Pick Your Flavor Zucchini Jam

Our absolutely favorite thing this year is Zucchini Jam. If anyone has ever gifted you with Christmas Jam or Strawberry Surprise Jam you might have already tried it and not even known.

See, it's made with zucchini and crushed pineapple. Then you add whatever flavor of Jello you like to stand in for the fruit. It's spectacular and such a chameleon. It tastes like the real thing... or better!

Here's how I make it. Most recipes I see on line use a ton more sugar (at least six cups) and much less lemon juice (as little as 2TBL) so I think the sweetness and tartness is a matter of taste. This jam is plenty sweet enough, IMHO. Also I've seen cook times vary all the way from three hours to ten minutes. This set of times has worked great for us. Please bear in mind that we live at 6050ft above sea level and I have no idea how that effects jam. I just know that this works. Awesomely!

Pick Your Flavor Zucchini Jam

Ingredients:

6 cups of grated Zucchini/Courgette (peel it if you don't like the skin to show. I love the skin bits, so pretty)
1/2 cup water
4 cups sugar
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice
1 (6 ounce) box raspberry Jell-O (you can use any flavor, strawberry is AMAZING!)
1 (2 ounce) box surejell fruit pectin  or equivalent - I currently use 6 TBL of a powdered pectin.


Directions:

1. Place nine clean glass  half-pint jars ( or 5 pint jars... or whatever you have on hand) with hot/boiling water in them on a cookie sheet in the oven at 200 degrees. Put the matching lids and rings in a pan with hot water on the stove at a simmer. Do this first as the cooking times really fly by and you want them to get good and hot!

(I usually put a dishtowel under the jars so they don't slide around. Forgot this time and it was tricky to get them in and out of the oven)

2. Bring 1/2 cup water and 6 cups of zucchini to a boil thel let simmer for 6 minutes.

3. Add the sugar, lemon juice, and pineapple (juice and all) and let boil for 6 minutes.

4. Mix in the Jello and boil 2 minutes.

5. Add Surejell and boil for 1 minute.

Bonus Step: I don't like texture at all. *shudder* So I use my immersion blender at this point to mulch up all the pineapple and zucchini bits. If you like 'fruit pieces' in your jam then it's great as is. I could never handle that so I blend it. The zucchini skin gives the impression of seeds, and is very pretty, but doesn't have any discernible presence in your mouth. Be sure to take appropriate safety measures when blending molten jam. Burns hurt.

Note: I added the jello and Sure-Jell, blended it and then boiled it. Sort of out of order but it seemed fine. Also I got some foam... this has never happened before so I skimmed it off.

6. Turn off heat and move pot to the counter where you'll be filling the jars (easier to clean than the stove). Take the jars out of the oven and carefully pour out the water.  Ladle jam into the hot jars. I leave some headroom - not sure the proper amount but I live 1/2 - 3/4 inch.

7. Wipe rims with a damp cloth, put lids and rings on to finger tight and then turn jars upside down for 5 minutes.

8. Flip them back over and keep an eye on them. Once the lids all 'pop' they're ready to store, it can take up to 24 hours. I usually refrigerate mine for a bit after a few hours so they gel up faster but I'm a little weird.

NOTE: this jam looks very runny, but after cools it sets up quite firm. I know how solid your jam is can be regional thing and/or a matter of personal preference. If you want it runnier I'd skip the Sure jell.

My dog loses his mind for a taste of jam and homemade bread.

Linked Up:

Tatertots and Jello

Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays

Skip to My Lou: Made by You Monday

My Sweet and Savory

Reform School Brownies

I'm sure you've heard of Slutty Brownies (or google it, there's a zillion hits) and the male counterpart, Man Whore Bars (which I made and will post about one of these days, I promise). They are very, very good and I don't begrudge them even a thimble full of the accolades they've received.

But, for me and my tastes, I think they tip toe over the line into overkill. So I decided to make my own version and am calling them Reform School Brownies. See, they still have terrible boundaries and make questionable choices but they're moving towards better behavior.

My husband said I am seriously unclear on the concept of reform school girls but I think he just has his mind in the gutter.

Anyhow...

So these reformed brownies are officially our house favorite and that's saying something as I bake so much no one would be surprised if a butter delivery truck showed up at our door on a daily basis. They are decadent and rich and indulgent but you don't need to flagellate yourself after having one.

The reform part is that they are made with zucchini and whole wheat flour (if you have it) but I promise that I won't tell if you don't. (That's what he said) And I've skipped the whole chocolate chip cookie, Reese Peanut Butter Cup portion of the dish.

To make things even more wonderful (and they were pretty wonderful already), this is a very simple one bowl recipe with no fancy ingredients - unless you consider Oreos exotic... and then I just don't know what to say.

And can I state the obvious for a second - some of you may be thinking, "but I don't have any zucchini (courgettes in the UK)." Zucchini isn't just for people with overflowing gardens or convenient farmers markets nearby. You can buy it in the produce section with other vegetables and it's super-cheap. Know it. Buy it. Love it.

Okay, let's get started!

Reform School Brownies

Ingredients

Cooking Spray
Oreos
2 C zucchini
1 C all-purpose flour
1 C whole wheat
1 C sugar
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 pinch baking powder
1/3 C cocoa powder
¼ C oil
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
½ C chocolate chips
About 1 cup of your choice of frosting. I make mine from scratch, recipe to follow

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray

Place down a layer of oreos, cutting some if needed.

Combine all ingredients

Note: I didn't feel like grinding wheat for whole wheat flour so I made it with all purpose. Works great, just a little less nutritious.

Realize that these brownies are Reform School Brownies, as in still working on it, so add in some chocolate chips. 

Much better!

Now this is the part that is a little disconcerting and sends me back to my recipe every single time as I'm ABSOLUTELY SURE that I missed the liquid ingredients. Yes, I get all shrill and yelly at this point. Because when you stir it together you get this:

Yeah, Nicole. Nice bowl of dry flour clinging to zucchini. Yum!

Just have a little faith and keep stirring. In moments it turns to this:

Still not decadent or appealing but it's definitely headed towards play doh consistency. Progress, right.

Promise me you'll do this step. Go grab a glass of water and drink it. Or make a cup of coffee. Just a quick minute. Do it. I'll be here when you get back.

Now stir again and VOILA! Brownie batter. The sodium in the salt and baking soda just needed a sec to work on the zucchini so it would release it's moisture.

Much better.

The best way to spread brownie batter over Oreos without disturbing them is to drop it in spoonfuls all over the top and then all you need to do is join them. Like this:

This is the sort of thing I had to figure out on my own when I first started baking and everything came out a big mess. So if it helps, Hooray! and, You're welcome.

Bake 35 minutes or until brownies are set.

Let them cool completely - you can do this in the fridge to speed up the cooling time.

Top with your favorite frosting.

I was torn between a vanilla frosting to echo the "stuff" in the Double Stuff Oreos I used, or a chocolate. Chocolate won. When making chocolate frosting always add a teeny bit of coffee, it boosts the chocolate flavor a ton, kind of like how salt improves sweetness in baked goods. (Thanks Ina Garten for this tip). Add even more coffee if you want mocha frosting. Which I almost always do.

You can use canned frosting or your favorite recipe. My recipe is very loose and 'to taste' but basically you take one stick of softened butter. Beat in one cup of icing sugar/confectioners sugar/powdered sugar (whatever you call it where you live). Add some milk/cream/ creamer (maybe 1-2 TBL), 1 tsp of vanilla (or capful),  1/3 Cup cocoa powder (for chocolate frosting) and one more cup of confectioners sugar. Beat until smooth. Add more sugar or milk to get desired consistency. At the liquids step you can melt one TBL of instant coffee in 1 TBL of hot water and add a bit to taste. Even if you don't do coffee, try it.  A few drops will improve the flavor dramatically.

Now stand back and accept the praise. Because there will be loads of thunderous applause when those you care about enough to share these with sink their teeth into the chocolatey goodness.

EDIT 9/30:
These are absolutely adorable when you make them with the Halloween Oreos that have orange filling.

Linked up with Tatertots and Jello

Valentine's Popcorn Crunch Treat

This is SO good. Like make it tonight, good. 

I decided to make this instead of the usual Valentine's Day candy and baking and my kids all said we need to make this a tradition - high praise indeed.

The recipe is an adaptation of Cupid Crunch by Plain Chicken. That recipe looked AMAZING but way too sweet for our families taste. This is more savory and less intense.

Valentine's Popcorn Crunch Treat

1 (24 oz) package vanilla Almond Bark 

3 bags of  microwave popcorn, popped (We used Pop Secret Butter and it was AWESOME. I don't think this would work very well with regular air popped popcorn)

1 1/2- 2 cups cups Pretzels

1 1/2 cup dry roasted, salted peanuts

1 1/2 cups M&Ms (Valentine colors) I used most of a large bag.

Pop popcorn and place in a (very) large bowl. Be careful of kernels, you don't want to break your teeth. I avoided kernels by transferring the popcorn a handful at a time (claw style) so any kernels would fall to the bottom and not end up in the food.

  Pour peanuts, pretzels, and M&Ms on top.

Chop up almond bark. Melt. Pour over popcorn mixture. Stir until everything is well coated.

 Spread out onto waxed paper covered baking sheets (or your counter). Let sit until completely dry and then break up into clumps.

Seriously, make this. It's so good! It also makes great little gifts packaged up in a cellophane bag.

And if you like yours more candy and less crunch be sure to check out the original recipe. 

Dribs and Drabs

I thought I'd write a little of this, a little of that post.

My diet: is going well. I was wondering if I had the balls to put REAL numbers on my pictures but I decided it's a disservice to women everywhere not to. Seriously! I'm tired of seeing articles saying gorgeous, tall, big-boned, boob & booty-ful celebrities are 125 lbs. It's just not true.

(I had said a whole paragraph of other things but realized it may not have been read with the level of kindness and humor intended. No body snark here so I deleted... but let's just leave it at that I have LOTS of opinions.)

Anyhoo... My goal is 136. *sigh* Still a long ways to go.

Health: Sucks. And that's all I have to say about that.

Kids: Wow! Am I one blessed mama or what? My eldest knew I was going through a rough patch so he arranged for me to go back to David Estes Studio to pick up the painting I wanted so desperately. He bought me a painting!!! I can hardly believe his generosity. That was close to a whole month's tutoring wages. He's such a kind, lovable kid and his level of consideration puts me to shame. How he managed to think up (and execute) the perfect gift just blows me away.

 

Sorry the pictures aren't fantastic. It's in a stairway and I was trying to block the bright sun with my body while taking the picture at an angle without glare. No small task :-)

My Etsy: Has been thriving. I am happily swamped with custom orders and my originals and prints are flying out the door to homes all over the world. I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming and completely unexpected response to my work. A thousand times thank you! My latest print in the shop is this one:

Buy it here

Food: I'm in love with this chili recipe. Seriously. In Love.

And we've made every zucchini dish known to man lately as I've finally - after 39 years - managed to keep a plant alive. These zucchini tots are delicious!

Also made:

The dish that everyone insist it's incredible yet no one eats it. Hmmm.

Fire- roasted salsa. I can't make this fast enough, my family eats jars of it every week. I'd call that a good problem :)

Thanks for the visit!

Warmly, Nicole