Seems these days I jump at the chance to decorate. I am not going to practice for no reason since that means there will be cakes in the house for me to eat...but tomorrow we are having our annual year-end potluck lunch for the MOMS Club. So of course I signed up to bring the dessert. I wanted to practice my roses. They turned out okay. Overall I like the cake and buttercream is more forgiving than fondant.

I think the boys will like it. They are already discussing their cake- for my birthday next month. I think this year I might actually let them use my supplies and see what they come up with.

Every year our library holds an Edible Book Contest. Last year Rylan and I entered for fun. We made this cake:

It is of Wild Island from My Father's Dragon, we had just finshed reading the trilogy and it was a fun tie in to the book. Rylan had a lot of fun making little trees and helping with the animals and such.

So we have entered again this year. It took awhile to choose the book, but finally we chose one of Cohen's favorite stories.....I think it is an easy guess as to what book it is....if you know children's books, that is....

I don't know if I am happy with it or not. There are a few places I messed up on, which I suppose happens when you have "helpers". They were good helpers though- they kneaded my colors all together. Part of me wants to make another- but I won't...although I don't have to drop  it off at the library until Thursday...

Editied to add: I couldn't leave it alone...one part was bugging me too much, so I covered it up....

This is one of my favorite recipes. It's one of those cakes breads that you can pretend is healthy and not feel guilty about eating- after all it does have zucchini in it.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp b. soda

1/2 tsp b. powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup cocoa

Beat the eggs, add sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. Mix the dry ingredients and add to the wet. Beat well. Bake at 350.

The times will vary depending on the size of your pan. I usually make mini-loaves. Easier to freeze and take out for eating later. They bake about 25 min. I think the original recipe was for 2 full size loaves.

Here is how I have changes the above recipe: NO salt. I reduce the sugar- I think last year I reduced it to 1 cup and it was still very good. Usually I just don't fill my 1/3 cup scoop all the way to the top so I have no idea how much sugar I am getting. I also use applesauce instead of oil and it is still good. Sometimes I do 3/4 cup applesauce and 1/4 cup oil.

These are my 4 yr old's....I had extra batter after my 4 loaves so he used his pans fom his baking kit to make these. The mini bundt pan makes such a cute cake!!

It's that time of year.....every year we are blessed with an over abundance of zucchini and cucumbers. We are almost to that time....we are picking about 1 zucchini a day and our first cuke should be ready tomorrow. 2 years ago we picked 18-20 cukes a DAY for a week. So I am on my annual search for recipes. Something new, so we don't only eat plain raw veggies and quick breads. Last night I tried this recipe. It turned out really good.

Zucchini-Garlic Bread 

½ cup non-fat evaporated milk

½ cup water (or just 1 cup skim milk instead of the evaporated milk and water)

½ cup butter

2-4 T honey

3 cups flour- divided

I pkt (2  ¼ tsp) quick rise yeast

1 tsp salt

1 cup grated zuccinni

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 T chopped herbs (rosemary, basil, thyme, parsley, oregano, sage, dill…)

Mix milk, water, butter and honey in a glass bowl and microwave until melted. About 120 degrees.

Mix 1 cup flour, salt and yeast in a bowl and add to the warm liquid. Beat well

Thoroughly mix remaining 2 cups flour, garlic, zucchini and herbs. Add the yeast mixture and mix.

Turn out on to a floured surface (or use a dough hook) knead for 5-10 min, adding flour as needed.

Allow the dough to rest, covered, for 10-15 min.

Punch and knead a bit then spread on a pizza pan or large cookie sheet. Grease your hands with 1 tsp of olive oil and spread the dough evenly over the pan.

Cover and rest for another 10-15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 F, prick a dozen time or so with a toothpick

Bake 20-30 minutes, until golden brown.

I used fresh rosemary, sage and oregano from our garden....next time I will use more than I did. I think this would make a wonderful pizza crust too. So next time I may do that....use 1/2 for pizza and maybe make the other into a loaf instead of focaccia style.

Today I hosted a Mother's Day Picnic at the park. I am very thankful the strong storms that are on the way held off until after we ate and played. It was a beautiful day with good company. It's been awhile since I have gotten together with some of the ladies/moms and I was in serious need of some adult conversation.

And since I wanted the practice, my contribution to the potluck was this:

I think it turned out nicely, although there were 1 or 2 spots I wasn't happy with. The kids (and moms) liked all the chocolate though. They thought the outed fondant tasted like a tootsie roll.

1. First you bake the cake. I made a yellow cake- plain old recipe I always use. Then I baked it in a small pyrex bowl, an oval shaped cake pan and 6 cupcakes.

2. Then you arrange the cakes in a fashion that suits your needs. And here is what you get... Looks sort of bear- like....

3. But it is not a bear. So next you add 2 cookies....(ears)...now it is looking a little more like it is supposed to.

4. Next you spend an awful long time kneading. A very long time. With crisco all over your hands and counter.  Then you mix in the color of choice and knead some more. ANd what you are left with is fondant. If you don't know what that is you can look it up.

5. THEN very carefully roll out the fondant, making sure it does not stick to the counter, itself or the rolling pin. Then roll it all up on the rolling pin and hold it over the prepared cakes. Gently unroll the rolling pin, letting the fondant fall into place. It was about now that I was hearning..."Mommy, what IS that??" So it looks a little like a weird little alien boy....

***Now before I go on I would like to introduce you to Mousie....and the inspiration for this cake:

So on to step 6: Roll out a couple fondant circles and wrap up the cookies and place them back on the body. Now the little alien boy looks a little more mouse like. ( I also pushed on the nose a bit to make it higher)

7. Add color. Mix more color into the fondant and knead again. Place on any features or decorations and you're done!

**********And since I know you are dying to see it here is the final product!!!*********************

This is the first time I ever used fondant. So when I found a recipe for Marshmallow fondant I thought I would try it. It is pretty good. The commercial fondant is almost inedible. And there is buttercream underneath. It was fun to make though. And I hope he likes it tomorrow at his party. I can't believe my baby is 1....well not until Sunday....he's a baby for a few more days anyway....

Food is on my mind since I have to cook tomorrow. I am delivering dinner to a friend who just had a baby tomorrow and we also have a cubscout dinner tomorrow. And as of now I have no clue what to make for the banquet, but I am making Pasta with tomato and black bean sauce for my friend.

We are simple eaters. We are vegetarians- the boys and me- and their favorite dinner, aside from pizza, is what they refer to as the "Easy dinner" which is basically muffins, fruit, cheese/yogurt/PB and some type of vegetable. I am not the only one around that has peanut butter as a side dish am I? My boys love their PB spoons! But  I love making muffins and quick breads. In the summertime we have an overabundance of cucumbers and zucchini so we make breads which I can freeze for later...or eat immediately (the chocolate zucchini bread was gone quickly). I am planning on growing squash this year to take the place of my numerous pumpkin recipes. So here is one of my boys' favorite muffins:

French Breakfast Muffins

2c flour

2/3c sugar

2.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 large egg

1c + 2T milk

6T melted butter (slightly cooled)

1 tsp vanilla

cinnamon sugar and an aditional 3T melted butter

Heat oven to 375. Beat egg until frothy, add all additional wet ingedients and mix well. Combine the dry ingredients and then add to the wet and combine until blended. FIll 12 muffin cups. Bake 15 min then rotate pan and cook an additional 5-7 min. Cool on a rack for a couple minutes before removing from pan. While cooling melt the extra butter and have the cinnamon sugar ready. Dip the top of each muffin in butter and then in the cinnamon sugar. These are best served warm. Although they are never around long enough for me to judge the leftover appeal.

Not the most HEALTHY recipe, but I do add at least a little whole wheat flour. My mom turned me on to the King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour which I can add for over half the flour and my boys won't notice.