The weekend baking, episode II: the empty nest

This past weekend we moved Brad into Shenandoah, the honors dorm at JMU. Once again, I proved my mettle as the go-to parent for college-related things, at least as far as Brad is concerned. Mom engaged in various 5-year-old-like behaviors, such as getting her panties in a bunch when the ice cream social did not include make-your-own sundaes (as Cassie suggested they would), but only ice cream sandwiches, fudge bars, and creamsicles. (How can you turn your nose up at an orange Creamsicle® Bar?) Meanwhile, Cassie got insulted when someone commented that she looked like a 16-year-old, despite her being an entire year ahead of the lowly freshmen moving into JMU this weekend. Cassie decided that she would exact her revenge by pretending to be Lisa House, and quizzing all of the other freshmen on the book about James Madison they were supposed to have read for their honors orientation, but, like Brad, almost certainly did not.

Brad's dorm is way up on a hill on the east campus, looking down at the main west campus and the football stadium, and farther west to a gorgeous view of the mountains:

And here is Brad all moved into his room. It was a much quicker process for Brad, whose decorating taste was much simpler than Cassie's; a few soccer scarves and he was good to go.

After saying goodbye to her baby, Mom barely made it out of JMU in one piece. 😢 I thought having Cassie along would lighten the mood, but then Mom got Cassie started, too. 😭😭 You'd think we'd have this down by now, but it never gets any easier to leave one of you behind somewhere that's not under our roof.

Brad with our shortest president at Montpelier during orientation

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One of my weekend baking jobs used to be making muffins for Cass and Brad to bring in their school lunches everyday. After Cass went to FSU, Mom decided to take that job over, so she could make gluten-free muffins for her and Brad to pack in their lunches, which she really enjoyed. But with no one else needing a lunch now, the weekend muffin-making tradition may go by the board. But for this week at least, I thought Mom could use a little treat in her lunch, so I made these zucchini muffins for her. (As it turns out, Mom likes them, but not as much as "her" gluten-free zucchini muffins, so with any luck I am free of this job forever.)

Spelt Zucchini-Nut Muffins

Adapted from Sharpham Park

400 grams zucchini (~2 medium)

2 large eggs (~57 grams each still in the shell)

110 grams (~½ cup) olive oil; or 55 grams (~¼ cup) oil + 55 grams (~¼ cup) plain whole-milk yogurt

150 grams (¾ cup) brown sugar

1 teaspoon (4 grams) vanilla extract

2 tablespoons (20 grams) chia seeds, optional

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda 

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

250 grams (~2 cups) spelt flour: white, whole grain, or a combination

60 grams (½ cup) chopped walnuts or pecans

 

    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 375 degrees. Spray a standard 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

    2. Trim off the ends of the zucchini. Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. You need ~350 grams of grated zucchini for this recipe. Set aside.

    3. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk to break them up. Add the oil (or oil + yogurt), sugar, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth.

    4. Add the chia seeds (if using), baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, and whisk until smooth.

    5. Add the flour and nuts. Using a silicone spatula, gently fold everything together until almost combined. Add the grated zucchini and fold until just combined and no streaks of flour remain. It will be a fairly stiff batter.

    6. Scoop into the prepared pan (a #16 [¼ cup] scoop works well for this job; you should have about 80 grams of batter in each compartment). Bake until golden brown and a skewer or a thin paring knife inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Spelt Zucchini-Nut Bread

In step 1, heat the oven to 350 degrees, and spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. In step 6, bake until the loaf is golden brown and a skewer or a thin paring knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, about 50 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the loaf should read ~205 degrees.