17-51: Three Palms Quick Bread tastes delicious, but took forever to end up making, since I never seemed to have bananas, dates, and coconut all at the same time. 🌴
If you like banana bread, this is a really good take on that. Plus, 3 palms instead of 1! Such a deal! 👍
I don’t know about you, but my grandma is not much of a baker. Or a cook. In fact, if it can’t be cooked in a microwave, she’s really not that interested. However, someone at Simply Delicious must have had a grandma who liked to bake, since they included 17-36: Grandma’s Spice Cake.
I suppose they called it Grandma’s Spice Cake because it’s “old-fashioned”. Regardless of if an actual grandma baked/created this, it’s actually pretty good.
The other recipe I cooked before I took an extended break (the first being 3-2: New England Clam Chowder) would be these Cheese Sticks. I think this was one of those “burn off leftover ingredients” recipes.
Think of these Cheese Sticks as kind of like big Cheetos. This recipe is Card #15 in Subgroup #5 (Eggs & Cheese), found in Book 1.
This one…was challenging. And it seemed so simple! 4-30: Cheese-Stuffed Potato Croquettes are essentially mozzarella sticks with a mashed potato/panko coating. These turned from a quick snack into a multi-day attempt.
Now, before I scare you off this recipe: it was 100% my fault it went south. I tried to improvise in several places, and it proved to be my downfall each time. Sometimes you can take liberties, and sometimes you can’t.
Here’s how you learn those lessons.
5-12: Deviled Eggs is somewhat different take on a pretty traditional dish. Deviled eggs are very commonplace in American cuisine, and there are varying reasons for the name.
Deviled eggs (to me) usually have mustard and mayo mixed with the yolks, and some paprika sprinkled on top. These eggs have NONE of those things (except the egg parts).
In 13-10: Zucchini Piccata, I had mentioned that I ended up with more zucchini than I could use in that recipe. Here’s what I did with the rest: I made 4-22: Zucchini Pancakes. I’ve made recipes similar to this before, but this one’s pretty standard.
These things are pretty good even if you’re not that into vegetables. Think of it as a healthier version of 4-17: Crispy Potato Pancakes.
If you still have any zucchini or tomatoes lying around from a late summer harvest, this is a great vegetarian recipe with which to use those up. 🍅
Also note the new background: my first entry from my new (hopefully somewhat permanent) kitchen. 🙂
I styled mine in more of a fried zucchini-appetizer way, but the casserole way works too.
An old favorite that I’d like to share with you today: 4-21: Herb-Roasted Potatoes. 🍃
These are essentially homemade oven fries, and they’re super easy to do. So easy, in fact, that I used to use these as one of my recipes for when I taught elementary & middle school kids to cook in an after-school program a few years ago. If a kindergartener can do it, you can too.
Here’s another dessert for you. Book 3, Group 3 (Desserts), Subgroup 17 (Baked Goods) gives us card #9: Brownies. I’ve made these a bazillion times, and they are a GREAT base for adding your own ingredients.
These are good, easy, and fast–the trifecta you’re never supposed to be able to achieve. I highly recommend them, and I keep this recipe on hand for whenever I want to make brownies. One big difference: these use actual chocolate, not cocoa powder. 🍫
I went on a cooking spree and made 4 recipes last night. 17-28: Pound Cake was the last of what I cooked, when we were scouring the house looking for a dessert. 🍰
Hey! This one has MY handwriting on it! I said it was good a few years ago, let’s see if it’s still good.
Spoiler alert: it was. 🙂