FLOUR

     We are having our last hurrah of summer here with temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s, even though the Autumnal Equinox was just yesterday.  I know it is not as hot as other places can be, but usually by this time we are on the way down the thermometer instead of going up.  I mean it's shorts and tank top weather again!  So as a way of bidding farewell to our warm and fun-filled days, I have made two baked items that include tropical fruit tastes and aromas.
     A friend shared a recipe with me this summer for Banana Oatmeal Cookies because she knew I am interested in gluten free recipes.  Now the recipe below is not totally GF because it does still contain regular rolled oats, but it does NOT have any flour.  Substituting GF oats for the regular oats would make this recipe GF very simply.  I like these cookies a lot.  I admit I questioned the consistency of the batter when I was stirring together the ingredients.  It seemed runny and I halfway thought the batter would spread too much on the cookie sheet.  However I was pleasantly surprised!  The oats began to toast and held their position as the cookies baked.  When cooled the cookies are a little fragile, but very scrumptious with the banana, toasted oat, brown sugar and raisin flavors.

BANANA OATMEAL COOKIES

1/2 cup packed brown sugar                                        4 cups uncooked oats (I added another 1/2 cup.)
3/4 cup oil                                                                    1/2 cup raisins
1 3/4 cup mashed banana (5-6)                                    1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon salt                                                           (I left out the walnuts.)


     Beat brown sugar and oil until blended.  Stir in bananas and salt.  Blend in oats.,  Stir in nuts and raisins.  Drop by teaspoon onto greased cookie sheet or use parchment paper.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Cool completely before removing from cookie sheet.
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Pina Colada Zucchini Bread

     I recently found the recipe for Pina Colada Zucchini Bread scribbled on a scrap of paper stuck inside one of my cookbooks.  I do that sometimes.  I was not sure I could find where it came from, but kept looking until I learned it is from Taste of Home magazine.  It was submitted to Taste of Home magazine, by Sharon Rydbom of Tipton, PA.  It was originally published by Taste of Home in 2009.  I gain absolutely nothing from telling others about it, except for the fact that I enjoy sharing information.


     I have come across several zucchini bread recipes over the years and am now glad to include this one in my collection.  This recipe makes more batter then most of my other recipes.  I wondered how much more it would make when I noticed there were 4 cups of flour involved.  I use small aluminum foil pans for quick breads and ended up filling six!  They all baked and rose to beautiful proportions in my oven.  When I took them out to cool, their fragrance from the three different extracts and the pineapple wafted out of my kitchen into other parts of the house.
     I chose to make a few adjustments as I proceeded through the recipe.  Sometimes any changes I make don't work, but this time they did.  To me that is a sign of a good recipe. (or luck!)
1. The amount of grated zucchini I had was not quite three cups, but was an adequate measure.
2.  I added the pineapple and then added  a couple of tablespoons of pineapple juice when I saw that the batter was dense.  It was then easier to stir.
3.  I used only one cup of oil and 1/2 cup applesauce as a personal preference.
4.  I cut the sugar to two cups, again a personal preference.  Next time I will consider adding half brown sugar and the other half white sugar.
5.  Lastly, I left out the nuts to please my family.

     Consider giving these tropical baked goods a try.  Let's say good-bye to summer with style!

PINA COLADA ZUCCHINI BREAD

4 cups flour                                                                  3 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder                                                     1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda                                                         4 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil                                                               1 tsp each coconut, rum and vanilla extracts
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained                                1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
3 cups grated zucchini


     Line the bottoms of three greased and floured 8x4-in. loaf pans with waxed paper and grease the paper; set aside.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.  In another bowl, whisk the eggs, oil and extracts.  Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fold in the zucchini, pineapple and walnuts.  Transfer to prepared pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 monutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.  Gently remove waxed paper.  Yield: 3 loaves (12 slices each).

& FLOWER

   I recently helped my daughter divide her five yucca trees into two separate containers.  Since receiving this planting last summer, the entire tree mass has grown over a foot tall.
   

      One can see from the top picture that it was definitely time to divide because of the roots having no more room to move.  I thought I might have to use a regular shovel to separate the trees, but a hand spade worked just fine.  Often I think I am hurting a plant when I have to apply force to separate growth through a plant's root system.

   
     However, once you do this a few times, you realize it has to be done.  The newly potted plants seem to revive themselves, as if to say "thanks."  Here they are still a little sad from the heat and the dividing procedure.  Now my daughter says they are still fighting the heat, but thriving.

   
     This is a spider lily.  I grew up seeing these bloom in September after my brother, sister, and I had returned to school for a few weeks.  This single beauty appeared recently in a flower bed belonging to a lady in my area and she was not sure what it was.  Seeing it makes me remember how one day there would be no spider lilies and the next day we would have a bed full of them in our yard.  They were somewhat of a surprise and I must say a welcome one.  Our area has surprise lilies that are pink, which I love, but I do miss these.

     Update:  This guy (or his brother, sister, cousin, etc.) was on my porch attached to my begonia plant a couple of months ago and has since crawled to this location.  He has taken up residence between two tall flowers on the east side of my porch wall and is just "hanging out."  I read about this Golden Silk Spider and learned they are found all over the world in warmer climates.  I don't ever remember having one in my garden.  The most interesting thing I have learned is related to what I have noticed.  It has what I think looks like a zipper worked into its web.  And...the entire web is redone every day.  That's a lot of work.

     "It takes all kinds," was one way my dad would occasionally describe different people.  I thought of his statement recently when a potential customer stopped at my table at a farmers' market where I am a vendor.  "I suppose all of this is made with sugar," she asked?  I responded with a yes.  She went on to say, "Sugar is about the worst thing we can put in our bodies.  If you just have to do this, I wish you would use something else!" She then walked away and I spent the next few minutes picking my jaw up off the ground.  I was not offended by her remarks.  To each his own, right?  But.....if I had been quicker, I would have told her that I have made quick breads with sugar substitutes before and had very little success in selling them.  Actually a few weeks later, the same woman stopped again, whereupon I took the opportunity to say that I did have -- that day -- two banana loaves that had been made with stevia.  She replied, "Okay."  She then said, "I don't see anything I want.  Thank you." Wondering again what just happened, suddenly I believed I knew.  No, I do not think I have to make every sale, but there was definitely more to this story.  Perhaps this woman didn't know about stevia.
     Stevia is a calorie-free sweetener that can be substituted for sugar using a one-to-one ratio. It is a natural substitute because it comes from the leaves of a plant and is related to some garden flowers like the chrysanthemum.  I purchase a brand of stevia from our local retail department store where I have also bought other sweetener types suitable for consumption by diabetics.
     As I have already stated, I have made quick breads before by making the switch to a sugar equivalent.    When I took them to farmers' markets and spoke of the use of a sweetener, I got comments like, "I don't like that stuff," or "I don't want that."  So for the sake of passing along information, I will report here about my baking banana bread this week.  I made four regular loaves, two with stevia, and two with stevia and a substitution of gluten-free flour for regular flour.  They were all made with the same recipe.  I chose to use stevia over another sugar substitute because I like knowing it is a natural replacement.

     In the photo at far left is Gluten-free Banana with stevia.  I included a gluten-free variety so anyone contemplating giving up gluten could see that they can still have baked goods.  Yay!!  With the use of stevia, the bread is slightly sweet.  The gluten-free flour gives it more of a grainy texture and the bread basically keeps the same "look" the batter had when you spooned it into your pan.  It does not puff and mound over the top like regular bread.  If you want your gluten-free finished product to appear similar to the regular loaf in the center, it is best to use a spatula to smooth out the top.  I did not do this so one could see how the dough pretty much stays exactly how it was before baking.  It did achieve a smidge of golden color while in the oven.
     In the center is a loaf of my regular banana bread using white sugar.  The only alteration I make to this recipe now is to use a scant cup (about 7/8) instead of a full cup of sugar.  Bananas are naturally sweet anyway, so an entire cup of sugar makes it too sweet!  This bread always browns nicely and rises in the oven making a rounded top.  It is the sweetest of the three loaves.
     At far right is Banana bread with just the exchange of stevia for sugar.  You can see when compared to the regular loaf in center, it does puff and mound over partially -- just not as much.  There are also more cracks in the stevia loaf and its color is slightly dark, but not as dark as the regular.  It still makes a tasty loaf though.
     So all I'm asking is please be open to different tastes.  Change can be a good thing!  Besides using sugar alternatives, I have substituted honey as a sweetener in my baking.  You could also use Agave syrup, Maple Syrup, and Molasses as well.  You might be pleasantly surprised at a new taste discovery!  Because you know, it does take all kinds.
    

     I was told this is a garden spider, although I have never had one attach itself to one of my potted plants that live on my porch for the summer.  Its web was very intricate, much prettier than I have seen.  A friend told me later that it was a Golden Silk spider that is nonpoisonous and spins beautiful webs.  I felt honored and continually learn something new every day! 

     The yellow round object attached to the branch in the photo at right is a quince.  I honestly had to remember what the shrub was first!  My gosh, I get so busy just trying to keep up with watering and seeing that things look healthy sometimes their names escape me!  But I did not know that a flowering quince would produce fruit.  And.....this is the first one that I have seen and it is the only one.  We have had this shrub 15 years.

     This purple beauty lives behind our daughter's house.  I am not familiar with its name, but it is a great attraction to butterflies that fly from wildflower to wildflower in that meadow.  What you are seeing is only its top half as I am guessing this shrub (?) is about five feet tall.  I wonder if the insect world thinks the end-of-summer flowers are some terrific banquet prepared for them.

     Morning Glories were one of my grandmother's favorite flowers.  She liked their trumpet shape and their varying colors.  Very early in the morning or in the late evening one could always find Grandma sitting in a lounge chair on her back screened-in porch.  There she would drink her coffee and look out on her morning glories climbing her fence.  They made her very happy.

     This yellow blooming stalk of flowers is a variety of goldenrod.  For years I was under the assumption that it was the cause of my late summer and early fall allergy problems.  However, I have learned differently.  Goldenrod blooms either in late summer or early fall, depending on where one lives, and as in this photo, is very noticeable.  But also blooming and releasing pollen at this time is ragweed, a very dull greenish-gray plant in comparison. So this appears to be a case of believing one to be the culprit because it stands out (goldenrod), and overlooking the real trouble maker (ragweed).  Apparently goldenrod has very little and is only pollinated by insects.  Its worst characteristic is that it spreads aggressively.  The car ride my family took many years ago when I was very young remains a vivid memory to me.  The temperatures were cooler and we traveled that day with the windows mostly down.  However pleasant it started out to be quickly changed when my dad started sneezing-----terrifically, to where each ah-choo almost drove us off the road!  My mom told us to roll up the windows to help him out, which was disappointing,  She said the tall yellow flowers were making him sneeze.  How I wish he were here to tell him what I have learned!