Zucchini Bread

I started my Monday by baking zucchini bread so that I could use the zucchini and my new raisins from the farmers market trip. The plump and chewy raisins from yesterday made all the difference in this recipe - they were the surprising standout. Who knew!

I added more zucchini and less sugar and oil to make this a feel-good and more wholesome zucchini bread. It seems the recipes for quick breads always call for too much sugar and too much oil or butter. I ended up halving the sugar and the oil, and adding sour cream to help compensate for less oil. I added a little kick with some ground ginger and crystalized ginger. Crystalized ginger is like candy; I may not have added enough of this in the end. Again, the raisins were the sweet surprise inside the bread. The color of the bread was a beautiful golden brown with lots of color from the green specks of zucchini and yellow and brown raisins.

The bread turned out delish, as Rachel Ray (Adrian's least fav personality) would say. I even delivered some to Adrian's office.

Here's my modified recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1 cups white sugar
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup crystallized ginger

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8x4 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil, sour cream or yogurt and sugar. Stir in zucchini, raisins and vanilla. Combine flour, cinnamon, ginger, soda, baking powder, and salt; stir into the egg mixture. Divide batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until done.

Sunday Farmers Market and Burgers

There is much irony in shopping for some community conscious eats at the Farmers Market and greasy burgers & fries the very next moment.

I started my Sunday at the Belmont farmer's market with my friend Elaine Chan (yes another Elaine) and her baby Ari. I got some incredible heirloom tomatoes, white nectarines, yellow peaches, mixed greens, sweet potatoes, and something I'd never bought at the farmer's market before: raisins.

The raisins were huge and plump, unlike anything you'd find in the grocery. I bought a bag of Raisin Medley, a mix of different grape varieties. The guy was super generous and threw in another bag of Golden red flame raisins for me to try. They were yummy and were great in the quinoa I made this eve. I'll also be using them in zucchini bread and oatmeal. I have never liked raisins by themselves, but I found myself snacking on them today and liking them.

For lunch, Adrian had a craving for a burger (which he mentioned yesterday), one of his 3 favorite foods. The other 2 being burritos and pizza.

We were at a neighbor's birthday party when someone overheard us talking about where to get a burger. We contemplated In and Out but the drive is a bit far to go to Millbrae, close to the airport. His favorite burger place is Jeffrey's in San Mateo. She told us about a place that is right down the street from us. Classic 101 Burgers & Shakes in Belmont. It's one of those places you drive past and ignore. We've been doing that for the last 4 yrs Adrian's lived here.

It looks like it was once a drive-in where the waitresses ould come out to your car. But this was a normal burger joint that was owned by Asians. Turns out the burgers are pretty good and their fries even better. Since Colin was crying in the car, we decided to grab it to go and eat at home. I had a mushroom burger, but I did not know it didn't come with cheese. I added the cheese and some tomatoes from the Farmer's Market, since they had some pathetic little pieces of tomato on theirs. So much for a no-fuss burger!

And so much for a health conscious lifestyle. The burgers we ate likely have a large carbon footprint that stamped out the vegetables & fruit from the farmers market. And don't share with me how the meat was processed. See Food, Inc. I didn't eat meat for a few weeks afterward, but then slipped back.

Finally, does my post-partum state excuse the burger/fries slip-up?

Pork tenderloin and sweet potato dinner

Made a quick dinner last night with some minimal prep work and no nonsense cooking.

Adrian said he really loved this meal which is not usual.

Pork Tenderloin

-Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

-Season pork tenderloin with sea salt, black pepper, cumin & herbes de provence.

-Score tenderloin.

-Insert chopped garlic in scored slots.

-Pan sear in canola oil for 10 min, browning each side.

-Place in oven for another 15 min at 400 degrees.

Sweet Potato & Apples

-Pre-heat oven to 375

-Chop up sweet potatoes, granny smith apples and carrots into cubes.

-Add brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

-Top with a few pieces of butter and sprinkle with some maple syrup, and half cup water to help soften.

-Bake at 375 for 45 min.

I served the pork with bulgar wheat, mixed with fresh parsley, red onion, tomato and cucumber and arugula.

dehors et de - out and about

Colin is now 7 weeks old. He stares intently into your eyes, smiles, and is starting to socialize.

His newest word is "Nu-uu-eew" with an emphasis on the "ewwww" sound at the end. He says it with many intonations and whatever he means when he says it, he really means it!

This week had a french theme to it so I will do a quick recap.

Lundi: Colin visited San Francisco for the first time with me. We went to Noe Valley, where mom used to live, and visited Oriana and Fred and their kids Isabella (3) and Axel (3 mos). The beach was foggy so we headed to Dolores Park where it was clear and sunny. Colin got to sunbath a bit. Afterward, a trip to Petit Collage

to buy some great prints on wood for Colin's nursery, then a glutinous trip to the mouth watering Tartine for some pastries to bring home: chocolat croissant, jambon & gruyere fromage croissant & a biscuit chocolat. yum. tartine is to die for. Even a few days later, the croissants were so flaky and buttery after warming them up in the toaster.

Mardi: went to the breastfeeding support group at Mills Peninsula hospital - a crowded group that day with some crying moms who I felt for who were dealing with many feeding challenges. The first months are extremely stressful for moms.

"Voici mon secret. Il est très simple:

on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux."

Here is my secret. It is very simple:

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.

- Antoine de Saint Exupery, Petit Prince

Mercedi: our friend Cathy who organized Colin's shower and was my old boss came over and brought over Petit Prince keepsakes, a bowl, spoon & fork set. Cathy will be featured in Hyphen, the only Asian American magazine in the U.S. The story will feature her work coaching Asian Americans and their cultural barriers in the workplace. Interesting.

Jeudi: we saw all my co-workers from Gilead at Town, a fun restaurant in San Carlos which was busy as ever despite the recession. Colin sat in his stroller for a while sleeping through the open kitchen cooking noises and constant buzz of the crowd. I had an excellent Ahi tuna salad and we all shared a banana split and bread pudding. Surprisingly good considering the dearth of good restaurants in this area.

Vendredi: went for our final stroll with our neighbor mimi and her son remy (3 mos) before mimi heads back to work on Mon :( They are going to France with remy's dad bernard in February. I am dreading the transition back to work as well, but I think I will definitely be ready for some intellectual stimulation by Nov 1st. Admittedly, I am already ready. we visited amy from work at the Sofitel hotel and sat out by the pool for a bit.