A while ago, I heard someone describe themselves as not much of a cook, but they were one heck of a baker. Before this statement hit me in the face, I had always associated baking and cooking with one another- thats even with spending the passed 5 years in the food industry! To explain this lack of discernment, I blame my fantastic mom. There isn't one thing she's baked or cooked that didn't turn into something absolutely mouth watering! Therefore, if you can cook, you can bake. Well, the reason the statement at the beginning rang a bell with me is I don't feel like much of a cook, I cook because we gotta eat... but baking, baking is an art. All that time to get the taste and texture down to a science, then when it comes out the way it should have... Oh man, nothin' better.
On one of my more recent baking adventures I discovered, or rather, rediscovered zucchini bread. Ryan and I participate in a food co-op and one week we had 5 zucchini in our basket. In my world... theres a million things to do with zucchini, but do you really want 5 zucchinis worth of side dish? I think they sat in my fridge for almost two weeks just staring at me, begging to be turned into something worth while.
One of these days, I couldn't stand their little beady eyes on me anymore, so I got the idea for zucchini bread. I love a good cook book and the same old regular recipe as much as the next person, but I can't seem to leave well enough alone. I HAVE to change something about it to make it my own. I sat and found three recipes I liked and made up a combination for what i hoped would be a keeper. Last week was our food co-op and we got 7 tiny yellow zucchini, again, those little eyes... this is the second batch i whipped up and sure enough, its a keeper! A few miner changes on flour, but the rest came out beautifully, if i do say so myself.
* Side note: My cute nieces and nephew were over during this passed batch of Zucchini bread and they were smitten with this new treat. My nephew, Josh exclaimed "Aunty em, this is better than anything eva." (if you have ever heard me do my nephew Josh's voice, this will make more sense. If you haven't, just imagine pretty dang cute.)
