Zucchini Fritters

I couldn't quite find a recipe that worked for me on the web so I took a little bit from lots of recipes. These would probably be tastier if fried (what isn't really? I mean, you can improve oreos by deep-frying them and who woulda thought you could improve oreos?), but I cooked them in a non-stick pan to keep them as healthy as possible.

Zucchini Fritters

1 large zucchini, shredded (about a cup or a little more)
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
1 small onion, diced or 1/2 cup green onions
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 large eggs
1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
salt & pepper to taste

milk (optional)

Beat eggs lightly in a bowl. Add zucchini, carrot, onion, and basil. Add flour and mix until all the vegetable mixture is coated in flour. The mixture should form a ball that sticks together easily but isn't too wet. If too dry, add some milk. If too wet, add a little more flour. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Drop a tablespoon of mixture into skillet. Squish down to flatten and cook until browned.

I served mine with a peanut sauce (peanut butter + curry paste) and a plum sauce (plum jelly, soy sauce, red pepper flakes) for dipping.

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

I've really been wanting to make homemade ice cream this summer. Unfortunately, my ice cream maker is MIA. I can't figure out what the heck happened to it. In the meantime, I've borrowed my sister's machine so I can experiment while the weather is still warm (a pretty short time period in Minnesota).


I was looking around the Tastespotting website for some delicious ice cream recipes and stumbled upon one from this blog: http://www.cravingchronicles.com/. The recipe itself is adapted from David Lebovitz's ( http://www.davidlebovitz.com/) Then I modified it just a little bit more! I used regular cocoa powder because I didn't have dutch process and added chocolate syrup for extra chocolatey goodness. I also added some chocolate chips because you can never have too much chocolate and I wanted the chocolate and peanut butter flavors to be balanced. The result has a great creamy texture and is definitely as good (if not better) than any store brand.


Recipe:

2 cups half and half

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup Hershey's syrup

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (I used Jif) for mixture plus approx 1/4 cup for pb patties

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine first four ingredients and heat in a medium saucepan, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Once it begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until smooth. Refrigerate mixture until completely cooled. Meanwhile, make patties of peanut butter to add to ice cream. Cover a plate with plastic wrap, put small dabs of peanut butter on the plate and freeze. Make ice cream in machine according to directions. Remove the ice cream from the freezing bowl and add chocolate chips and frozen peanut butter patties. If ice cream is not firm enough, freeze for a couple hours before eating.

Fallout Art Fest This Saturday

Melanie and I will be selling our work at the Fallout Art Fest this weekend. It should be fun, and the weather looks like it will cooperate this time (fingers crossed). Stop by if you get a chance. The times are noon to 10pm and more info can be found on the website:

http://www.falloutminneapolis.com/

Strawberries!

We went strawberry picking last Friday at Lorence's Berry Farm in Northfield. They got a mention in the paper last week, but that isn't why we went to that particular farm. I've driven past that place millions of time on the way to visit my sister. So, I knew I wouldn't get lost, wondering around the countryside trying to find it.

Picking went surprisingly quickly. Two of us picked 14 1/2 pounds in about 45 minutes. They are very organized at Lorence's and had tons of ripe berries for the picking. I actually don't think these are the very best berries I've had, but they are far, far better than the berries found in the grocery store and cheaper, too. Plus, it is nice to see your food growing in a field instead of packaged in plastic :)

Above is a pic of half of our berries. I included the picture below because I thought the red and turquoise looked nice together. We ate some fresh and froze the rest.

Summer......

has definitely arrived! My mom picked the black raspberries pictured above at a secret location down by the Mississippi. They are delicious and no bigger than my fingertip. Some of these will be featured in a berry/rhubarb crisp (coming soon to a blog near you).

Everything is blooming. Here is a flower in my sister's yard from last weekend. I think it is called Indian Blanket?

Below is a picture of the Ladderball set we played with over the weekend (have you tried it yet? It's fun even if you have little to no skill).

The last picture is of a new-to-me boardgame called Kragmortha. Very silly and the rules are pretty straightforward.