Steamed Pork Buns (Bao)

When I was in high school, I was fortunate to go on a three week long trip to China with my family. While my memory isn't perfect of the trip, one thing that stays fresh in my mind is the dim sum meal that we ate. Since then, my family has found a wonderful, authentic Chinese restaurant near my parents home (shout out to China Yuan in Tampa). They have a super delicious dim sum lunch that includes steamed roast pork buns. I'm not going to lie, I have not perfected the pork filling in mine, and so they are not the most delicious... yet.

Sweet Baby Bell Pepper Poppers

I couldn't help taking a bit out of this one!

I love the baby bell peppers that are popping up in grocery stores these days. They are so adorable and brightly colored! Our local store doesn't carry them all the time, but I tend to buy a bag when I do. I like to add bell pepper to scrambled eggs, sandwiches, and salads, but I'm never able to use a whole bell pepper before it goes limp and sad. The small ones are perfect!

Zucchini Fritters

It's zucchini time again! Over the weekend, Nathan and I seeded, shredded, bagged and froze what has to be 15lbs of zucchini. The frozen zucchini can be used in zucchini bread, fritters, soup, etc. I used some of the zucchini before we froze it to make fritters.

I attempted fritters once before, but I think that with my fear of frying, I sort of missed the mark. This batch was much better in large part due to my not being afraid of the hot oil. I also changed up the spice mixture so that they were more flavorful.

The first few that I made, I used WAY too much and ended up with big pancake sized fritters. The small size, about 2-3 inches across, were easier to flip and took less time to cook. They're also easier to eat as a finger food.

Orange Cranberry Vinaigrette Salad with Goat Cheese, Dried Cranberries, and Toasted Pecans

I wish I had an awesome name for this salad. Maybe a Madras Vinaigrette since it has cranberry and orange juices? Suggestions welcome...

Anywho... this is a delightful vinaigrette that I made mostly from memory. It's a salad that my mom makes sometimes and while the vinaigrette is pretty awesome, the toppings of the goat cheese, pecans, and dried cranberries sort of make it for me. It's the combination of flavors that makes it truly delicious. The creamy tangy goat cheese, crunchy buttery pecans, and the tart and chewy dried cranberries topping the crisp romaine dressed in a sweet and tart vinaigrette is nothing short of perfection. It's light and summery for a barbecue, but also pairs well with most fall foods.

I'm basically in love with it.

Peach Cupcakes with Ginger Peach Buttercream

Using leftovers to create something new and wonderful is an art form (in my humble opinion). With an ear of cooked corn, half a grilled chicken breast, half a can of refried beans, part of a block of mozzarella, and some flour tortillas, I can make you a delicious Mexican dinner. It's a way not to waste food and also to not be eating the same meal for a week just because it made a ton.

Last week I showed you a delicious recipe for ginger brandy peaches. Those peaches (and their delicious syrup) play a role in this weeks recipe: Ginger Peach Cupcakes. I admit that these weren't so much leftovers as they were something I forbade Nathan from eating because I knew I wanted to make them into cupcakes. But that's not the point! The point is that I used one food on this blog to make another and that deserves recognition and, dare I say, praise.

Ginger Brandied Peaches

Growing up, I was allergic to chocolate (and tomatoes). When people find this out, they react in one of two ways. 1. "I wish I was allergic, then I wouldn't eat so much!" or 2. "I would die". In reality, as with other allergies, I simply worked around it. I didn't miss chocolate (or tomatoes) because they weren't a part of my life. I discovered other foods that I liked that I could eat. My mom made carob-chip cookies and my brothers had to trade me all their non-chocolate Halloween candy for all of my chocolate candy.

Classic Zucchini Bread

This summer in our new home, Nathan planted a garden. From the garden we got a lot of zucchini. More zucchini than two people can reasonably eat. Some of the zucchini have gotten very large with the largest I'm guessing at about 7lbs. Now some people will tell you that once the zucchini get too big that you should just chuck them or put them in the compost or whatever. If it's a REALLY large zucchini (like our 7 pounder) you can always skin, seed and then use the zucchini. It freezes well and can be used later in soups or shredded in bread.

If it's large, but not too large, just shred the sucker and use it in some zucchini bread! If you don't like zucchini, still make zucchini bread because it's mostly delicious.