Category: Around the Kisner Homestead

I just realized I had not shared my Zucchini Bread recipe yet! We’ve had enough zucchini so I’ve been able to experiment with cookies and a casserole along with how I dehydrate the zucchini shreds. You can find those articles at the following links:

https://marykisner.com/marys-zucchini-chocolate-chip-cookies/; https://marykisner.com/making-a-zucchini-cornbread-casserole/; and https://marykisner.com/dehydrating-zucchini-shreds/.

Now that the zucchini plants are not producing so much, it was time to use up all the zucchini sitting around my kitchen. I put several of the small, misshapen ones in the compost bin. I saved two smaller ones and shredded the rest.

I ended up with about 5 cups of shredded zucchini. I decided to make two batches of zucchini bread…which would use up 4 cups…and froze the last cup.

Making a double batch of zucchini bread made sense and it was a lot easier if I measured everything out in pairs. I wouldn’t start mixing until I had everything ready.

Here is the recipe!

First, I measured out the Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt.

Then, I shredded and measured out the zucchini.

I chopped the walnuts:

Here are all the prepped ingredients:

Then, I was ready to follow the instructions.

1. In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs, oil, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg (I did not use) and vanilla. Whisk well to break up the eggs and get everything well incorporated.
2. Blend in the baking powder, soda and salt, so they are mixed in thoroughly, then stir in the flour.

3. When the flour is almost all incorporated, fold in the zucchini and nuts. Stop mixing as soon as there is no dry flour left and the zucchini and nuts are evenly dispersed. Do not over-mix this batter.

4. I poured the batter into 3 pans, instead of 2. I’m always concerned my oven isn’t the right temperature, so I thought these loaves could be a little smaller and get cooked through.

I let them cool in the pan about half an hour (mostly because I forgot about them!) and turned them out to continue cooling.

Result…I had three loaves of zucchini bread…delicious!

If you have questions or comments, please email me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com.

What in the world is an ANZAC biscuit? These cookies (or “biscuits” as they are called in the UK and Australia/New Zealand) are considered a traditional cookie to honor ANZAC day in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga.

“Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia, New Zealand and Tonga that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders ‘who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations’ and ‘the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.’ Observed on 25 April each year, Anzac Day was originally devised to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli campaign, their first engagement in the First World War (1914-1918).” (See more at https://anzacspirit.com.au/blog/the-traditions-of-anzac-day/)

Several sources online suggested wives and mothers would mail these cookies to their soldiers in ANZAC, because without eggs and being quite sturdy, they traveled and kept well. Other sources said, “contrary to legend, Anzac biscuits weren’t sent to our troops serving overseas in WWI. However, they were commonly sold at church fetes and galas to raise funds for the war effort. They didn’t get their name until peacetime, with the first Anzac recipe appearing in about 1919.”

You can see, the history of the Anzac biscuits has been around for over 100 years! Whether they were popular because they traveled well, or they made a good baked item to raise funds, I might have to bake some to sell at our Boalsburg Fire Company Auxiliary Yard Sale in a few weeks (September 19-20, 2025). If I include the recipe and a little history, they might generate some interest and sales!

Because they were popular in Australia, they are called biscuits…like cookies are called in the UK. However, they are basically a simple Oatmeal Coconut Cookie. They are sturdy, travel well and taste good!

Here’s the recipe I followed. I added vanilla and cinnamon to my recipe just because!!

The ingredient list is pretty simple. After making 2-3 batches and reading several variations of the recipe at various sources, I think you could add other ingredients of your choosing…walnuts, chocolate chips, etc.

Making the ANZAC Biscuits

1. Assemble the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

2. Melt one stick of butter and add 2 Tbsp of honey and mix well. (This is when I added the vanilla.)

3. Put the baking soda in a small cup and add 2 Tbsp boiling water. This was a real pain in the neck…next time I’ll add the baking soda and water to the melted butter and just mix it up.

4. Combine the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients to make a moist batter. Scoop about a tablespoon or two into your hand and form a ball. Place on cookie sheet and flatten gently with your fingers. They will spread and flatten as they cook.

5. Bake at 325 degrees for 12-14 minutes (to make a firm chewy cookie) or about 15-18 minutes to make them a little crunchy. Rotate trays as needed halfway.

This batch made 14-16 cookies…each 3-4 inches across! They can be made smaller and the recipe can be doubled. Might be the perfect cookie to sell at our bake sale! Enjoy!

If you have questions or comments, please email me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com. Thanks.

Tomato season is just getting started and most of the ones we’re eating are the small “Raindrop” tomatoes

We had 3 regular tomatoes from the garden turn red, but each had a blemish that would need to be cut out. Then, Bert came home from camp with 4 tomatoes each in a plastic shell. They looked great but I knew they weren’t local and fresh. While we were eating the small tomatoes, I knew we’d ignore the big ones until they spoiled on the counter!

I wondered how hard it would be to make a small batch of tomato soup…I had a memory in mind of a lovely bowl of tomato soup my mother had made…MANY years ago. Somehow, the cans of condensed tomato soup just didn’t taste like my memory!

First, I looked up the recipe for “Fresh Tomato Soup” in my Joy of Cooking cookbook.

Sounded like the same procedure when I cook tomatoes in preparation for canning. I even had a fresh onion from the garden. I took the 7 tomatoes I had on the kitchen table and weighed them…almost 3 pounds! Good Enough!

NOTE: You can skip all the instruction below about preparing the tomatoes and just use several cans of diced tomatoes. Keep reading!

Next, each tomato needed to be trimmed and blemishes cut out. I cut an X on the bottom of each one. I got a pan of water ready to boil so I could dip each tomato into the hot water. In one minute, the skins would loosen so they would be easy to peel.

I lined the tomatoes up by the stove and put 4 and then 3 in the boiling water. After a minute I moved them to ice water. The skins were beginning to come off.

Of course, the steam clouded my camera!

I noticed the recipe said to remove the seeds. It wasn’t hard to just get rid of the seed pocket in the commercial tomatoes. Our tomatoes had hardly any developed seeds!

NOTE: If you have no interest in starting with fresh tomatoes, I think you could easily begin with a few cans of diced tomatoes and jump down to the step below that has the diced tomatoes cooking with chopped onion and go from there!

I had the onion ready to put in the pot with the cut tomatoes and simmered them on the stove.

After about 45 minutes everything looked pretty soft. I poured the whole pile into the blender and in less than a minute there were no chunks! Of course, I poured the pureed tomatoes/onions from the blender into a container before I took a picture of the blender! I put this container in the refrigerator until lunch time.

When it was time for lunch, I put the cooked pureed tomatoes/onions into a saucepan and started warming them up.

I added about a tablespoon of sugar, a teaspoon of salt, a sprinkle of pepper and a teaspoon of Basil flakes. I let this simmer about 10 minutes. Finally, I added about 1/4 cup of coconut milk. Bert added additional regular milk to his bowl.

Very tasty!!

I know it seems like it was a lot of work, but if I’m cooking tomatoes anyway, why not make a good meal out of them while I’m cooking! Even if you start with plain canned diced tomatoes, it will end up tasting pretty good! Enjoy!

ps. Just for fun, I looked up the ingredients in Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup. The serving size was 1/2 cup and was 90 calories! Here’s the ingredient list for that can of soup: Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Water, Wheat Flour, Sugar, Contains Less Than 2% Of: Salt, Potassium Salt, Natural Flavoring, Citric Acid, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Celery Extract, Garlic Oil. Contains: Wheat.

I think my soup tasted just fine without the wheat and “natural flavoring!”

If you have comments or questions, please contact me directly at maryjkisner@gmail.com.