Zucchini Gratin

From Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food

2T butter (I used a bit more as I had more squash and zucchini)
2 med zucchini (sliced crosswise 1/4″ thick)
2 med yellow squash (sliced crosswise 1/4″ thick)
2 minced shallots (only had onions, so I finely chopped 1 small onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
1/2c heavy cream (I’m pretty sure I used more, like 1 cup)
1c panko (only used 3/4c)
1/2c Parmesan (I used A LOT more!)

Preheat oven to 450. In a large skillet melt the butter over medium heat; add zucchini, yellow squash, shallots, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until zucchini and squash are crisp-tender, 4 to 6 minutes.

Add cream, and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2c panko and 1/4c Parmesan.

Spoon mixture int a shallow 2qt baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining panko and Parmesan; season with salt and pepper. Bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

It’s far from low fat, but if you want to see someone who doesn’t like zucchini gobble it up, then this is your recipe. Dave’s not a big fan of zuccini or summer squash, but this, he went back for seconds and thirds!

Served along side a nice salad with vinaigrette it’s not such a fattening meal.

We also love soba noodles. I’ve used different recipes, but this time I improvised. The farmer’s market had the most unbelievably beautiful snow peas (another veggie Dave is not fond of) so we got a basket and I added this to our soba. I love to put as many veggies as possible in anything we eat, especially now when there are so many good things to be had. My soba included baby carrots, snow peas and red peppers. Everything is washed, sliced and blanched then added to the noodles. The sauce is just a combination of peanut butter, tahini, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, ginger, sesame oil, and some water to thin it out. Once the noodles and veggies are cooked they need to be chilled. Toss everything together in a pot and serve with some sesame seeds sprinkled on top. MMM, MMM Good!!!

Now for dessert.

Cake! We made this 10 inch double layer yellow cake with fresh raspberry filling and mocha buttercream decorated with mint green vanilla buttercream. There were also coordinating cookies and a giant “50″ cookie topper. Dave and I delivered it to the Hawk Inn last night.

The cake looked great, but I always have visions of the cookies falling off, or the frosting just melting off of the cake. Luckily, or unluckily, we were a little late and managed to get the cake and cookies set up 10 minutes before the guests arrived, so there wasn’t too much time for my nightmares to be realized.

There’s really no rational reason that the cake would melt into a pile of mush, but it’s always a fear. Just like the fear of all my teeth just falling right out one after the other.

I still don’t have the watermark or “no right click” thing down, but I’ll be posting cookies tomorrow anyway. We can’t all live in fear of someone stealing pictures from the internet. (we can however fear cakes melting into mush and teeth falling out, right?)

We’re also going to be rolling out a new promotion for our cookie collections and favors soon, so check back for details.

I’m off to make the cupcakes……..

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