This and That

Last week, we were marveling how nice it was to be able to go for a walk in December with temps hovering near 50.  Then the weekend came and with it snow, enough to get the snowblower humming to clear the driveway.  It's definitely beginning looking a lot like Christmas here in Wisconsin.

Mm, zucchini bread fresh from the oven on a snowy weekend. What could be better?  Okay, losing 10 pounds, maybe, but let's not go there.  Besides, I wasn't going to let those two zucchini in the fridge go to waste.  (To waist?  Oh, dear.)

I've tried a lot of gluten-free, dairy-free zucchini bread recipes through the years, but I think I've finally settled on my own that I've adapted from a "regular" recipe.  I substitute one-third of the flour with almond flour, and make up the rest with gluten-free flour (I've used Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and Great Value brand gluten-free flour from Walmart with success).  I use almond milk instead of regular milk.  Here's the complete recipe:

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

1/2 c. unsweetened almond milk + 1/2 t. vinegar (let curdle a few minutes)

1/3 c. white sugar

1/3 c. brown sugar

3 T. avocado oil (or your oil of choice)

1 egg

1/2 t. vanilla

1 c. gluten-free flour

1/2 c. almond flour

1/2 t. xanthan gum (improves texture of gluten-free baked goods)

2 T. ground flax

1-1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. sea salt

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 c. shredded zucchini (I use the food processor, no need to drain)

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a small bowl, stir together the gluten-free flour, almond flour, xanthan gum, flax, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, vanilla, sugars, and milk.  Stir in shredded zucchini.  Add dry ingredients and walnuts and stir until combined.  Pour into greased loaf pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes.  Makes 1 loaf.

This recipe also makes a good carrot bread.  Just use a cup of shredded carrots in place of the zucchini.

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I ran into a bit of a snag with the neckties project.  The interfacing was not adhering well to the tie fabrics.  I had ordered a whole bolt of Pellon 911FF featherweight fusible interfacing based on what I'd read others had used when making necktie quilts.  Well, it just wasn't working for me.  It would partially adhere, or adhere but then release when I started sewing the pieces together.  I made just this one sample block and then decided to do some more research.

(All from neckties - love that red/purple print!)

According to the Pellon website, the better interfacing for silk and acetate is their 865F Bi-Stretch Lite interfacing, which is a lightweight woven with an adhesive with a lower melting point.  I'll admit the "stretch" part of the description concerns me a little bit, but we'll see.  I've ordered several yards of that and it should arrive sometime this week, if it's not delayed due to the holiday package volume.  Fingers crossed it arrives and does what it needs to do, as I'd like to get at least one of the tie projects done by Christmas.

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I have made a baby quilt for a little boy who's due in January.  I used a free pattern on Jo's Country Junction called Stacking Bricks.  It turned out super cute!

I had this fun little robot fabric in my stash, so I pulled some bright scraps to coordinate with it.  I cut the outer border at 4.5 inches instead of the 2.5-inch border in the pattern, so I could see more of those endearing little robots!

The backing was pieced from some of the leftover bricks running down the center, and a striped binding finished it off.