Cooking Something Up

Well, days are flying by with little happening to differentiate one from the other. Our baby John is 4 months now-unbelievable. He continues to be my all-encompassing purpose in life, I suppose that will be true for the rest of my life-once a mother, always a mother. Oh sure, I do "other things". I read, I exercise, I clean, stuff like that. But now I do them for little John, so I can show him how important it is to learn, to care for our bodies, and to take responsibility for how we live. Never too young to start, right?! Besides, they also keep me sane! Which is another good thing for little John.






Lately I have been filling my need to create in the kitchen. While living with Johns' parents I haven't done much cooking or baking, they don't mind at all if I decide to, but feel a little weird. It's not my kitchen. Not to sound snobbish or...whatever, it is just so much more comfortable to use my own tools in my own workspace. Anyway, I'm not letting it stop me completely. My mother has been busy making beautiful loaves of bread with a relatively simple recipe, I can do that too! Needless to say, I set myself up for disappointment.
My bread looks like a poor excuse for a loaf. It stays pretty small, the decorative slits I make before baking disappear (also before baking), and I guess when it says to use "kosher or other course salt" it doesn't mean "table salt will be fine" because it tastes quite salty. Other than all that I guess it's a good attempt for my first bread baking experience. Instead of being discouraged I'm actually pretty excited to keep practicing and seeing how I progress.







Chocolate Zucchini cake has been on my baking list as well. My sweet mom makes sure I have a big zucchini from her garden before we ever leave their place. I can't think of a better use for it than to turn it into a wonderfully moist and delicious cake, complete with chocolate cream cheese frosting!---YUM!!! And it's super easy, here's the recipe, because all good things must be shared:

2 cups sugar
1 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa
2 1/2 cups flour

Supposedly these should be sifted together, but I just stir it up with a whisk.
Now add

3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
2 cups grated zucchini

Mix and pour into your cake pan, 13x9 I guess.
Bake @ 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes and let cool before frosting with the following deliciousness:

1/4 Cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 oz. cream cheese
2 cups powdered sugar
as much cocoa needed for desired chocolatiness