Recipes

I wanted to do a post with recipes in it, because so many of the blogs I read include fabulous recipes that I love to try. But most of my recipes come from cookbooks, and all of my cookbooks expressly state that I may not copy any part of the book without express written consent of the publisher. I see their point. Why would they let me give you their recipe for free, when I can just tempt you with pictures and make you go out and buy the whole book? (Maybe the authors are making money somewhere in this scheme? I'll keep telling myself that . . .)

A few of my recipes come from the internet, like this one for the whole wheat zucchini muffins I made yesterday:

Cooks.com Zucchini Muffins with Blueberries or Cranberries
Beat 1 eg and add:
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat until light and foamy. Stir in:
1 c. shredded zucchini

Add:
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp allspice

Stir in:
1 c. frozen blueberries or cranberries.

Pour into muffin pans. Bake 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes 8-12 depending on size.

Notes: I have substituted chocolate chips for the berries, fresh for frozen berries, and flax seed meal for oil (at a 3:1 flax seed to oil ratio). When using chocolate, the muffins are less moist, and more crispy, but my notes say they were good. Yesterday's batch with frozen berries are also excellent.

A few of the recipes I make frequently are family recipes which I will share with you when it makes sense. (Stay tuned for my souped-up version of my mom's classic shepherd's pie this fall.) A lot of the cooking I do (especially with fresh produce) is just thrown into a pot and simmered for as long as it takes to reach the right texture. I don't have a recipe to give you for those.

Cooking without a recipe doesn't scare me. But I have never baked anything without a recipe. Sure, I alter recipes here and there, make substitutions, throw in extras, leave out the nuts. But I don't know how people make up their own recipes for cookies and breads. (I'm talking about people like these fabulous bloggers who don't know I exist.) I'm worried that I'll mess up and get the ratios of flour and baking soda wrong and end up with an inedible mess on my counter. Or baked to the bottom of my oven. Wait a minute, I do that even when I'm using a recipe.

I can improvise on the innards of a pie (substituting rhubarb and strawberry for cranberries and apples, or a blend of berries for just blueberries) but I would not begin to know how to make a pancake from scratch. Which is why it is great that my husband lets me buy (cook)books, that we have internet access in our house, and that my mom is always willing to tell me how to make her old standby dishes.

Yesterday as I was digging for the zucchini muffin recipe above, I decided it was high time for me to organize my recipes, which are currently piled in no order at all in one of my kitchen cupboards. I've tried writing recipes out by hand on note cards in the past (and part of me loves that idea - especially because thoughtful friends and relatives gave me beautiful recipe boxes for my wedding) but I think the best way for me to do it will be to type the darn things. Even my best handwriting is frequently illegible. Initially I thought since I'd be typing up all the recipes anyway, I might as well share them with you, but I'm still paying off the loans for the copyright class I took in law school (along with the other 87 credits) and can't really afford to defend myself in an infringement lawsuit at the present time.

Sorry I don't have any pictures today. I'll probably visit the garden later this week, and might take some pictures then, you never know.

Until next time, I'll be slaving away over a hot laptop, typing furiously, and wishing I were in the kitchen cooking. Making messes is always so much more fun than getting organized!