Green Tomato Spice Cake

Got the idea for this from a lady at the farmer's market in Willamstown.  I had forgotten about it until I saw green tomatoes here in Asheboro.  I decided to go out on a limb and try it.  It was SO good.  It has a similar flavor to a carrot cake or spice cake.  Very moist and super tasty!

Here we go:

1. Dice green tomatoes.  You will need 4 cups.  Place the tomatoes in bowl with 1 tablespoon of salt.  Let sit for 10 minutes and then rinse and drain.

Tomatoes- I might chop them into smaller pieces next time.

2. Cream together 1 stick of softened butter and 2 cups of sugar (you could probably reduce the sugar if you want).

3. In separate bowl, combine 2 cups of flour with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon baking soda.  Stir in 1/2 cup raisins and 1/2 cup of walnuts.

4. Add dry ingredients to the creamed butter/sugar.

5. Stir in tomatoes.

6.  Pour into greased and floured 9 by 13 pan.  The batter will be very thick.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Serve plain or with cream cheese icing.  

Jessie's Naner Loaf

This is my first attempt at a 100 PERCENT FROM SCRATCH CREATION.  It went something like this: too lazy to research a recipe, so I made it up along the way.

Here's my inspiration: I bought bananas with the good intention of eating them in a healthy way.  A week later, they are soft and covered in brown spots.  The only solution: bake them into a more unhealthy form: banana bread!

Ingredients:

stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
3 almost rotten bananas
about a teaspoon each of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon each of baking soda and baking powder (I didn't know which to choose, so I used both!)
handful and a half of pecans

Cream butter and sugar together.  Add eggs and bananas.  Add spices and then other dry ingredients.  Bake for an hour at 325 degrees.

This came out pretty good!  I really like the cardamom in it.

Zucchini Casserole

Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients: zucchini, onion, garlic, can diced tomatoes, shredded mozzarella.

Got a little too brown on the top for my liking.  I think our oven runs too hot.

Didn't even get to take other pics because it was gobbled up pretty quick!

Here's how to make it:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a pretty dish with oil.

2. Slice up two medium/large zucchini (about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds), put aside for later.

3. Saute about a half a cup of chopped onion and 1 clove garlic in olive oil.

4. Add a can diced tomatoes, drained very well.  I used the kind with Italian seasonings in it.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

5. Create a layer of zucchini coins on the bottom of pan.

6. Add layer of tomato mixture.

7. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

8. Repeat until all ingredients are gone.  Don't put cheese on top yet- it will burn.

9.  Bake for 20 minutes.

10.  Reduce heat to 350 and add top layer of cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes.

DONE!