I have four main projects to keep me occupied over the school summer holidays.
1. Gardening: see Perrywoods is my FoMO blog or any Allotment Nazi reference.
2. Family history: I'm now back to 1755 in Cambridge (still no sign of the Scottish ancestor who plucked a name out of thin air to blend into English life) My grandad was a storyteller
3. Nagging while reading: this one is particularly fun and one I am quite good at that really needs no explanation.
4. My 101 Things project.
"101 Things to Do with a Courgette" is the book I'm going to write, one day, when I've got time, when I get round to it. This Summer, I have decided to launch myself firmly into the research stage.
I love a courgette.
When a colleague announced to the staff room that the Greek Filo Pie in the end of term buffet was probably mine because, "Julia loves a courgette," I found myself blushing. A courgette has a wonderfully phallic shape and is ripe for a double-entendre and sexual innuendo and it's all I seem to be able to grow.
I always have more than my fair share of courgettes and so this summer I have decided to practise some recipes and try them out on willing victims.
I made my daughter take a courgette cake back to the office after a weekend at home. This was a risk. She's new to the job and I didn't want her to be tarred with the, "Her mother's a courgette loving weirdo," brush. Luckily, it went down well. "The best courgette cake you've made," she texted. One of her colleagues has even asked when she's next coming home, hoping there will be another one soon. Most people quite like courgette cake even if they dislike the vegetable but he is the first person I've come across who doesn't really like cake but loves this because he is partial to a courgette.
Back from the allotment, last week, I was washing my courgettes, thinking how rude it looked when an advert for the Great British Bake Off, warned that this week was biscuit week. I chuckled. I still haven't recovered from the idea that some people refer to their private parts as biscuits. Biscuits blog..
Bake Off is brilliant at innuendo and so I decided to try out several Courgette Biscuit recipes that I could find on the internet. My son had some friends round and they agreed to be biscuit eating guinea pigs. They were playing Cards Against Humanity; they were old enough.
They rated each biscuit out of 5 and wrote comments.
1. Courgette Cookies (with cinnamon and raisins) recipe here
I needed to use more flour and cook them for longer than in the recipe, as it was a bit too soft.
3.6 Stars
My testers enjoyed the consistency. They thought they were soft and moist and the cinnamon flavour was nice but it was a bit too salty (which I think was my mistake)
2. Courgette Choc Chip Cookies (with Oats) recipe here
Back from the allotment, last week, I was washing my courgettes, thinking how rude it looked when an advert for the Great British Bake Off, warned that this week was biscuit week. I chuckled. I still haven't recovered from the idea that some people refer to their private parts as biscuits. Biscuits blog..
Bake Off is brilliant at innuendo and so I decided to try out several Courgette Biscuit recipes that I could find on the internet. My son had some friends round and they agreed to be biscuit eating guinea pigs. They were playing Cards Against Humanity; they were old enough.
They rated each biscuit out of 5 and wrote comments.
1. Courgette Cookies (with cinnamon and raisins) recipe here
I needed to use more flour and cook them for longer than in the recipe, as it was a bit too soft.
3.6 Stars
My testers enjoyed the consistency. They thought they were soft and moist and the cinnamon flavour was nice but it was a bit too salty (which I think was my mistake)
2. Courgette Choc Chip Cookies (with Oats) recipe here
The oats made this easier to make and the quantities worked.
3.8 Stars
The testers were not too keen on the dark choc chips. They thought the cookies might have been a bit too moist and maybe should have been cooked for longer.
3. Chocolate and Courgette Cookies. recipe here
This worked well but I didn't have any yoghurt so I used creme fraiche instead.
4.6 Stars
These were really gooey. My tasters liked a gooey biscuit. Some thought they were a bit sticky but on the plus side you couldn't tell there was any courgette in it, so they thought it would be good to give to children.
4. Cheesy Courgette Biscuits recipe here
I used parmesean and committed the Bake Off crime of using a cutter. (Poor Dorret. I'd be crazy as a box of frogs too. It seems it's fine to use a circle cutter but not any other shape. )
2.8 Stars
My tasters were not too keen on a savoury biscuit. Their comments said that they were both chewy and dry (which is quite a feat). They were more like cheese straws, a bit too much like pastry.
5. Carrot and Courgette stained glass biscuits recipe here
2.8 Stars
My tasters were not too keen on a savoury biscuit. Their comments said that they were both chewy and dry (which is quite a feat). They were more like cheese straws, a bit too much like pastry.
5. Carrot and Courgette stained glass biscuits recipe here
This recipe didn't work. I ended up nearly doubling the flour content.
3.2 Stars
The tasters liked the consistency of the biscuit but it was bland in taste. They liked the boiled sweet in the middle.
I'm thinking that you shouldn't put courgette in a cookie recipe unless you like your biscuit to be moist and sticky.
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