It's All About Making Things...From Zucchini Bread Rolls to Concrete Footers

We have zucchini.  And zucchini.  And more zucchini.  I'm not complaining mind you, but it becomes a little challenging to figure out how to be creative with it so we don't get tired of it.

A couple days ago I made a zucchini au gratin.  It was scrumptious! Last night, I made a beer batter and we fried up zucchini slices.  They were delicious!  I made a simple horseradish dipping sauce (sour cream, mayo, horseradish, lemon juice, salt pepper) and we stood outside eating them as they came out of the fry daddy (yes, of course, we let them cool a little, but we wanted them crispy and hot).  We don't eat much fried food, but boy is this a good way to eat zucchini!

Today...Zucchini Bread Rolls
The roll on the left is without the glaze; the roll on the right, with glaze.

 Ingredients:
1 tsp flour
2 tsp honey
1/2 cup warm water
1 pkg yeast
1 cup warm milk
2 tbsp oil
3 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup zucchini, grated, squeezed, tightly packed

For the glaze if desired:
a little warm water
twice as much honey as water

Stir together the first 4 ingredients.  Combine the yeast, milk, oil, bread flour, salt and zucchini, then push to the sides of the bowl to leave a well in the middle.  Now combine the yeast mixture to the warm water and stir.

Once combined, pour it into the dry ingredients and knead about 10 minutes to make a soft, firm dough.  This is what it looks like when you begin the kneading (I kneaded it right in the bowl) ...

 ...and after 10 minutes...

Grease the surface of the dough and let it rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size.

Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead lightly.  Shape it into balls, by gathering a portion of the dough using the tips of your fingers and thumb on one hand, then with the other hand use the space between your forefinger and thumb and pinch it off the dough.  This helps make the size of the balls consistent. Let the rolls rise again for 30 minutes.

If you want to glaze the rolls, which will add a little touch of sweetness and a bit of a crustier roll, mix the warm water with the honey and then brush over the rolls just before baking.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Place the pan of rolls on the middle rack and immediately lower the heat to 375.  Bake 15 - 20 minutes.  

Beautiful, light zucchini rolls!  If you do choose to glaze, it will caramelize the bottom of the rolls a bit, but it gives a nice sweet crunch to them. 

While I was baking...

...Mountain Man was mixing concrete to fill the holes we dug to create the concrete footings for our the deck posts...

...then shoveling into the holes (he put rocks in the bottom of the holes to create extra support)...

 ...then leveling, the footer must be flat all the way around...

 ...and voila, 6 concrete footers!  The one to the right is at the front of the cabin and on a bit of a hill, the very last one to the left of the photo is barely seen, but it is there, and about a foot from where the drop off is to the creek.

Besides setting footers, he finalized our supply order which will be delivered no later than Thursday this week! Woo hoo, we are on our way to having a deck:)

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise