And Now, Cake

My children have been stuck with me and my veggie creations for the past month; these final days of summer, they are not drawn into the kitchen so quickly. Sure, they eat the vegetable dishes I make, however they are not particularly excited by my recent culinary explorations.

Imagine their interest the other day then, at the very end of their summer vacation, when I offered to bake cake with them (and the four friends they had over). They were immediately game for the project.

Since there were six children in all, of course we had to make six cakes –one for each. Following is the recipe we used for our messy adventure.

Don’t be scared off by the dozen eggs, this recipe makes enough cake for a large crowd, so they are divvied up in numerous servings.

I had initially envisioned this project as resulting in a towering mass of cake, however, the children each wanted to frost their own. My younger son and Josh whipped up a batch of whip cream and heaped their creations with sprinkles. For the dairy free children, we used this vegan chocolate frosting.

Have a great time and be sure the children help you clean up –if you let them join in the fun.

At the end of the project each child dug into their own unique gluten free cake with fork and knife.

Zucchini Carpaccio

Zucchini overload? I have the answer for you. Zucchini carpaccio. My husband loves this dish. I make it every summer just about this time when we are in zucchini overwhelm. It is quick and easy to make, with somewhat elegant results. And you don’t need fancy equipment (no mandolins used here) just a sharp knife and decent cutting skills.

Here in zucchini-land we are enjoying the last days of summer vacation. The boys have been home and camp-free for a while now and running with a pack in the neighborhood. There are about 6 of them altogether, mine, plus Josh, his sister Zoe, Tyler and Dylan. These last two are the new kids on the block. Their house in Centennial was struck by lightening so they are here in Boulder shacking up with their grandparents for the time being, living almost across the street from us. This morning the children and I gathered in my kitchen and we baked cakes in dishes of varying sizes –one per child, 6 cakes in all; tomorrow we frost them.

When we’re not baking, this small herd of children cruises the ‘hood on their bikes or scooters, savoring the last days of summer and making quite a bit of trouble –I have had to apologize to several neighbors during the last two weeks on behalf of the pack. So if you’re one of my neighbors, and reading this, I apologize again for the wilding. They will all be back in school 5 days from now. I promise.

We had this tonight with dinner; I served it with orange cherry tomatoes fresh from our garden –a hit all around.

Raw Tomato Sauce

Is your garden overflowing with tomatoes? Mine is. It’s a jungle out there. The zucchini plant is on the offensive, overtly attacking its neighbors in a battle for square footage while the tomatoes surreptitiously creep and cling to everything they can. At this point, they are huge sprawling bushes, heavy with fruit.

The boys go out to jump on the trampoline and come inside bearing gifts, their little hands laden. I too venture out to pluck tomatoes off the bushes before they turn to mush or fall to the ground. I’m not complaining. They’re delicious. Some are good eaten straight up. Others go nicely on top of a green salad. With so many tomatoes there really needs to be so many ways to eat them.

In an attempt to create much needed variety, this afternoon I made a raw tomato sauce to serve over pasta. Well, I can tell you it was one of those small, satisfying successes. Our neighbors Chris and Larry (Josh’s parents) came over for dinner and ate the sauce uncomplainingly. The children all asked for seconds after it was gone so I ran out to the garden, harvested more tomatoes, some basil and whipped up another batch in the middle of dinner. My younger son drank his seconds as soup and Josh’s little sis, Zoe used hers as a dipping sauce for her green beans.

So, as you see, this raw tomato sauce is very versatile and provides a good deviation from the standard forms of tomato consumption.

This quick and easy dish can turn mountains of tomatoes into a yummy raw sauce without heating up your kitchen in the middle of August.

Are you enjoying your garden this month?  If you find yourself with an abundance of tomatoes, what are doing with them?  Let us know and please, share your recipes in the comments section!