Tag Archives: Black

Zucchini Heaven

Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze Recipe by David Lebovitz adapted from Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma.

Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze photo PBH

And of course, I made some changes too. Adapting David Lebovitz’ recipe, I changed the nuts to Black Walnuts, a sustainable product grown in Cape Girardeau, Missouri USA.

  • Replace: 1 cup (135 g) almonds, pecans, or walnuts, with ½ cup of Black Walnuts.
  • Reduce: vanilla extract by half. Use only 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  • Add: zest of 1 lemon. Stir zest into the cake batter with grated zucchini.

I won’t rewrite the recipe here. Davids recipe is well written and beautifully explained. His blog is fabulous. Go To: Zucchini Cake with Crunchy Lemon Glaze While this cake is baking, check out his website. (Key Words: Chocolate, Paris, need I say more?)

My version of the Crunchy Lemon Glaze:

  • Juice of 1 freshly squeezed lemon
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (140 g) powdered (confectioner’s) sugar (start with ¾ cup, add more powdered sugar if desired.) I think any fresh squeezed citrus juice and zest would be good.

More zucchini Recipes

Speedy Zucchini
1 cooler or ice chest
1 floppy garden hat
1 pair of big dark sunglasses

Directions:
Fill the cooler with zucchini. Drive around till you find an unattended pickup. Put the zucchini in the truck bed. Or, if it is too heavy to lift, check to see if the passenger door is unlocked. Check to see if there is a dog in the cab. (actually do this before you open the passenger door.) Quickly leave the scene, but not so fast as to call attention to the back seat full of coolers.

Or, wrap the big zucchini in swaddling clothes, leave it at the door step of a church (not yours – someone might recognize you.) or a hospital or day care. Run. Hide. You may want to stick around and watch this.

Revisit Black Walnuts
This native tree is grown by Martin Walnut Tree Farm this will change your mind about Black Walnuts. These nuts are mild flavored. Not the over powering flavor of days gone by. Call 573-243-3210 (ask for Mike) .

Buy very mild flavored black walnuts at the Jackson and Cape Farmers Markets-Tuesday night in Jackson and Thursday afternoon in Cape. Or buy walnuts by calling Mike at 573-450-6701. Email mike@martinwalnuttreefarm.com to have the walnuts shipped.

These new black walnuts are a developing market, so these are really bargain prices. When word gets out, I am sure the price will increase. Buy some, keep them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.

Cost: The cost is $5.00 for an 8 oz. bag, $10.00 for a 1 Lb. bag (plus shipping if needed.)

If you want to invest in your children’s future, Mike sells these amazing walnut trees.

Carbon tomato: big, juicy, rich flavor

Getting close to tomato taste test party time.

I was speechless when I discovered two of my first ready-to-pick tomatoes had been ravaged by a squirrel. It’s too painful to show you the gruesome sight of half eaten black tomatoes, so they are burried in the compost pile now.

I am on the verge of Tomato Abundance. I know it is time to pick the tomatoes because this morning a squirrel ate the very tomatoes I intended to pick today. These big black tomatoes are Carbon tomatoes.

I admit to holding off for another day because usually, the first tomato that I pick every year should have waited one more day to achieve sun ripened perfection.

As soon as I started grousing to cousin Bob about these darned tomato eating squirrels, he shot back this email:

“SHOOT THE SQUIRRELS AND HAVE SQUIRREL AN DUMPLINGS.”


Just my bad luck that I traded in my squirrel gun for an elephant gun this week at Bass Pro in Springfield. (
Bass Pro really does have elephant guns – I’ve seen them. But they don’t take trade-ins) Admittedly, there is a very short safari season here in the swamps of Southeast Missouri. But, I digress.

Tomato Stuffed Squirrel may even be a healthy dish. Well, for me, not the squirrel. The squirrels around here have a healthy vegetarian, organic diet. This diet keeps the squirrels fit enough to outrun me. I tried not to cuss a blue streak in the garden since the tomatoes are already blushing.

Carbon tomato won a taste test of 10 heirloom tomato varieties at Cornell Research Farm. Black/Purple tomatoes are becoming more popular for the home gardener and at the farmers market. Every year I try a different black variety. The Carbon tomato is out producing last years Cherokee Purple in quantity and size of fruit.

This is one of the heirloom tomato plants from Abundant Acres. Since they grow more than 325 heirloom plant varieties, I’ll be writing to them requesting information on squirrel resistant tomatoes.

I also bought seed from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

 

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