Last Hurrah

Zucchini still looks alright (relatively) at the grocery store, so I made a last hurrah zucchini bread in its honor. This version from seven spoons has a number of components, but I was impressed with how well they all work together. This is a chocolate olive oil zuchhini bread with chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. It uses no butter, wheat flour and heaping cups of zucchini, so I am dubbing it healthy. The verdict is still out.

I love quick breads because they are just as they sound -- incredibly quick and easy. I also can't believe we have had the Cuisinart for a few years and never used the grating blade. It.is.amazing. So much faster than grating by hand, although the spinning blade can be a bit terrifying.

This a very unappetizing picture, but it gives you a sense of how hearty and zucchini-y the bread is. 

If you are looking for a quick baked good that makes your house smell delicious this is a great option. They are tough to screw up and always disappear quickly.

Lesson Learned

Last year we learned the cold, hard truth about pumpkin beer in Chicago (rant seen here). The lesson learned is that pumpkin beer is available for a limited time only and not when you would expect; most everything is sold out by October. Well, this year we did not take any chances. We are fully stocked this October and I couldn't be more excited about it.

Can't wait for October! Best month of the year! Although, this will be rivaled by September 2012. More on that to come.

Apple Galette

Desserts get in my head in two different ways; first, they are amazing and I think about them a lot; second, they can own you and send you into a tailspin. Ian, fortunately and unfortunately, has witnessed me in both states. When asked to make a dessert for a get together I have a routine: frantically search through every baking book I own, scour the internet for more recipes and, finally, settle on a recipe that is part from a cookbook and part from the internet. This can at times lead to trouble, but in this instance it worked out great. Enter the apple galette.

The first idea was to make little apple tartlettes, then I thought I would make a pie, but instead ended up with a galette. They are rustic and with the fragrant apples this time of year it really felt like a special fall treat. I should give some credit to Ian for his willingness to chop all the apples (excellent work seen above). Cutting the apples is the most time consuming part, once that is done you just lay them in a ring in the center and fold the edges over and voila!

The recipe was from none other than Smitten Kitchen. She really gives the best instructions and lays it out for you in the simplest way. I used my favorite pie crust instead for this recipe from The Art & Soul of Baking and skipped the apple glaze she uses to finish it off. Also, it calls for five tablespoons of sugar to be sprinkled on the top. No. That is way too much and the apples were already plenty sweet. I used about two and I thought it was perfect. I think next time I would throw in some cinnamon or allspice to really make it feel warm and cozy. This was such a perfect welcome to fall dessert!