Ranaldi Way of Life

So I dont know about you, but my newest obsession in the kitchen is : BREAD.

I am a big carb fan and couldn’t handle any diet that involves cutting out carbs. Im sure I could succeed in losing weight if I tried it, but alas carbs are my friend.

Anyway, I’ve been experimenting with my bread machine but just the other day harvested some rather large zucchini from my “garden”. Despite the sad appearance of said garden, the zucchini/squash plants have thrived and flourished. What can I do with a giant zucchini??? Make zucchini bread of course!

Not only have I never made zucchini bread before but I’ve never eaten it either. I seem to make a lot of things that I dont know if Ill like, and in some cases don’t even ever end up trying it. Eric is usually my brave food tester…example: poached eggs, I never ate any of the various types that I made, he enjoyed them all. But they sure were fun to make!

Back to the bread – I opened my super old fashioned Betty Crocker Cook Book and found a simple recipe for zucchini bread:

3 cups shredded zucchini (2 to 3 medium)

1 2/3 cups sugar

2/3 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

4 eggs

3 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose or whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves/ nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup coarsely chopped nuts

1/2 cup raisins, if desired

I usually substitute Apple Sauce for the vegetable oil in my recipes, but it doesn’t really matter.  I also had a few pears sitting on my counter needing to be eaten… I got the crazy idea to cut the pears up as well and throw them in. It turned out wonderfully! You would never know the zucchini OR pear were in there but they still added a wonderful sweet flavor, well the zucchini wasnt sweet, but it was delicious either way.  I baked it just long enough that it was cooked all the way through and nothing crunched. (I ommitted the nuts because I dont like crunchy things in my bread)

• STEP 1: Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottoms only of 2 (8×4-inch) loaf pans or 1 (9×5-inch) loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray.
• STEP 2: In large bowl, stir zucchini, sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs until well mixed. Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts and raisins. Stir in nuts and raisins. Divide batter evenly between 8-inch pans or pour into 9-inch pan.
• STEP 3: Bake 8-inch loaves 50 to 60 minutes, 9-inch loaf 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on cooling rack 10 minutes.
• STEP 4: Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on cooling rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

A few days later I decided to experiment and use this same recipe for a banana bread and I threw in some diced apples as well. Again it turned out great! Next Zucchini I get I think Ill make another bread and throw in some shredded carrots! Such a great recipe to tweak and change to whatever you feel like throwing in!!

ENJOY!