Fall sunrise....beautiful!

My husband was taking my son to school the other morning and when I stepped out to tell them goodbye I saw this beautiful sunrise.  I quickly dashed into the house (did I even finish telling them bye?) and grabbed the camera so I could try to do it justice.

Of course I should have set up the tripod but with the light changing so quickly I was afraid to miss any of this gorgeous color. So the photo isn't as sharp as it should be...but hey, the color is great! :-P

Another reason I love this image so much is that this view is about to be gone forever from my front porch.  They are finally building houses in that field.  The 'lone' tree will no longer stand out, the outline of the church will be hidden from my view. The only thing constant is change right?  Just have to learn to roll with it.

Cooler weather is here...time to bake!

It's been so darn hot that being in the kitchen baking has been the LAST thing on my mind.  For about 4 months even.  It's a strange thing to be trapped in the house because of excessive heat conditions-when it's cold and I'm trapped in the house I can occupy my time with baking.  Or even cooking extravagant dinners...because using the oven and stove is fun!  Not so much when it's hot.  Food doesn't even sound good most of the time, what to speak of firing up the oven. Miserable.

But today I woke up and a cool front had come though!  It was a beautiful 64 degrees.  Woohoo!  I debated on making a zucchini/blueberry loaf but remembered we still had blueberry muffins around.  We don't want to overdo the blueberry do we? ;-)  So I decided on just a zucchini loaf...however, I would use my mini bundt pan.  I do love this pan but I hardly every use it.  Shame too because it makes the cutest little cakes. And now what would have just been a regular loaf is now dressed up to look even more special. Ok, enough of my long windedness. (is that a word?)

 

Better Homes and Gardens Zucchini Bread

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 beaten egg
1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted (baking sheet-350 oven-5 to 10 min)

Grease bottom and sides of 8x4x2 loaf pan. In medium bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture and set aside.

In another bowl combine egg, sugar, zucchini, and oil. Add zucchini mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened...should be a lumpy batter. Fold in nuts and spoon into loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, remove from pan, cool completely on wire rack.  Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

Nutrition Facts; 147 cals, 6g total fat, 1g sat fat, 13mg chol, 123mg sodium, 21g carb, 1g fiber, 2g protein.

Enjoy!