Recipes

Okay, this is a cop-out. I put the parsnip in a beef stew. But it was the best-cooked of all the root veggies I put in there! Very sweet and enjoyable.

This week I decided to tackle a vegetable that's always been an enemy of mine: the zucchini. And, unfortunately, I will admit that my chosen approach to it was a little bit of a cop-out. After browsing recipes for awhile, I didn't really find anything that appealed to me, so I decided to use some other veggies I had on hand to make zucchini-potato-corn pancakes. A little bit haphazard, a little bit weird, but they turned out decent. Here's a rough version of the recipe I devised:

• 1 medium zucchini
• 2 Idaho potatoes
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 Tblsp oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Grate the potatoes and zucchini. Heat up the corn. Combine all ingredients. Heat an oiled skillet to medium-high. Scoop the pancake batter onto the skillet by heaping tablespoonfuls. Flatten it out with a spatula. Cook on both sides until browned.

I put some apple slices on mine, since I didn't have any apple sauce. I have to say, these were not bad. I might not make them quite the same way if I made them again, but they were fairly tasty. The zucchini and the potato were both present, although the corn was a little distracting. They were a bit dense. If I made them again, I'd probably add an egg and some baking powder to fluff them up a little. They'd probably be a good side dish.

As for enhancing my appreciation for the zucchini, I don't know how much this accomplished. The zucchini wasn't quite the focus of the dish, and the pancakes might have just been a way for me to drown it out. I still have one zucchini left, so you might see a sequel to this in the coming few days.

I had mixed feelings about the resulting salad. The dressing was pretty good, and the salad as a whole was light and fresh, but the endive really didn't do much for me. It was very bitter, and the dressing wasn't strong enough to counteract or balance it out. The avocado was so mild in comparison that I barely noticed it. Bitterness is for sure my least favorite kind of flavor, which is probably part of the reason why I've never been crazy about vegetables. I probably will need to figure out some kind of reliable way to counteract it. Anyway, the endive has certainly not become my new favorite food. Guess I'll hope for better luck next week.

This past Thursday was marked by distinct anger and frustration as a stupid oversight on my behalf ruined my first attempt at making sourdough bread, an endeavor I had been working on for the past week, at least in that I had been nursing a home-made sourdough starter for several days. I recovered from my disappointment, however, and made a second attempt yesterday after I'd built the starter back up again. I think it turned out pretty well.

That's my starter there in the back, still bubblin' away. The two loaves look a little different in color because our oven is apparently as temperature-challenged as our range, and the first loaf got a little burned, so I turned the temperature down for the second one and it ended up a little pale. Still crusty and delicious, though! I wouldn't mind it if they had risen a little more vertically, but I seem to never have the patience to wait more than 2 hours or so on the second rising. Also still working on scoring successfully. I think I finally found one of Danielle's Cutco knives that's sharp enough for the job, but it doesn't accomplish much if the bread doesn't want to expand much.

In other news, we've been having a spell of unseasonably warm weather, a welcome change from what has so far been a frigid and snowy winter. I know it's just a tease, but my body is convinced that it's spring and filling me with spring happiness. Michigan is a cruel mistress.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream together

• 2 sticks butter
• 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 1/2 cups crunchy peanut butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat in

• 2 large eggs

In a separate bowl, sift together

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Stir flour mixture into butter mixture. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and space evenly onto baking sheets. Using a fork, flatten each ball, making a criss-cross pattern. Lightly sprinkle sugar on top. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Consume voraciously.