dinner rolls

I made these rolls using this recipe on my sister-in-law Natalie's food blog. They turned out pretty good. I think I'm getting more comfortable with breads.

1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup very warm water
1 egg
1 package yeast
4-5 cups plain, all purpose flour
2-3 Tbsp shortening
2 tsp salt

-Mix 3 cups flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl. Cut shortening into flour mixture with fork until it forms small clumps. Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water. Add to flour. Beat egg and remaining 1/2 cup warm water. Add to flour mixture. Mix thoroughly. Keep adding more flour until dough is no longer sticky. Once dough is no longer sticky, put on floured surface, and knead until your arms are tired.
-Form into ball, place in bowl, and cover with an overturned plate and towel...the yeast likes warmth. Dough should double in size, about 2-3 hours.
-Punch down and let rise again,or make into 2 inch rolls and put in a sprayed pan to rise for 1 more hour. Bake in center of oven, 375-400' for 15-20 minutes of until top is golden brown.

Tomato Basil Bruschetta

The other day I had a craving for bruschetta so I asked a friend if she had a recipe. She told me she just buys the stuff at Trader Joe's, so that's what I did. I know, kind of cheating, but it was SO yummy. I brushed the bread with some olive oil, broiled it for a minute and then pilled the bruschetta on top. Maybe next time I'll try making it from scratch. Like this recipe at allrecipes.com.

Zucchini Muffins

I've never been good at improvising or just whipping a bunch of random ingredients together. I really need a recipe to follow. I think the more you cook the more you learn what works well together though. I also think that the more times I cook the same recipe the more comfortable I am with changing it- just a little. Like this one. I've changed it from the one someone gave me, and substituted part of the ingredients, like whole wheat flour, agave, and flax seeds, to make it healthier.

3 eggs

1 cup vegetable oil (I use half olive oil)

1 cup sugar

3/4 c agave nectar

2 c grated zucchini

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 scoops (3 or 4 Tbsp) ground flaxseed OR 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (Gregory didn't have teeth to chew the nuts so I decided to sub flaxseed)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and frothy. Mix in oil, sugar, and agave. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. Combine flours, cinnamon, soda, baking powder, salt and faxseed; stir into the egg mixture. Pour into paper lined muffin pan.

Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

*Of course you can always add some chocolate chips if you like. ;)