is minus the nuts to comply with the nut-free environment of our school.

The Chocolate Chip Banana Bread is baked directly in the jars on a baking sheet in the oven. I keep an old baking sheet around just for the occasion. It’s perfect for being the firm surface for small containers like this. And yes, jars are perfectly okay for baking. If you don’t have them already, you can pick some up at most grocery stores or online.

What’s your favorite food to gift?

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When it comes to grocery shopping, I am a grocer’s dream. They might as well stamp a gigantic “Impulse Buyer!” stamp on my forehead and call it a day. Display cases of fresh breads and cheeses just call to me. The produce department’s bright and beautiful wares are always beckoning to me. And the butcher’s station … Oh, what a life.

It was an impulse buy that brought these leeks home with me a few weeks back … only to be promptly forgotten. I’d really wanted to eat some, but it didn’t happen. Though I had the best of intentions of using them right away, I didn’t actually get to it until today. Thankfully, they were still pretty fresh (minus an outer leaf or two). (Yes, if you see yucky outer leaves, you can pull them off and wash and cut the leeks as usual for use.Within reason.)

But it is somewhat good that I waited on these because this morning, while playing around with ideas, I came up with this delightful Roasted Leeks and Garlic Spread. It’s amazing — especially on freshly baked bread (I used Pillsbury Simply French Bread).

The spread takes a little more than 20 minutes to bread and is perfect for everything from picnic to date. Heck, it would even make an awesome addition to the standard brunch fare too. Maybe even with a poached egg on top?

What’s amazing in this dish is how sweet the leeks and garlic get while roasting them in the oven. With a touch of olive oil and a bit of the moisture from soaking the leeks, the leeks and garlic are rendered tender enough to puree and so perfectly sweet. The garlic adds its own sweet savoriness to the mix too. Once it’s all done and pureed, slather it on the bread and sprinkle it with some freshly grated Italian cheese and a sprinkle of your very favorite finishing salt. One bite and you will be hooked.

No, really. I mean it.

Would you serve this for brunch?
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Homemade bread is special. It’s like love in a loaf form. And making it regularly is something I have always wanted to do — but didn’t.

Yet.

With gas prices escalating, I have been looking for ways to trim our budget. One way I realized we could live more frugally? By breaking out the bread machine and bread pans and making my own bread. Last week, all the bread eaten in our house — and at school — was made by me. It took three loaves and maybe a total of 15 minutes (5 per loaf) to feed us for a week. Easy.

Two of those three loaves? Country White Bread. It’s a must-make.

It was luscious and springy … so tender with a delicate, crackling crust. Before I made this recipe for Country White Bread from Melissa Clark‘s cookbook, The Bread Machine Cookbook, I didn’t realize that the bread machine was capable of making such an airy, light loaf. It’s simply amazing — like a really good bakery focaccia.

We like this warm, right from the bread machine, spread with Kate’s Homemade Butter, my favorite. So good. But it’s also great as the base for open-face sandwiches or used as toast with eggs over easy.

Do you use a bread machine often? Do you make bread?

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Yesterday, I didn’t feel like eggs in the morning. Or oatmeal. Or cereal. Or anything vaguely resembling a “normal” breakfast. I just didn’t. It reminded me of my younger days when breakfast foods were persona non grata in my life. But I’ve made a concerted effort in recent years to eat breakfast because it’s good for me and I want to mirror good behaviors for my kids. Even though they weren’t home, I still wanted to eat something.

At first, I was going to suck it up and make a leek scramble. It would probably taste good and all … but then I realized that I seriously don’t have to have the egg. Where in the rule book does it say that breakfast must include breakfast foods, anyway?

Finally, I just did it. I sauteed the leeks until they were soft, then added some parmesan and finished it off with salt. Then I poured them onto French bread and ate them as a sort of open-face sandwich (and used a fork to eat the spillage).

It wasn’t traditional or usual, but it was delicious. I didn’t overdo it or resort to something convenient. But in it’s own way, this was convenient — heck, it took under 10 minutes to make. I loved every bite.

Do you ever do non-breakfast foods for breakfast?

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Last December, I had this amazing epiphany when I made Cream Biscuits for the first time. It wasn’t the first time I made biscuits, but it was the first time that it dawned on me how easy it is to make biscuits from scratch. Soon I was making Whole Wheat Biscuits on a regular basis.

But then summer came, and biscuit making took a back seat to fresh veggies and bright salads. I know some people bake all year, but I am not one of them.

Now that it’s fall again, I feel like baking biscuits again … and after having fabulous Cheddar Bacon Scones in Cape Cod, I had to try that combination in biscuit form. Cheddar cheese and salty, crisp bacon are always fabulous together. And in these tender, fluffy cheddar bacon biscuits, it’s just amazing.

And yes, they are super easy to make. Read the rest of this entry…

Fall, to me, ushers in the perfect weather for quick breads, coffee cakes and muffins … like these delicious ones. Lately, I have been thinking so much about making these things to enjoy for breakfast. Though I don’t do it as often as I like, baking breakfast breads is something I love. And these Apple Berry Muffins are totally deserving of that love.

This past weekend when we headed to the Cape, I brought along a batch of these Apple Berry Muffins. They aren’t overly sweet, but they are packed with berries and apples … delish. And when they are fresh baked, they have a bit of a crunch to the outer layer (don’t worry – they were still great on day two … just minus the crunch). The morning after we arrived in Cape Cod, several of my friends came over and we demolished the whole plate of them. They were that good. Read the rest of this entry…

Welcome customers of Shortt’s Farm CSA! Scroll down for my fabulous Cinnamon-alicious Zucchini Bread recipe and other fabulous recipes to use today’s produce.

Confession time: I don’t like zucchini. Not one little bit. I hate how it gets all mushy and watery when cooked — it reminds me of slime. How terrible of me, right? But, hey, everyone is allowed to have likes and dislikes, right?

That said, like all vegetables, it’s all in how you prepare it. Sure, I might not like the traditional preparations of zucchini, but it’s totally edible in other ways … like raw or in baked goods. In fact, it’s downright delectable in this Cinnamon-alicious Zucchini Bread. Heck, if you didn’t know that zucchini was in this bread, you’d never guess it. This has a fabulous flavor thanks to the hearty amounts of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla that are in it.

Although the ingredients list is on the long side, this bread is a cinch to make. It mixes up fast and easy by hand and is in the oven in no time. The recipes also makes two loaves at once — one to eat, and one to freeze. Easy peasy.

So, now I am hoping that my CSA box (today’s the first one of the season!) will come with some zucchini so that I can make this bread again. It really was that good — even my husband, who hates all things veg, ate it and admitted to liking it. A little.

Looking for a few good ideas for your CSA box? Try these recipes:

• Swiss Chard (aka Rainbow Chard) – Swiss Chard with Garlic and Bacon
• Kale – Kale Pesto
• Summer Squash – Ratatouille
• Radishes – Balsamic Sauteed Radishes
• Beet Greens – Beet Greens Bruschetta
• Basil – Basil Vinaigrette

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A few years ago, I thought cornbread was cornbread: a sweet, crumbly, delicate bread that tastes so delicious smothered with butter. Then I had a bright idea to try a special recipe for Southern cornbread. Since cornbread is a Southern tradition, it had to be the best version, right?

This is the part where I am supposed to tell you that I adored it and discovered a whole new world of cornbread eating. Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. Southern cornbread is a lot different than the Northern cornbread that I grew up with. Northern cornbread is the sweet one, but Southern cornbread is savory. It’s like two different worlds of eating. Someday, I will try Southern cornbread again, but for now I am sticking to Northern — my favorite.

When I decided to serve barbecue pulled pork this week, it seemed natural to serve it with cornbread, which gave me an opportunity to try out a recipe I have been working on. This sweet, but not too sweet version, is fabulous. With a hint of butteriness, this Honey Maple Cornbread is perfect for eating with dinner.

It was a hit with the family too — Will ate his straightaway and Shawn went back for seconds.

Making this is pretty easy. The batter is mixed up in one bowl, by hand. The only bit of complication is that you want to make sure that the butter cools before it gets near the eggs … but even that is pretty easy and straightforward. All in all, you can have this mixed up and into the oven in just 10 minutes. Easy peasy.

So, what’s your preference? Southern cornbread or Northern?

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Everyone seems to have a recipe for banana bread. It’s such a popular thing to make that I thought long and hard before even deciding to do my own. Seriously, there are thousands of variations on this simple thing: using overriped bananas to make a fabulous bread.

Still, my kids adore bananas in a must-have-daily sort of way. So banana bread? It’s a natural fit for us. This particular version has a subtle banana flavor that is enhanced with meaty walnuts and smooth, sweet chocolate chips.

This is a fabulous dessert bread, perfect for after a great meal. Or, serve it as an awesome breakfast treat. I’m happy to have it either way. However you eat it, be sure to smooth a little butter onto a warm slice — it’s amazing like that.

This is also a perfect recipe for cooking with kids because there are so many opportunities for children to get involved in the process. From the peeling and mashing of the bananas to the measuring and mixing, there are so many prime opportunities for them to help make this bread. I love seeing the pride in my children’s eyes when they say that they helped to make something like this … it’s beautiful. Read the rest of this entry…