Recipes That Made My Mouth Water:

• Spanish Rice with Carne Asada by Katie at Fire Wife Katie. I think my family would enjoy this particular recipe and it seems like a great weeknight meal.
• Chicken Cordon Bleu at Nokademic. Again, I think my family would like this and it seems like another good “get dinner on the table now” weeknight meal.
• Chicken Paprikash by Elise at Simply Recipes. I kinda have a love of paprika, so this looks like something I’d love to try. I actually think my family makes something similar…
• Meyer Lemon Ricotta Pancakes by Joanne at Eats Well With Others. We’re making these this week. YUM!

Fire/EMS Blog Posts That I Particularly Enjoyed or Think You Should Read:

• Getting the Wives Together by Val at Fire Fighter Wife. I’m jealous, plain and simple, that fire wives get together at all. Ours don’t. And while I could, technically, spear-head that endeavor, I don’t really have time at this point in my life. So I like posts about other fire spouses getting together.
• Craig Birkholz: Army Sgt., Police Officer, Husband, Hero by Trina at Too Hot to Handle. Our thoughts are with the Birkholz family during their time of grief and mourning.

Photo Blog Posts that Inspired Me:

• Food Play by Rachel at A Southern Fairytale. I couldn’t decide whether to put this in the food or the photo category, so I flipped a coin and she landed her. It made me smile.
• What Windows Are For at Mortal Muses. Just beautiful.
• Among the Hummingbirds by Barbara at Among the Saguaros. I adore hummingbird photos (well, bird photos in general), so I just sat and smiled at these. I can’t wait until ours are back now that I have my 300mm lens!

Adoption Related Posts:

[New category.]

• The Boxcar Children Are Back at The Book Case. I chose to place this here than in a book post because of what the prequel to the Boxcar Children series will deal with:

  Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are kind to one another and embody the true sense of family. They are resourceful and positive. I find them both true children and true heroes at the same time. It occurs to me that perhaps their parents were the same. I’m looking forward to exploring that idea and more.

  Yes, the prequel tells us how the children ended up as orphans. I’ll be reading it.

• Book Review: Adopted: The Ultimate Teen Guide by Mandy at Four Against Two. She has important things to say about some of the faults of this book. (Note: It’s for the Adoption Reading Challenge!)
• It Takes a Triad & Thank You Transracialeyes.com by Diane at An-Ya. I don’t just share this post with you because she quoted me (though that’s cool!), but because it’s an important post for the triad.

  They say it takes a village to raise a child…and for an adoptive parent…

  It takes a triad.

  I’d just add that it really takes a triad for all members of said triad to find their place and their peace. The added link to her daughter’s post at transracialeyes.com is just a continuation of why it does take a triad. Please read both.

My Absolute Favorites of the Week:

• The Writing on the Back Door by Liz at This Full House. I don’t have teens or tweens yet, but this post hit me in some way.
• In the Family by Krys at Either Eat This Soup or Jump Out of This Window. Krys delves into what testing positive for BRCA does to her thoughts as she discusses the movie In the Family. I think this is an intensely important post on a topic that I don’t think we pay enough attention to.
• Super Hero Cuff Craft by Allison at No Time for Flash Cards. We know I’m not big on crafts, but we go through enough toilet paper in this house that we might as well make use of the rolls, no? Plus, with spring weather being weird, wonky and often rainy, a fun craft for my super heroes seems to be in order.
• The lighting of a fire* by Ivory at The Trivial Pursuit of Happiness. I’m kind of way jealous that she’s going the homeschooling route and we’re not, but this post is a beautiful tribute to the life I wish we could live. Kudos, friend.

Other than these two photos and a handful of Instagram snaps, I didn’t really take photos this week. I have yet to work on my Picture Inspiration assignment for the week. Here’s hoping I have a little more time to myself this week!

Weekly Favorites: March 27, 2011 is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Recipes That Made My Mouth Water:

• Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Casserole by Ree Drummond at The Pioneer Woman. Yes, we’re having this for dinner tonight. And yes, my mouth watered while sharing this recipe with you.
• Easy Homemade Pierogies by Sarah at Sarah’s Cucina Bella. I initially balked at that title: Easy homemade pierogies? NO SUCH THING. I love this idea though and may give them a try. As an aside, Sarah rocked my socks with recipes this week. Also check out her grilled cheese with bacon sandwich and tomato bisque for 12. Mmm.
• The McDonald’s Shamrock Shake Copycat Recipe by Kelsey at The Naptime Chef. I squealed when I saw this one. Burgh Baby probably won’t agree with my utter enthusiasm.

Fire/EMS Blog Posts That I Particularly Enjoyed or Think You Should Read:

• What Gives by Sarah at Scriberson 365. Just in case you wondered what it looks like when a fire spouse endures a 48 alone. My house definitely looked like this yesterday evening before I whipped it into shape before bed. Glad someone else in the fire family could be honest about it!
• Black Helmet Giveaway by Hydrantgirl. Black Helmet Apparel is the only company FireDad really likes for fire service t-shirts. Because they’re not corny. I swear I entered, even though it seems as though comments haven’t been approved yet. You should go enter. For me? Sure! Thanks!
• Several Videos of FDNY in Action This Past Week by Rhett at The Fire Critic. A post about the Newsworking channel on YouTube which features coverage of FDNY in action. I subscribed to the channel. You should too!

Photo Blog Posts that Inspired Me:

• Camp Shuttersisters at Shutter Sisters. Man. The amazing women behind Shutter Sisters, one of my favorite sites, are sponsoring a photography camp/getaway/awesome event. It’s being held in October in California. Registration opens soon, but I’m pretty sure I can’t swing two trips to California in one year. I’m sad, but I had to share it with my readers. Someone needs to go for me!
• Tamron Contest at MCP Actions. A Tamron lens giveaway. ‘Nuff said.
• Wild Free by Michelle Black at Light Traces. Another inspirational post with a beautiful photo. I didn’t include it just because she used a picture she took in our favorite vacation spot — Emerald Isle, NC — but that didn’t hurt.

My Absolute Favorites This Week:

• On the Women Who Don’t Survive Postpartum Depression by Katherine Stone at Postpartum Progress. Simply a must-read about PPD. I adore Katherine for all the work she does regarding the topic and fight, and this is one that needed to be written — and read.
• Letters to Miss Britt: How Do You Find the Time to Write on Multiple Blogs by Britt Reints at Mom Blog Magazine. I love how Britt puts multi-blogging in context. Sure, you may have just gotten some Amazing Gig, but if you ignore your own blog — your original platform — you’re missing out. Good perspective for myself and my other blogger/writer friends.
• Finding a Smile Underneath by Morningside Mom. I love her perspective in this post. There are lots of little things that are or go wrong during a day or week or any given period of time. But I like her point that things are basically good as well. Plus, Ani!
• Words Are Power by Texasebeth at My life, such as it is. Mmm. I’m on the flip side of this, but I have been learning — so much. Words have power, and even kids know it.
• Blast from the Past by Jamie at Grumbles and Grunts. I just found her blog and subscribed immediately. I swear it wasn’t just because on her “about” page she has a photo of herself with her nose pierced (like me). It was because of this post, about a Shel Silverstein book, her photography, she’s going to BlogHer ’11 and generally seems kinda awesome. Start here and explore her archives.

A Few of My Favorite Photos This Week:

LittleBrother needs a haircut. He wakes up with Green Day hair.

I still don’t know how this happens.

My friend’s son turned four. The Monster Cupcakes were a hit with my boys.

I also enjoyed both of the self-portraits (1, 2) that I took for Picture Inspiration this week. They’re both at my photoblog.

Hopefully this week is a good one. Last week was busy — and snowy — and I’m looking forward to warmer temperatures even if it does mean rain, rain and more rain. I’m telling you, spring isn’t far off. I mean, really, it’s about 22 days away. But sooner would be better. Right? Quite honestly, I’m ready to say goodbye to February. Funny how the shortest month of the year is quite honestly the worst.

Weekly Favorites: February 27, 2011 is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

These cupcakes were a hit tonight. I am not, however, good with the flipping icing piping bag. I may have cussed. Perhaps I need more practice, but I never, ever, ever want to do it again. What am I doing wrong?

All the same, these cupcakes are Martha Stewart cupcakes. And they are good. The recipe is on her website. I obviously left out the cinnamon and the all spice. I simply bumped up the nutmeg a bit.

Trick-or-treating went well this evening despite some tired kids and an ear infection. I’ll explain more about that tomorrow. For now, I’m going to eat another cupcake, hopefully leaving enough for coffee with friends in the morning.

Happy not-yet-Halloween!

Pumpkin Cupcakes on Not-Yet-Halloween is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Firehouse Food: Cooking with San Francisco’s Firefighters is a beautiful cookbook in itself. It’s 224 pages of amazing photography, outstanding recipes and a bit of humor here and there. The introduction is a surprisingly moving one as well. (Who cries when they read a cookbook introduction? Just me.)

The dedication of the book also speaks volumes about firefighters and cooking.

To San Fransisco’s firefighters,
who understand the sustaining power of a nice hot meal.

Ah. True.

I actually borrowed this from the library as it is currently unavailable on Amazon or Barnes and Noble (though used copies are selling anywhere from $47 to $120!). I didn’t want to give it back to the library. I really, really didn’t want to do it. I did. After I renewed it three times. It’s just that good. I know it’s because I’m a sucker for both good food and good photography, but really, doesn’t it seem like a perfect addition to our household? I was sad to see it go.

We made quite a few recipes from the book while we had it, including the one for Irish Soda Bread. In fact, FireDad was the one who made the soda bread which was his first attempt at baking something other than pre-made cookies. Quite honestly, the two of us could have sat and picked at that delicious concoction for hours. Carbs? Love em. Sweet carbs that aren’t overly sweet? Love ‘em.

The only complaint that we had about this particular book is due to the location of where these firefighters live juxtaposed with the location in which we live. San Fransisco firefighters have much easier access to a wide variety of fresh fish than we do here in land-locked central Ohio. A large number of the recipes called for various kinds of fish and seafood. While our family loves seafood, it’s not easy to come by even in our reliable local grocery store (unless it’s Lent). There’s no fish market here. As such, some of the recipes were not possible for us to consider, let alone make.

That aside, the cookbook had a wide variety of recipes that we’ve adapted and placed in our rotation. A few pasta recipes were actually great hits with my kids as well as one of the various chicken recipes. There are many great sides including some great Caesar salad options which are apparently the big thing with San Fransisco firefighters. Each house has their own recipe.

What makes this cookbook truly great is that while it was still being printed and sold, some of the proceeds were donated to the SFFD Surviving Family’s Fund. I wish I could have gotten a copy back then (originally printed in 2003).

When it boils down to it (pun intended), we loved this cookbook. I only wish that we could get our hands on it to have in our own cookbook library. If you happen to see two copies, pick one up for yourself and send us the other! (I did just learn that the book itself is available to view on Google books. Check it out!)

I’ll have another firefighter cookbook review in July! Stay tuned!

_
[Disclosure: Amazon link is through Amazon Affiliates but the book is no longer in print.]

Cookbook Review: Firehouse Food – Cooking with San Fransisco’s Firefighters is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

But I did manage to get some food shots. You see, BigBrother has been wanting to make pumpkin pie for weeks. But then we got the flu and it kind of fell by the wayside. With today being Thanksgiving, I figured we’d make a pumpkin pie together. Last night we got together in the kitchen, after I already had the crust made, rolled, fought with and placed in the pie pan, and made a pie together. Our pumpkin pie has no cinnamon (I’m allergic) and is actually a maple pumpkin pie.  BigBrother had a blast. Truth be told, so did I.

To prove that I was involved, FireDad snapped a picture. Thanks, hon!

He looks awfully smug, doesn’t he? So proud of himself! I’m proud of him, too.

Recipe is a variation on this Real Simple one, sans cinnamon due to my allergy and cloves due to my distaste for their very existence. Our maple syrup is Gramps’ homemade maple syrup so, of course, ours is better than any variation you will make. It is heavenly.

Somewhere in between the last two pictures I managed to spill the pie out of the crust and pan and onto the bottom of my oven. The spilling also caused the crust on that side to burn. Knowing that it would, I ran to the store and picked up some Reddi-Whip which I plan to use so that my Great-Grandmother doesn’t see my pie snafu. Also, I picked up wine on my quick outing. See?

The big bottle in the back is for today to share over dessert with my enormous family. The small bottle in front was for me to test last night (as my favorite brand wasn’t available in a big bottle). You know, just in case it wasn’t going to be good, I had to have a glass last night. I took one for the team. (Moscato is my favorite.)

Next week’s You Capture challenge is to tell a story. I have something in mind. We’ll see if I remember to do it or not!

–

Food (and wine) aside, I’m very thankful today, of all days, to be where I am, who I am and with those in my life. Our life may be busy and hectic at times but that in itself is a blessing. I am thankful for the three amazing men who live under this room. I am thankful for an amazing Munchkin and the people who love and care for her on a daily basis. I am thankful for my friends, both here in Ohio and back home in Pennsylvania, who bring sanity and laughs to my life. I am thankful for my blog friends who encourage, challenge and generally make my life awesome. I am thankful for so many, many things.

I hope that you are able to be thankful today as well!

Happy Thanksgiving from the FireFamily!

You Capture: Food (& Thanks) is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

The original recipe was going to be too hot for a four year old, a two year old and a man who sweats when he eats too much ketchup. We like spicy food in this house but we also like to be able to chew, swallow and enjoy our food. As such, this particular recipe offered some great and unique ingredients and we tweaked it just a bit.

Here’s what we used:

2 pounds ground beef
1 large white onions, finely chopped
2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
3/4 can beer (something with good flavor)
1 (15 ounce) cans spicy chili beans
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
1.5 tablespoons chili powder
Some shakes of red pepper flakes (to taste)

Simply brown your meat. Toss in the onions after your meat is browned and let them cook with the meat until clear(ish). Toss everything into your soup pot (use the big one, not the smaller one… trust me). Cook over low-medium heat for two to two and a half hours, stirring now and then. The amount of time it is cooking will cook out the alcohol so don’t freak out about the beer.

Voila! A very tasty chili with a little bit of a kick!

The results? LittleBrother loved it. (Of course, he loves chili of any kind because he loves him some beans.) FireDad liked it and only had minimal sweating going on. BigBrother isn’t a particular fan of chili but at it as well. I loved the heck out of it, claiming all leftovers for myself. Yes, this one gives leftovers for a family of four. It reheated very well. I want some more but now it’s all gone. Bummer. I do feel that both the Worcestershire sauce and the beer were the winning factors in this particular recipe. Prior to adding the Worcestershire, I thought it tasted rather bland despite the spices. I added that and, BAM! Then I added the beer and, DOUBLE BAM! So awesome. The result was a unique tasting chili with a mild afterburn that left me craving more!

As before, we are asking for submissions to our FireHouse Chili Series. Please leave a comment here with your tried-and-true chili recipe or one you’ve been wanting to make but have been to scared to try out. If we use your recipe, we will link to your blog/site. (Also feel free to use the contact form if you feel so inclined.) We have decided that we are going to be on an every-other-week schedule with our series so we’ll see you on December 5 with another great recipe!

The FireHouse Chili Series: Tangy, Spicy Beer Chili is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I’m so glad that we went with this recipe this week. In fact, I’m glad. FireDad was glad. LittleBrother was thrilled. BigBrother might not have been thrilled exactly but he ate it so this meal can be counted as a total FireFamily win! Before I get into the recipe of it all, let me tell you funny story. LittleBrother calls any big beans, like the kidney beans in this recipe, eggs. We allow them because he thinks they are fun to eat. Whatever works to get your kids to eat, right? The child is also infatuated with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, just as BigBrother was at this age. As such, he then said the the “hung-ee ca-piwwar” was “in there” and he ate the faux-egg, complete with the munching sound from The Very Hungry Caterpillar on DVD. So, we have cannibalistic hungry caterpillar on our hands. He was amused (and amusing). Here’s a picture of LittleBrother showing us that he did, in fact, eat the egg that contained The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Who knew supper time could be so amusing?

So, yes, this recipe is called The Perfect Football Chili. I’m changing the name to Simple, Perfect Chili. If you want to get more specific, you could go with Simple, Perfect Chili for a Cool Night in October That is Rainy and Otherwise Dreary and You Have Kids That Also Need To Eat Whatever You’re Cooking So It Can Neither Be Too Hot or Too Bland. So, of course, Simple, Perfect Chili works as well. It does have a small, afterburn zing, though not too much, so it would also be appropriate for a fire department cook off.

Here are the ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or turkey
1 chopped onion
16oz can of diced tomatoes
16 oz can of kidney beans
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 teaspoons chili powder, or to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon oregano
Pinch of Cumin, or to taste
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (2-3 shakes, or to taste)
Splash of red wine or beer, whichever you have on hand

We did use ground beef. For our “to taste” spices, we did 3.5 teaspoons of chili powder, slightly more than a pinch of Cumin and 3-4(ish) shakes of Crushed Red Pepper. Now, on to making the chili!

1. Brown your meat and onions. If you have a family like mine, chop your onions very small using a vegetable chopper or the like. This should also help them cook quickly. (Onions are cooked when they are clear.)

2. Add your spices (including your sugar). Stir.

3. Add your tomato paste, tomatoes and kidney beans. Do not drain the liquid out of either. Stir.

4. Cover and simmer for at least one hour. Chrystal let us know that simmering brings out the juices in everything so that, even if it looks dry as you’re covering it and thinking, “Uh, what?,” there will be enough after it has cooked in itself for an hour.

Voila! Serve however you like your chili best. The boys each had some cheese sprinkled on top while I also added a dollop of sour cream. Here’s a (very.close) shot of my bowl. I meant to take more pictures but smelling this glorious concoction for an hour made us all starving-mad. I forgot!

I will say that I didn’t read Chrystal’s note at the very end of her post until after I had everything simmering in the pot and rechecked the recipe. She said that she would double the recipe as they only had one bowl of leftovers when it was all said and done. Whoops. We had no leftovers (and I really wanted seconds) as there are four of us who ate everything in our bowls. And so, in the end, I agree: DOUBLE THIS RECIPE. If you’re cooking for a full shift at the fire department, consider tripling it. When it comes to spices and doubling, be sure to taste as you add more so that you don’t make something that is too hot for everyone to eat.

Some notes: this is a very thick chili using the recipe as it stands. That is, of course, how we prefer it in this house. Why? It makes it easy for LittleBrother, still mastering the fact that you simply can’t turn your spoon upside down and expect the food to make it to your mouth. I think it might have been less thick if I hadn’t, uhm, burned a little bit of this to the bottom of the pot. I thought I had the heat low enough as I was doing some work while it was simmering. Not quite low enough to not stir a few times here and there. So, if you want a more watery chili, be sure to keep stirring and not, uh, burn some.

We are definitely keeping this recipe in our chili arsenal. Go thank Chrystal for her lovely recipe and check out how she’s getting back to cooking after the birth of their adorable two month old son. (She’s way ahead of me. It took me a full year to get out of my cooking funk after LittleBrother was born!)

I already have a recipe for next week (in honor of Halloween and fall) but I do want/need recipes for the following week. Please leave your favorite chili recipes (or one you have wanted to try but are too scared to do so and therefore want to use my family as your chili-testing guinea pigs) as a comment to this post or utilize our contact form. Again, if we pick your recipe, we will link to your blog. Thank you all for participating and remember to tune in next weekend for a unique fall-themed chili recipe!

The FireHouse Chili Series: Simple, Perfect Chili is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Recently, while trying to find a recipe for a simple chili and becoming rather frustrated with the wide array of options, I began slow-cooking an idea in my head. I’ve been wanting to share recipes here on the blog as I’ve sort of come into my own as a cook in the past three years. But, at the same time, this isn’t a food blog and, even if I can make a good meal here or there, I definitely don’t qualify as a foodie. I was trying to figure out how to work recipes into our theme.

And then it hit me. The FireHouse Chili Series.

We’re going to be trying a new chili recipe each week/every other week, picturing it and reviewing it and posting it here on Saturday or Sunday. We’ll be trying all kinds of chili recipes. Hot. Not-so-hot. Turkey. Beef. Venison. Chicken. Bean. No bean. Vegetarian. Ones with random ingredients like baking chocolate (?). We’re going to keep this up for as long as the weather remains cool/cold enough for us to need a reason to warm up at supper time. Once the temperatures are consistently warm in late Spring, we’ll go on a chili hiatus.

This week we have nothing to offer you. But that’s okay. Why? I want your recipes. In fact, that’s my hope as this series continues: my readers, new and old, will share their favorite chili recipes with us. Anyone who shares a recipe that we end up creating will be linked in the result post and given full credit. (As such, if you got the recipe from another blogger or a cookbook, please credit appropriately.) If no one submits (boo), I’ll go about finding my own recipes (which I will, of course, credit appropriately). But I am hoping that your family has something to share with our family when it comes to chili recipes.

And so, please get to submitting! Either leave a comment on this initial post or use our contact form to submit your recipe. (Please submit by Wednesday, October 21st to be considered for the post to be published the weekend of October 23-24th.)

The FireHouse Chili Series: Begin! is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

When I developed my cinnamon allergy, my Dad started putting nutmeg in the old family Vanilla French Toast recipe instead of cinnamon. And, quite frankly, it tastes delicious. I forgot to take a picture of our meal and so here is a shot of the recipe itself (sans-mention of nutmeg), written by my Grandmother in the recipe book that she made me for my bridal shower.

Sliced white bread. (Of note: We use wheat.)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Generous sprinkling of nutmeg (my addition)

Beat the two eggs together with the cup of milk. Add in 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tbsp brown sugar and generous sprinkling of nutmeg and mix together. Dip bread slice into mixture, cover both sides and fry both sides on griddle. Serve hot with butter and Gramps’ homemade maple syrup. (Yeah, jealous of that one? I would be, too!)

Don’t over-do the nutmeg but put enough in for some added flavor. You’ll soon find how many shakes you need to make it taste just right. BigBrother can eat the heck out of my French Toast. Well, so can I. I’m sure Gramps’ homemade maple syrup doesn’t hurt either.

Tune in next Sunday for another Cinnamon Free recipe!

//

OH. You just came here to see who won the Heart of the Home: Notes from a Vineyard Kitchen cookbook by Susan Branch? Well, you’re in luck! Would you believe that we had 83 comments (and, thus, entrants)? Your stories about cooking-escapades-gone-awry made me feel better about “cooking” my zucchini bread for an hour with no heat. From burnt meals to uncooked meals on Thanksgiving and everything in between, I think we can all agree that even the best of us have been known to screw up a meal or two. Thanks so much for sharing!

Now, for the winner! I hopped over to Random.org, plugged in the numbers and our winning integer was 39! That means that Alice Hansen is the winner! Her winning comment was on par with a lot of your admitted experiences:

“I’ve for sure done that not turn the oven on thing. And also many turn the oven on at the wrong temperature things too!”

Well Alice, I hope you check the temperature on the oven while you’re making stuff out of your new cookbook! (I’m dropping you an e-mail right now but in case you don’t receive it, please contact me with your snail mail address. Thank you!)

Cinnamon Free Sunday: Vanilla & Nutmeg French Toast is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I’m going to be presenting you with a recipe that usually calls for cinnamon and I’m going to give you a few small changes to make it taste good. I’ve learned some tricks over the years. I’ve also learned that, dang it, some things still taste just fine without cinnamon so, dang it, leave it out!

Also, because I’m so witty and funny, I chose Sunday for this theme because… get it? Cinnamon starts with… “sin.” And so, it’s a “sin” free day. Oh, I’m j ust hilarious sometimes, no? I also tend to do a lot of cooking and baking on Sundays for family meals so it just plain old makes sense.

However, I baked yesterday. What did I bake? Zucchini bread! Zucchini is coming in season and I grabbed some at our local Farmer’s Market this past Friday. My first thought was, “Mmm, zucchini bread.” My second thought was, “Flippin’ cinnamon!” So, I improvised. This particular bread will be more “sweet” than “spicy” for you spice loving people. So, take that as your warning and jump into this delicious little recipe.

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup raisins

1. Grate your zucchini. I used the larger holes (as opposed to the smaller ones) on our grater. This took almost two smaller zucchini and so logic would tell you that one larger zucchini would yield two cups of grated zucchini. I’m sure this is hit or miss.

2. In a large bowl (no, really, use your largest bowl; I’ll tell you why in a minute), combine your sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Once mixed together, add in your grated zucchini and mix that all together, too.

3. In a separate bowl, but still somewhat large, sift together your flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground ginger.

4. Now here’s the reason that you have your smaller amount of stuff in your biggest bowl: slowly blend your dry ingredients into your wet zucchini mixture. See? Told you. I made this mistake when baking and had to pour things into yet another bowl. Don’t be like me.

5. Pour the mixture into two greased 8×5 bread pans. Or, if you don’t bake much bread and you only have one pan, pour half of the mixture into the bread pan and cover the remaining mixture so you can cook it second.

6. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour. Remove pan. Let cool for approximately ten minutes and then remove the zucchini bread from the pan and place bread out to cool. If you’re like me, wash out and dry the pan and pour the rest of the mixture into the pan, place it in the over and bake (WITH HEAT*) for an hour.

* = I managed to turn off the oven after I baked the first loaf but didn’t seem to notice so I baked the second loaf, without heat, for a full hour, only discovering my error when the timer went off and I went to remove my uncooked loaf of zucchini bread. Yes. I am that awesome.

Zucchini bread tastes great as a dessert or an addition to your breakfast. Put a little butter on it, heat it up and it’s a great little snack. It’s also a great way to get your kids to eat some vegetables. You know, plus loads of sugar so they’ll bounce off the wall. Some people also add various nuts but I only like nuts in banana bread so, no nuts for me. Do whatever you please.

Just don’t add the cinnamon!

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If you’re interested in baking and cooking, even with cinnamon, how would you like to win a free cookbook? I’m giving away a copy of Heart of the Home: Notes from a Vineyard Kitchen by Susan Branch. It has a bunch of fabulous recipes including one for Stuffed Zucchini. No cinnamon there! Leave a comment on this post telling me that you, too, have cooked something for an entire hour in an oven that wasn’t even on and you’ll be eligible to win! (Or, any comment will do!) The contest will close on Saturday, June 29 at 3:00pm. I will then draw a winner via Random.org and announce it on Sunday with our next installment of Cinnamon Free Sundays!

Cinnamon Free Sundays: Zucchini Bread (+Giveaway) is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.