zucchini pancakes - recipe

i was going to post the recipe on facebook, so i could just tag erin & get her the recipe. but since i need to post here more often to meet my goal, this is me using my noodle. :)

zucchini pancakes (from jim the sales consultant at schepel)
4 cups grated zucchini
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt

grate zucchini into colander, then press moisture out with a paper plate (the recipe does say paper plate ... i wonder if he meant paper towel?). place zucchini and remaining ingredients into a medium mixing bowl. stir well until batter is thick, not runny. add extra flour if necessary to thicken mixture. preheat griddle or iron skillet over medium to medium-high flame. spoon heaping tablespoons of mixture onto the lightly greased cooking surface. cook until brown, then turn and brown other side. serve with butter.

the changes of 'becca: i didn't grate my zucchini, i chunked it. however, i think grating will give you a more consistent batter, and that will help it cook more evenly. i did not measure my flour. any time a recipe says you may need to add more to thicken, i don't measure to begin with. i just toss some in & add more until it feels right. i didn't freshly grate my parmesan cheese. i had some in a container in my fridge and topped off the measuring cup with another italian cheese blend when the parmesan ran out. i didn't have fresh garlic, so i used garlic powder. i did not serve with butter. :)

v3.0 - 4 months to go!

1. host a party. we're totally slaughtering pumpkins in a few weeks. if that's not a party, i don't know what is.

2. attend a series of cubs games. yeah, not so much. my plan was to go to all four games in denver aug. 7-10. but getting tickets for four games got pretty expensive. so i'm conceding defeat.

3. organize my recipes. done! olive green binder divided into dish types (apps/snacks, breakfast, main dish, dessert, etc.) i even jimmied the divider tabs so they stick out beyond the protector sheets. i still have some recipes that are in my e-mail, but i think i'll leave them there as a back up. if/when i decide to make one of them and print it out - i'll add it to the binder.

4. take a trip with marlana for our 30th birthdays. it was ireland, baby! and it was amazing.

5. on time blood work & med refill. i'm calling this done & successful. thanks to switching around my medical insurance, i got some extra medicine out of last year's blood work - so i won't have to deal with the blood work part again until after my next birthday. now, i just need to find a doctor to do that blood work. but, that's not part of the goal. ;)

6. secret. done! but still a secret.

7. use my dehydrator. there are currently chicken bones drying out for halloween decorations. and i gotta say, just having the dehydrator running makes me want to make some jerky.

8. finish catch 22. finished! after starting the book at least a dozen different times, i have persevered! and, yes, i enjoyed the book. i even contemplated starting it over (again) with the plan of reading it straight through. you know, without the 2 month non-reading gap in the middle. but seriously? i'll just be glad i finished it. :)

9. carry the french fry embargo through the end of april (with an exception for ireland). i was very close. after going to ireland, i never got back into the "no french fry" gig. i made it 10.5 months.

10. blog 260 times. 140 so far. i'm gonna have to get my blog on in the next few months.

11. hang out with dave. i have not hung out with dave, yet. but i did get a delightful postcard from him yesterday, sent from italy. :)

12. secret. this one will be revealed at the end, but i can tell you it's going really well. :)

13. photograph the alphabet. done! three times so far. :) i'd still like to do one with twisting lights into the letters - like writing with sparklers or a flashlight. i have a tripod now, so i just need a trigger. or a long enough exposure to open the shutter, get in front of the camera, and create the letter.

14. blog the tasting of a variety of cheeses. i haven't blogged about them, yet, but i have tasted some new cheeses recently. so i'm making progress.

15. add three bloody games to my game closet. done! this year i've added gloom, falling and unexploded cow.

16. host a bloody game night. beth, jonathan & laure were all here for bloody gaming in may. :)

17. send Christmas cards. not yet, but i've got time. ;)

18. finish watching all the movies alan alda appears in that are available from netflix. done! and i have to say i totally enjoyed this goal. i watched his work from first-released to most-recent, and it was a lot of fun. all the movies (except Purlie Victorious, which i can't stand because of the accents) were quality alan alda goodness. even if he did cry in some of them. *shiver*

19. take a trip to colorado. i went in august & had a fabulous time. :)

20. plant some vegetables. i failed on this one.

21. take a trip by myself. hey, work was kind enough to give me a few more days off & get picky about when i take my vacation time ... so planning this one just got a little easier.

22. crochet a scarf. now i have two ideas & have made no progress ... i should be doing this while i watch movies.

23. eat pizza in 10 different towns/cities. one: dante's (munster); two: sanfratello's (highland); three: alcasar pizza bistro (gort, ireland); four: mcalister's deli (fishers). five: homemade (fort collins); six: homemade (cedar lake); seven: pizzeria uno (merrillville).

24. make a muffuletta. i got a recipe from patti for this. i'm very excited about the olive salad. :) but i either need to pare down the recipe or make it for the pumpkin slaughter party when there will be people to help me eat it.

25. journal my 30th year. i've made some notes, and have some mementos saved ... this could still happen.

26. attempt a traveling journal. nothing, yet.

27. participate in illustration friday six times. i've done four so far! you can see 'em here. this week's topic is "pattern" ... i should be all over that.

28. finish a quilt for myself. the quilting mood hasn't set upon me again, yet. with the weather turning colder, i'll probably be pulling out a project soon.

29. customize the recycled table in the living room. i should at least get the legs painted black before it gets too cold.

30. work on the california photo book. i'm currently torn on this one. in 2006 i drove up the coast from san diego to san francisco. but i plan to finish that drive (san francisco north to the corner of washington) before i turn 36. and i'll want the book to cover the entire journey - not just the first leg. so i can do some work on it (yay for vague goals), but i don't think i can finish it. not without having to take it apart later, at least.

8. finish catch 22

done! i stayed up last night to finish reading Joseph Heller's Catch 22. when i picked it up (again) 10 days ago, i refused to start over (again). i started reading from my bookmark, determined to finish. part of me now wants to start at the beginning again & read it straight through. but, given that i've started the book at least a dozen times ... i'm not going to even try.

the strangest part about starting this book a dozen times & only finishing it once? i really liked the book. each time i started it, i wanted to keep reading. but for some reason, i just couldn't keep motivated. i love the way it's written, but it requires some serious concentration to not get lost. my mind was constantly working in overdrive. the result, however, is that i was completely enveloped in the story.

and now the movie Catch 22 is at the top of my netflix queue so i can compare. and maybe understand it a little better. :)

zucchini pancakes

i made zucchini pancakes this morning. i have had an abundance of veggies in the house (trying to eat a little healthier), and i came across the recipe as i was cleaning. so beth & i decided to see how they were.

how were they? not too shabby. the recipe calls for grated zucchini - but i don't have a grater. so i did a fine dice instead. the first two that i made were hard to flip. there didn't seem to be enough actual batter to hold them together. so added another egg and some more flour. the rest were much easier to flip & held together very well. however ... i kinda preferred the taste of the first two. the others almost had too much batter. they were too pancakey. so next time i'm going to jimmy the proportions a bit and try it with smaller zucchini pieces. maybe i'll actually go get a grater.

and i think i'll add some mushrooms. :)

18. alan alda movie fest

tonight i watched Nothing But the Truth - the most recent alan alda movie available on netflix. and one of my favorites among his recent cinematic adventures. about 3/4 of the way through, the ending hit me. and i found myself actually yelling at the other characters that they didn't understand. i know i talk to inanimate objects a lot (don't believe me? sit by me at work one day ... i talk to my computer all day long.), but i don't generally yell at movie characters. this was a well played movie.

and another goal is done! that makes 9 that have been successfully accomplished.

i've upped my netflix subscription to give me two dvds at a time. so in addition to my alan alda fix, i also received Coraline in the mail today. i'm so excited to finally see it!

alan alda - one to go

i just watched Flash of Genius. one more movie (Nothing But the Truth) and i will have watched all the Alan Alda movies available on netflix. if i had that movie here now, i would probably watch it. partially because finishing a goal is fun. and partially because i have no desire to do anything else.

i'm tired. i should go to bed. but it seems, again, that i'm avoiding sleep because it simply precedes waking up for a day at the office. and it's not that i hate my job ... i just don't want to be there. i want to be productive outside of there. doing things that are fun, exciting and new. it's not new in the office. even if i try to convince myself it's new because i haven't done this exact project before ... it's still basically the same as the last one with a different name. it's all been done.

but i suppose i'll go back tomorrow anyway. who knows, maybe something exciting will happen.

recipe organization

the recipes are done! everything is separated & nicely categorized, slipped into page protectors for safe keeping. i even rigged the divider tabs to stick out beyond the protector sheets.

one more goal marked off the list!

game night

you know it's a good game night when you end up on youtube.

frequent updates

one of the tricks to writing a list of goals on your birthday is to write them in a way that gives you the best chance of success. for example, i wrote my goal as blogging 260 times this year. so i can have weeks where i totally slack off and then make up for it by posting three times day for awhile. had i written the goal as blogging 5 times a week - i'd have failed by the middle of february.

so there you go, a little insight ... and another blog post towards the goal. ;)

saturday - update 2

alright, the lawn is mowed. front and back! impressive, eh? plus i got most of the trees trimmed (two of them grow branches so low i can't walk underneath them to mow). the rose of sharon trees need some work, still, but they're covered in buds and i don't want to hack them off. i'll take care of those after they bloom. and i think i'll do some serious trimming to the lilac bush, too.

i also learned the sidewalk up to the porch is a good two inches (at least) wider than i thought. the grass has been migrating over the edge of the lawn. i'll have to take care of that, too.

all in good time. now to start a load of laundry & head to the store.

saturday - update

well, the kitchen is clean. that wasn't exactly on the list of things to do, but it's always nice to have a clean kitchen.

i'm taking two kinds of chex mix to game night tonight. we're having a pajama party, and the main dishes are being brought by other folks. so i'm providing snacky goodness made from cereal. one batch of original and one of chocolate caramel.

now about the lawn ... i wonder if i could get up early tomorrow & mow it then ...

saturday ...

i stayed up late last night enjoying the quiet of the house. unfortunately, i did not sleep in this morning, as i'd hoped. i've been slightly productive, though. i made it through the rest of my recipe magazines, and now everything's just waiting on sheet protectors. and there's a sinkful of dishes soaking.

plans for the day include mowing the lawn, doing some grocery shopping (once i decide what i'm taking to game night tonight) and taking a nap.

erin: it's actually a pomegranate oolong tea. i'm not a big tea fan, but i got it at a bridal shower so i'm drinking it. i enjoy it more with each cup, and people keep telling me it's got good health benefits.

laure: i'm going to have the same issue with these dividers. i don't understand why no one has fixed this issue. page protectors are wider than 8h" inches because of the strip that has the holes ... why won't they make dividers to accommodate that extra width? i'm planning to jimmy these dividers to extend past the page protectors (they appear to be okay in the photo because they weren't yet clipped into the rings).

i wonder why we use jimmy as a verb? i mean, lots of words end up being used as verbs (prime example: photoshop) ... but who was the jimmy that made us decide that his name should be a verb?

erin: i'm willing to risk some bad johnny depp movies. :) what's the drive time from you to new orleans? wouldn't it make more sense for us to meet there?

wishing for quiet

this morning i find myself wanting nothing more than a cup of hot tea and a movie in bed.

admitting nerdiness

one of my goals for the year is to organize my recipes. today after work i wandered into the office-supply section at meijer and found a fabulous binder and set of dividers. now it really bugs me that they didn't have any page protectors - i can't finish the project! all my loose recipes are divided into categories, though. i have some magazines i need to go through, pulling out only the recipes i'll actually use ... and then with some page protectors i'll be done. yay!

i do love office supplies.

life without friends

for next year's list, i'm wondering about setting a goal for going a specified amount of time without watching my Friends dvds. i just re-started the series tonight. the dvds are my go-to when i'm eating dinner or working on a project, but want noise in the background. what if i went a month without watching them at all? no tv AND no friends? interesting ...

the list of 31

i wonder if i could make all of my goals next year include the number 31. i could watch 31 movies with johnny depp. try 31 new recipes. take 31 photos a day for 31 days in a row.

lazy day

today's the last day of my vacation. i slept until 11 and have yet to change out of my pajamas. i should mow the lawn, trim the bushes out front and do some grocery shopping. i should probably do laundry, too. but i'm not. instead i got the niagara falls photos uploaded to flickr. if you've looked at the set i have on facebook, no need to look again - they're the exact same photos. if you haven't seen them on facebook, you can see them on flickr here.

i'm also starting to think about goals for next year. one would think i would concentrate on accomplishing some of this year's goals instead ... but one would be wrong. :) any suggestions?

photoless wrap-up

vacation has been amazing. yesterday we walked the canadian side of the falls, crossed the border on foot and remembered to ask the crossing guard to stamp our passports. we had dinner with marlana's friend brian and meeting him was a pleasure. the four of us walked out to goat island, stood at the top of the falls & marveled at the majesty of it all. we also discussed whether the shear force of the water would crush a human body ... but that doesn't sound nearly as calming, does it? :)

today we stayed in canada - went behind the horseshoe falls and rode the maid of mist to the falls' base. spectacular. i chose to just risk it and kept my camera uncovered & shooting the entire boat ride. i'm sure a lot of the photos aren't any good because there was so much water on the lens ... but at least it appears to have handled the drenching well.

we're heading home tomorrow morning. more photos will come in the next few days. i'm heading to my parents' house as soon as we get back to the region. jonathan & laure are in town until tuesday evening, so i'm hoping to spend a little time with them. i've got wednesday off work, though. so i'll probably get the photos up then.

have a great labor day!

niagara falls: day 1

after a quick nap this morning, we hunted down a wendy's for lunch and then headed to the falls. we had planned to park on the canadian side, but we got a bit turned around and ended up on rainbow bridge instead - so into the state we went!


we walked around a bit taking photos (this is the top of the american falls) and then took the trolley over to goat island for the cave of the winds tour.


the cave of the winds tour is a self-guided tour, wherein "tour" means walking along a set of boardwalks and up stairs to platforms that are successively closer to the base of bridal veil falls.so exhilarating! of course by the end we were all drenched from the knees down & the shoulders up - but it was totally worth it. they give you a souvenir poncho and sandals - the sandals are going back with us today for more fallsy fun. i kept my camera out for most of the tour - putting it away only when we started climbing up to the hurricane deck. it's pretty hard to keep your eyes open on the hurricane deck, so i didn't see much point in trying to take photos. :)

the 51st state

we drove through the night on thursday, arriving at our hotel friday morning at about 5:15 local time. this is us crossing the bridge into canada. i know, it's not a great photo - but it was 2:30 in the morning. a detail not overlooked by the border crossing guard. he took our passports and started asking the customary (i assume) questions: where are you from? (indiana & illionois) how do you know each other? (school & work) where are you going? (niagara falls) at 2:30 in the morning?!? it was funny. :)


a little bit of the town in which we're staying.


and the tunnel we get to drive through when we go to niagara falls ... or drive the wrong way looking for an arby's. :)

new bedding

i fell in love with this bedding at target a few weeks ago. so, of course, i procrastinated & procrastinated on buying it. i finally went & got it thursday. isn't it cute? the first target i went to only had a king-sized comforter left. my bed is not king sized. but i bought it anyway, thinking i could use the extra width as extra length to wrap around the pillows. yeah ... see that pattern? not so cute when it's turned 90 degrees. so i took it back and tried another target. they had the correct size, but the pillows i'd decided to buy for the shams? more expensive at target #2 then at target #1. what? so i went back to target #1 to buy the pillows. sure enough, i saved a full dollar by purchasing the pillows at target #1 ...

and then i found the four coordinating pillows that i just could NOT leave without. so i bought those, too. :)



i know this one isn't the best photo, but the front pillow is furry. that's right - furry.

final (regular season) game

with three people to get ready in the morning, there's bound to be some down time. so this post & the next will be catch-up. then i'll start telling you about being in canada.

this past monday was the last regular season game for the railcats. unfortunately, we lost. but the outcome of the game didn't affect our league standings - we're at the top, and currently playing the fourth seed (kansas city) in the first round of the playoffs. it's a bit of a bummer that i'm out of town & can't attend any of the games ... but it's really hard to complain when i'm on vacation. :) assuming we win this series, the championship home games start friday september 11. i'll definitely be there.