Safe Return and Huge Welcome Back ‘tie Edith

By: Sarah

 

Social Distancing and Air Hug” greetings my wonderful Readers! I know. I’m with you. We are getting tired of this. We are over it, we are so over it and really, be all over it. Well, Fun Baking and Cooking continues even with Covid restrictions again, no holding off, no off-limits at all.

We (with Glenn) had such an exciting short trip to LA last month. We found cheap flights via MKE (Milwaukee airport) to Burbank, California with connecting flights. We didn’t mind the stop overs to Phoenix and Dallas. No hassles, check-ins were a breeze and no long lines in airport car rental. We flew a day ahead of my dear Auntie Edith who got stuck in the Philippines for 2 years because of the pandemic. With lots of prayers, she survived being held up at Manila International airport and some more delays at the Arrival Immigration and Customs counter. From Iloilo to Manila to LA — some 9,000 miles, ‘tie Edith really deserves a big welcome back. She survived the ECQ (Enhanced Community Quarantine), being ordered to stay at home (back to lungga). The next 2 days were all food trips and shopping mall visits, and why not!

Ok, I was both surprised and disappointed with our choices of eateries and restaurants. No names. Consider a turo-turo style Filipino restaurant with bakeshop (selling empanada and hopia) inside a car wash, oh yes. No menu prices (guess prices change everyday), you order food and just pay the bill, huh! We tried picadillo (usually made with ground beef, potatoes, carrots and raisins) — no raisins, no flavor, disappointed. A popular breakfast place on a Sunday offered a thick menu with pages of variations of pancakes, french toast, waffles. We opted the usual coffee, 2 eggs and corned beef hash (you guessed what I had to comment — no gusto, disappointed) and was in utter disbelief of $75 bill. Googled Filipino restaurants nearby and found a very famous restaurant serving Kare-Kare. Big bowl of Kare-Kare please, but no tuwalya/libro or tripe please, sure was the response by the handsome smiling Filipino waiter. Wow, hot Kare-kare served with loads of oxtail. Was I disappointed, yes in my high pitch voice — no familiar flavors of peanut butter/ground peanuts and it was more of a soup than a stew, really. I have to say this. We are really spoiled here in Illinois; restaurant/eateries-ordered Filipino foods are far better here than in LA.

A good friend gave another welcome surprise to ‘tie Edith when we got back. Freshly-picked mega zucchini. Not a fan of zoodles (zucchini noodles), zucchini to me is simply reserved for zucchini breads. I tried many zucchini bread recipes over the years. But my ‘tie Edith’ easy recipe is always my favorite. I made some additions, of course, I wanted my zucchini bread to be more cake-like and loaded with sweet things such as chocolate chips and raisins. And I am sharing this best ever moist Zucchini Bread recipe with you — not overly sweet, and excellent served with coffee for breakfast, snack or after dinner. Make multiple batches and keep them in the freezer. Go ahead and bake in muffin tins or mini loaves for giveaways.

TIps: Use safely a box grater. No need to peel the zucchinis, leave the green skins on. Don’t squeeze the moisture from the grated zucchini, but just grate over pieces of paper towel; measure and dump the zucchini straight into the mixing bowl. Don’t overmix. Completely cool before slicing.

Auntie Edith’s Zucchini Bread
(I doubled the recipe!)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 stick of unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup canola/corn oil
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups finely grated unpeeled zucchini
1/2 cup toased walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips/morsels
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and line muffin tins/mini loaf pans with paper liners.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon 2 times; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs in a until light and foamy. Add the sugars, oil, vanilla and lemon juice. Blend well with a wire whisk or electric mixer. Mix in the sifted flour mixture; stir until just moistened. Fold in zucchini, walnuts, chocolate chips and raisins. Spoon into greased baking pans 3/4 full. Bake for about 35 minutes or until done (toothpick inserted comes out clean).

Visit my facebook page Sarah Lee (Fun Baking n Cooking with Sarah) and send me friend request. So we can share our laughs, baking disasters, baking successes too and lots of food photos. Excited to see your photos and reviews. And also I’m excited about Direk Gerry Rebello’s new super-exciting show, The Battle of the Champions, featuring Marcelito Pomoy of America’s Got Talent on Friday, November 5, 2021 at Double Tree by Hilton, Skokie IL. Selling like hotcakes guys, so get your tickets early, you don’t want to miss this (please call 773-677-3403)! And yes, my homebaked goodies will be available for sale before the show: Coconut Macaroons, Tarts, Food for the Gods, Softest/Delish Ensaymadas and Cheese Rolls and Ube-Cheese Pandesal.

Next month, make sure to grab your copy of Via Times for my Classic Kare-Kare recipe…nakakalokah sa sarap, promise!