Baked Zucchini Fries

About 1 pound zucchini

1/2 cup Italian-seasoned panko bread cumbs

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the crumbly stuff, not shreds)

2 eggs

Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Whisk 2 eggs together in a shallow pie plate and set aside.

Cut the ends off the zucchini and then cut the zucchini in half so you have two short, stubby pieces. Set one piece on its end and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut that half in half, making 2 planks. Repeat with the remaining halves (so you'll get 16 planks per zucchini).

Stack 2 planks on top of each other and cut into strips. Thicker strips will yield "meatier" fries with more zucchini flavor while thin strips will be crispy and taste virtually nothing like zucchini. When all the fries are cut, blot the pieces with a paper towel.

Working with a small handful at a time, dip the zucchini sticks in the egg, shake them to remove any excess, and then roll them in about 2-3 tablespoons of bread crumbs at a time, adding more as needed; you just don't want to work with all the bread crumbs at once because they'll soak up moisture from the egg and won'mt stick to the zucchini.

Place the coated strips of the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all the zucchini strips have been coated.

Bake for 10-12 minutes in the prepared oven then remove from oven, flip the fries, and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the zucchini is not soggy and the coating is crisp and golden brown. Serve immediately with pizza sauce or buttermilk ranch dressing. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Speedy Rolls

2 tablespoons dry yeast

2 cups warm water, divided

1 cup instant powdered milk

½ cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons salt

½ cup butter, softened

6 cups flour

Combine 1 cup of the warm water with the yeast; set aside. In mixing bowl, mix together the other cup of water with the powdered milk, sugar, eggs, salt, butter and 1 cup of the flour. Add the softened yeast and blend. Pour in remaining flour slowly while mixing and knead for 10 to 15 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl and let rise until double in size (about an hour). Punch down dough and divide in half. Roll out each half into a large circle on a floured surface and cut with a pizza cutter or knife in to 12 segments. Roll up ‘croissant-style’ and place on greased cookie sheets. Let rise for 15 minutes, then bake @ 350 for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden.

Strawberry Bread

2 cups fresh strawberries

3 1/8 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar + some for sweetening the strawberries

1 Tbs cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

turbinado sugar, for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans.

Slice & chop the strawberries, and place in medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and set aside while preparing bread mixture.

Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl; mix well. Blend oil and eggs into strawberries. Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, blending until dry ingredients are just moistened. Divide batter between the two pans. Sprinkle desired amount of turbinado sugar on top.

Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out, and cool completely.

Coconut Bread

Bread:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 teaspoons coconut flavoring
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup shredded coconut

Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 teaspoon coconut flavoring

Preheat oven to 375. Grease and flour (or use the baking Pam spray with flour in it) one regular (9"x5.25") loaf pan or two mini (about 8"x4") loaf pans

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar, oil, and coconut flavoring and blend well. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Alternate adding dry ingredients and buttermilk to the wet mixture. Fold in shredded coconut.

Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake larger pan for 1 1/4 hours. I haven't timed the smaller pans yet, but I'd start checking at about 50 minutes. I'll update this next time I make it. Or if you do, let me know.

Make syrup when the bread is about 10 minutes from being finished. In a small saucepan bring sugar, water, and butter to a boil and let boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add coconut flavoring.

When bread is finished baking, move pan(s) immediately to a cooling rack. Pour syrup over the top of bread. Let stand at least an hour or two.