New Recipe Thursday - Extra Special Zucchini Bread

The fabric in the photo will soon become my next apron.

Brrrr....! It's cold! We had our first official freeze of the season last night and it made it all the harder to climb out of a cozy bed, draped with flannel quilts, when the mercury was hovering in the high 20s. Seems as if its always colder here than in town - funny how a little bit of distance can make such a difference.

I'm thankful we don't have any trips on our agenda today, even though the day promises to be a busy one. Yesterday we had a full day in town. DS came back after 8 - he had spent his evening volunteering at the Republican Headquarters. I love that he's getting involved.

I started out this morning by trying out a new recipe for DH's breakfast.

Let me back up and confess that I am a recipe hoarder. I am one of those people who collects cooking magazines and ends up with large piles of 'I've got to try this' or 'this sounds wonderful' selections. Then they sit. Why? I don't know, maybe they get yummier with age? In any case, DD gives me a hard time about my collection of untested recipes.

In my defense, I do have a photo album -a very old, falling apart, thick and held together with packing and duct tape, photo album - that is home to all of our favorites. Everyone has strict instructions to grab it if we should ever have to evacuate in an emergency. It is nicely organized and I'm quite proud of the family favorites it contains, seeing as I couldn't cook a lick 20 years ago.

So yesterday I ran across a new recipe that looked promising and this morning I actually made it! It never made into the pile and DH gave it a thumbs up. I'm not sure how anyone can consume grilled jalapenos for breakfast, but he loved it. I snagged this recipe from the Pioneer Woman who is a pretty darn good cook! I like her cooking site and understand that she is in the process of publishing a cookbook. So anyway, her Cowboy Breakfast Sandwich gets a thumbs up around here. She's already shared it on her site so I won't repeat it here, but I do have a new recipe to share for Zucchini Bread.

Now don't turn up your nose like the kids did! Both of our kids despise zucchini. They didn't used to so I think it's just something they made up. I think I'm going to rename this Harvest Bread or something - I'll bet they'll eat it then! I love it and this time of year, this versitile vegetable seems to be in abundance. I'm planning a big garden for next year and you can bet it will include zucchini. I know, from past gardening years, that it is wild and unruly and multiplies exponentially. This recipe only requires 2 cups of grated zucchini which is about 1 zucchini so you won't exactly use up your excess, but every little bit helps!

Extra Special Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

2 C sugar

1 C vegetable oil

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 C chopped walnuts

2 C shredded zucchini

*Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 9x5", or 7 5x3", or 15 2x3" loaf pans.

*In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the cream cheese.

*In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinammon, salt, and nutmeg. On

low speed, gradually beat into the egg mixture.

*Fold in walnuts and zucchini. Evenly divide the batter between your pans. Bake the large pan for 60 minutes and the smaller ones for 30, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

DD just wandered into the kitchen and commented, "OK, I'll have to admit that it smells really good!" I imagine that DH will wander by sometime during the morning and devour them after he has slathered them with butter as well.

I'm trying another new recipe for dinner too - after I make some jam! It's doubtful I'll make much of a dent in my collection, but it's a start!