This is the one. This is the famous Betty Crocker zucchini bread recipe that everyone has been searching for. I’ve gotten comments on this post through the years and I can’t tell you how many people have told me that they used to have this recipe stored on some index card or in their mother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook, but somehow misplaced it or flat out lost it. Somehow, I got my hands on one of these old cookbooks and, every so often, have prepared this wonderful zucchini bread. It’s always come out perfectly. It’s actually quite challenging to screw up. Since the zucchini adds so much moisture to the cake, it never ends up dry. Harvest season is right around the corner and September is usually full of zucchinis, so grab a few and start peeling. The ingredients for this recipe are very common, so you shouldn’t have any trouble with that. Get baking and please let me know how everything goes. Does this bread remind you of the old days? From what I hear, no one has yet to beat Betty Crocker! Continue reading…
The Perfect Apple Bundt Cake Recipe
I’ve made a lot of cakes in my day and I think I’ve settled on this one being my favorite. That’s why I added perfect to the title. It really is perfect. And like I said in the first paragraph of this post, this bundt cake is sweet, moist, and simply delicious. It’s a fairly straightforward recipe as far as apple cakes go – there’s no fancy topping or anything like that. All that’s required are some apples, some sugar, cinnamon, flour (all the regular stuff), orange juice, eggs, and walnuts. I recently prepared this cake and since I had some dried dates on hand, I tossed a half cup of them in too. I think they added some additional flavor. Since apple season is right around the corner, I encourage you to visit your favorite orchard or grocery store to buy some apples. Then head back home and follow this recipe to make the perfect apple cake. I think you’ll be delighted. Continue reading…
Garlic Spread with Avocado, Tomato, & Mozzarella Sandwich Recipe by Paulette Mitchell
Have you ever eaten at a fancy restaurant that fed you tiny, but intensely delicious, portions? The average person would scoff at a tiny portion. I know I would. Or at least I used to. To me, the bigger, the better. I want my money’s worth. I’m a basic guy and I don’t like to pay a lot for my food. I just want to feel like my stomach is full. This type of thinking went on for years. Years – until I began learning about what actually goes into the preparation of those expensive dishes. Typically, it’s the exotic ingredients as well as the labor involved that costs so much. Anyone can throw a big fat steak on a grill. Not everyone can soft-boil a quail egg and perfect a twenty two ingredient sauce over five years. The garlic spread in this sandwich sort of reminds me of the latter – the sauce. Yes, I could have used regular mayo for this post. I didn’t though because I wanted to see how it was really done. If I wanted a fresh tasting garlic mayonnaise that would ultimately be used as a base for an insanely tasting spread, I knew I’d need to take all twelve ingredients involved and work my magic. The sandwich is simple enough; it’s basically bread, mozzarella cheese, avocado, and tomato. The goodness is in the sauce. Or the spread, in this case. The sandwich is simply the host. I beg you to try this recipe out. I promise you won’t regret it. Click through for full details. Continue reading…
Parmesan, Radicchio, & Chickpea Orzo Salad Recipe by Cook’s Country
If you’re into orzo salads like I am, you might want to check this one out. It’s a simple recipe that calls for only a handful of ingredients. To start, there’s orzo, which is used as the primary ingredient. Orzo, also known as risoni, is a form of short-cut pasta that’s shaped like a large grain of rice. It’s traditionally made from flour, but can also be made from whole grain. It’s often made with semolina, a type of flour made from durum wheat. Beyond the orzo, the recipe calls for olive oil and balsamic vinegar as the vinaigrette, Parmesan cheese, radicchio (a tender, slightly more bitter version of red cabbage), chickpeas, fresh parsley, and scallions. And that’s pretty much it. Cook the orzo according to the instructions in the recipe and then prep all the other ingredients, combine, and you’ll have yourself a straightforward, yet very delicious little meal. I always enjoy eating these types of salads because they’re fast and easy. And if I double up on the recipe, I’ll have lots of leftovers for later on. Click though to take a look. Continue reading…
The Art of Letter Writing
There are many guides that teach the proper form for writing a personal letter. There are even other articles and posts with the same name as this. I’ve read through a few of them and found them practical and purposeful. But they weren’t mine. When I first came up with the idea of posting about letter writing, I thought I’d merely write about the nostalgia of it all. And I suppose I did – at the beginning. The more I got into my writing though, I found myself wandering from place to place in the letter writing world, making discovery after discovery. This is what I love so much about blogging. I learn as I write and after I’m finished, I think I’m just a little bit different than when I began. Please read through this post. If you’ve never written a proper letter to a friend, family member, acquaintance, perhaps you’ll give it a thought. And if you’ve ever received a personal letter from someone, perhaps you’ll give some consideration to returning the favor. Why, you ask? Well, I tell you all about that in this post. Continue reading…
Fettuccine with Neapolitan Ragù Recipe by Gino D’Acampo
A ragù is a meat sauce that simmers for hours. The slow cook is intended to tenderize the meat to the point of falling apart on the fork. This is an entirely new concept to me, but one I recently tried and have fallen in love with. Leave it to the Italians – they certainly are the ones who know how to cook. After watching another episode of Gino’s Italian Escape with Gino D’Acampo, I decided to give his Fettuccini with Neapolitan Ragù recipe a try. The way he prepared it on the show made it look so appetizing. I gathered the necessary ingredients, followed his instructions, and was floored by the result. What an incredible dish. I have to tell you, for so little effort, I felt as if I were eating a gourmet meal. I can’t believe I’ve waited so long to try something like this. The meat was extremely tender and the other ingredients just melded together, for lack of a better description. If you enjoy Italian food and are looking for a dish that’ll satisfy you like nothing else can, I wholeheartedly recommend this one. Click through for the recipe and some photos. Continue reading…
Spaghetti alla Carbonara Recipe by Gino D’Acampo
Gino D’Acampo is a wonder with Italian cooking. During one of his more recent television shows, Gino explored Italy on a quest of education and food discovery. He found both and during each episode, Gino showed the world how beautiful the Italian coast and countryside can be and showed some of the finest foods the nation has to offer. A few of Gino’s recipes caught my eye. I’ll need to wait on some of the more in-depth dishes, but one straightforward dish stood out among the rest. One that I could prepare today – spaghetti alla carbonara. I’ve heard of carbonara, but I’ve never tasted it before. I actually didn’t even know what went into it, which is strange, considering how simple it is. Basically, pasta carbonara consists of some sort of salty pork, pasta, cheese, and eggs, among other ingredients. The pasta and pork is cooked and the eggs are beaten. Everything is combined so the eggs form a smooth sauce. It’s a wonderful dish really and one I wish I had discovered earlier in life. Since I watched the episode with Gino, I’ve used this recipe twice. And it’s only been a few weeks. If you’d like to learn more about spaghetti carbonara and would like to see how easy it is to prepare, click on through for the recipe and some photos. Continue reading…
Fruit Salad with Creamy Banana & Maple Syrup Dressing Recipe
This is an incredibly easy dessert to prepare and it’s perfect for summer nights. If you click through to look at the ingredient list, you’ll find that the salad includes pineapple, cantaloupe, melon, blackberries, strawberries, grapes, apple, and banana. And that’s just for the fruit side of things. The dressing consists of yogurt, honey or maple syrup, lemon juice, and nutmeg. So you see how this dish has some strong deliciousness potential. This is actually one of my favorite desserts of all time. Not only because it takes very little time to put together, but because it’s sweet and creamy. The yogurt/honey blend is out of this world. If you’re looking for a definite crowd pleaser, you really need to check out this recipe. Continue reading…
Zucchini, Toasted Pecans, & Parmesan Salad Recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty
This is an incredibly simple, yet wonderfully elegant salad to prepare tonight. Zucchini are nearly in season (depending on where you are) and every other ingredient this salad calls for is readily available. What’s more is that there are hardly any ingredients to begin with. The list includes pecans, squash, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, baby greens, and Parmesan cheese. The only cooking involved will be to grill the zucchini and toast the pecans. Everything else is done with no heat at all. And being one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes from his cookbook called Plenty, you know it’s going to be good. It’s actually very straightforward and that’s the beauty of it. If you’re looking for a tasty, but simple salad to impress friends, family, or a special someone, try this one out. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Click through for the recipe. Continue reading…
How to Use Your Camera’s Aperture Priority Mode
One of the first things new photographers want to learn how to do is to make the subjects of their photos sharp and the backgrounds (and/or foregrounds) blurry. This actually isn’t tough to do. Simply set the camera to auto and get real close to whatever it is that you’d like to be sharp. Then, take a picture. Because of the close proximity to the subject, the camera will automatically reduce its depth of field. Don’t know what depth of field is? This post will teach you about it. It’ll also teach about how to measure aperture, how to use aperture priority, what lens speed is, and how lens aperture size affects depth of field. Above, I mentioned that close proximity affects depth of field (sharp area of a photo). What also affects depth of field? Lens aperture size. Smaller apertures are great for deep depths of field and larger ones are great for shallow depths of field. Beyond all this, I also discuss the depth of field preview that’s available on many cameras and much, much more. If you’d like to learn more about aperture priority mode and how to manage it on your camera, click through to the post. Continue reading…