The Cat Days of Summer & Zucchini Bread

I haven't been doing very many art or baking projects lately. We just went through a hot spell where the cats and I weren't feeling really active. That's not unusual for the cats as they sleep all the time, anyway. Hot summer days are ideal for them - roasting themselves in a patch of sunlight seems to be a favorite activity. They also enjoy sleeping on cold days, too, of course but usually in someone's lap. I guess being a cat is pretty ideal, in general.

I've been reading a lot of books (Including Julie & Julia, which was okay but not my favorite because the author is, well, kind of a jerk)

So, it's mostly been too hot to bake. I did just finish grating a million zucchinis for freezing and made a batch of zucchini muffins from this recipe: www.allrecipes.com/Recipes/Moms-Zucchini-Bread/

I used 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of white flour and used yogurt instead of oil to make them a little healthier. I don't think all muffins or cakes should be tampered with that way but zucchini and carrot breads are already pretty heavy so the wheat flour and yogurt blend right in. It doesn't work for light and fluffy cakes, no matter what health nuts say. Don't do it! Just enjoy a smaller piece of cake.

Pumpkinpalooza Part 2 - Finally

Last weekend I finally found the time to make the Pumpkin Chocolate Covered Raisin Muffins (recipe here: http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/2007/09/03/a-rant-and-a-muffin/). The change that I made is using a total of 2 teaspoons of pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice instead of the individual spices. I really would have liked to have used ginger but I didn't have any. These are moist and keep for several days (I ate the last one on Thursday and it was pretty much as good as the one I had on Sunday). They don't rise very much so feel free to fill the muffin cups up pretty much to the top.