Susan's Zucchini-Key Lime Cobbler

You know how through the internet, you get a chance to connect with people with similar interests, people who you'd probably be best buddies with in real life but who live so far away you'd doubtless never even get to meet if it weren't for web sites and blogs?

That's why I was so excited to discover the site of Susan R. Blaske Williams, a kindred spirit who lives way across the country from me and who publishes Making It Home Magazine: Encouragement for Women with a Heart for Home. A mom of four children and grandma of three, Susan loves to offer support to women in all their roles as moms, wives, homemakers, and grandmas.

She's also written a book, a basic training manual for women who're turning their attention toward home. It's called Making It Home, and I'll be giving away a copy in my first book giveaway ever (yay!) later this week. So stay tuned.

In the meantime, here is Susan's recipe for Zucchini-Key Lime Cobbler. It's not only a great use for those gobs of summer squash that may be overrunning your back yard, but also, says Susan, it tastes "better than apple pie."

You can't beat that.

Here, in Susan's own words, are the instructions:

ZUCCHINI-KEY LIME COBBLER

One year, we were blessed not only with a surplus of zucchini from our own garden, but sacks of even more from friends and neighbors who wanted to share their zucchini blessings. Within a matter of days, I found myself elbow-deep in piles of the happy green squash gathering on my kitchen island. It had indeed been a banner year for zucchini -- most of the specimens on the countertop were nearing the size of footballs. I needed to get to work.

Each year, when the harvest was not as plentiful, I would take a dozen or so zucchini and make several squash casseroles and store them in the freezer to enjoy over the winter -- or make a few stir fry dishes using fresh zucchini. This particular year,we were in zucchini heaven, and it was time to get creative. What more could I do with all of this zucchini?

Digging through some old cookbooks, I was surprised to come upon some zucchini dessert recipes. Zucchini for dessert? Hmmm. Let's give it a try.

I chose a recipe which called for lemon juice, but since I did not have any available, I substituted key lime juice. The recipe I am including here has key lime juice listed in the ingredients, but you may also use lemon juice. The key lime juice gives it a bit of a tangier flavor, whereas the lemon juice version is a bit more subdued.

The recipe uses quite a few zucchini -- which was a blessing since it helped to reduce the pile in one fell swoop. And, to our complete surprise and amazement, the zucchini dessert tasted better than apple pie! My guess is that the zucchini absorbs the flavor of the key lime or lemon juice, and it becomes tart much like a Granny Smith apple. Perfect for a pie-like dessert.

I renamed the dessert as cobbler because it didn't quite look like a pie -- or anything readily identifiable. A cobbler seemed to cover the description. You may call it whatever you like -- and you might want to leave "zucchini" out of the title just to surprise people when you tell them the actual ingredients. Few will ever guess -- it's that good!

Crust:

4 c. flour

2 c. sugar

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

1-1/2 c. (3 sticks) cold butter

Filling:

8-10 medium peeled, seeded, and cubed zucchini

2/3 c. key lime juice (or lemon juice)

1 c. sugar

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

Place all filling ingredients in medium saucepan. Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer; cook until zucchini are tender (about 10-15 minutes).

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare crust ingredients by mixing flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Take the cold butter and cut it into the flour mixture. (Butter can be softened slightly by placing it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.) Mixture should be crumbly.

Take approx. 1-1/2 c. of the crust mixture and press it into the bottom of a greased 9- x 13-inch pan. Bake for 12 minutes.

After bottom crust is done baking, pour filling mixture over it. Crumble remaining crust mixture over the top of the filling. Bake for 40 more minutes.

Makes approx. 20 servings.

Submitted by Susan R. Blaske Williams, editor/publisher of "Making It Home"Publications -- http://www.makingithomewebzine.com/.

Summertime Tomatoes

Beautiful.

I feel a batch of Laurie's Roasted Tomato Soup coming on.

Chocolate-Dipped Cherries

I already knew chocolate-dipped strawberries were a fine idea.

But chocolate-dipped cherries?

Also very fine. Cherries on sale at Nob Hill. Go get some and start dipping.

Heavenly Peach Jam Omelet

Oh how I love this omelet.
It's made of the simplest ingredients -- a tablespoon of butter, two eggs, a dash of salt, two tablespoons of jam and a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
This is one of those dishes that is more than the sum of its parts.
You can whip it up in just minutes, for a quick lunch, supper, snack, or even breakfast.
Yum.
The recipe comes from a fun little book I'm growing to love, Country Egg, City Egg by Gayle Pirie and John Clark. The authors use apricot jam, by the way. But I used some peach jam that was just crying out to be eaten. I'll bet any jam would be delicious.

PEACH JAM OMELET
1 T. butter (I used salted; the authors use unsalted)
2 eggs
dash salt
2 T. peach jam
dash or two of powdered sugar


Over medium-high heat, melt butter in small skillet until frothy but not browned.
Whip together eggs in a separate bowl, and add a touch of salt.

With heat still on medium-high, pour eggs into skillet. Use wooden spoon to pull in the edges of the omelet several times so the runny middle part can slip out to the edges of the pan and cook. This helps the center of the eggs stay soft and creamy.

Remove from heat. Put jam in middle of eggs and roll in the top third of omelet, and continue rolling. Place omelet on plate and dust with powdered sugar.

Eat, and commence purring.

Lori's Sweet Freezer Pickles

First off, lest I give the wrong impression, I am not the gardener in the family. That would be Kahuna. I am merely the fortunate party who is married to a worker bee who loves to plant gardens and grow flowers and generally toil in the yard.

Meanwhile, I get to read a lot.

We make a good team.

That said, I do spring into action when the Kahuna starts growing cucumbers the size of small clubs.

Those on top are Japanese cucumbers. On the bottom are lemon cucumbers. (At least I think that's what they are.)

There certainly are a lot of the little suckers.

This is my hand, springing into action.

See me spring?

When it's time to get to work, I know I can count on Lori at A Frugally Old-Fashioned Homemaker for tried and true recipes. Which is why I was so excited to find her recipe for freezer pickles. No need to pull out the big old canning vat. You just slice up an onion and some cucumbers (I used my food processor for that part). You salt them and let them sit in a bowl for two hours. You heat up some white vinegar and sugar until the sugar is dissolved and pour over the whole cucumber mixture. And there you have it.

Jars of pickles to go into your freezer, ready to be pulled out any time you want to bask in that feeling of being industrious. There are three batches here. I am basking.

Just Say No

Cucumber soup.

No, no, no no no no.

Basil Vinegar Investigation

Experimenting over here with basil vinegar.

Put several sprigs in a jar and cover with warm malt vinegar. Wait a couple weeks and see how she turns out.

I shall keep you posted.