Here are my favorites: Zucchini Bread This is one of the ways to take a perfectly healthy vegetable and make it edible. My favorite zucchini bread recipe comes from The Taste of Appalachia by Lyn Kellner. Makes 2 loaves. Ingredients 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 ½ teaspoons cinnamon 3 eggs 2 cups sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 cups grated raw zucchini (or summer squash) 1 cup chopped pecans Mix first four ingredients in a bowl. In a large bowl, beat eggs well, then add sugar, oil, and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Stir in zucchini. Add dry ingredients and the pecans and stir until moistened. Put the batter in two well greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pans and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees F. Let cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Zucchini Bread This is a little more work than the quick version. In the heart of zucchini season, youÂll enjoy this bread fro a change. This recipe is adapted from a Taste of Home flyer. Makes 1 loaf. 1 tablespoon dry active yeast ½ cup warm water â cup warm milk â cup sugar 3 tablespoons butter, softened 2 tablespoons grated orange peel ½ teaspoon salt 1 ½ cups shredded zucchini â cup raisins ¾ cup whole wheat flour ¾ cup all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or a blend of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and mace) 1 â to 2 â cups bread flour In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Beat in the milk, sugar, butter, and orange peel. Mix well. Add the zucchini, raisins whole wheat floor, all-purpose flour, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Add enough bread flour to form a soft dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface (5-10 minutes) until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1 ½ hours). Punch down dough and shape into a loaf. Place into a greased 9x5x3 inch pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes.

I also thought it was just going to be a different way to get individual servings of cake. Or that they would be stored in the freezer. Cake out of the freezer is good. I really was shocked though. Obviously it bothered me enough to post here and send in a letter to the newspaper. First time I've ever written to a newspaper. I'm glad to hear you share my concerns. Makes me feel less like an alarmist. I realize I'm a safety nut and even worry about properly pressure canned chicken stock I use for soup. I just couldn't imagine if someone served this to friends/family and caused any illness. Hopefully nothing like that will happen but in the continuum of risks this one is pretty high. ~Cindy

lexi, the Spiced Plum Jam was a plum butter gone awry. (But as we canners know, there are no mistakes, only unforseen transformations). When I saw that it was jelling I just labeled it "jam" instead. I used whole spices. I don't like ground spices in preserves because they alter the color and also with sitting may become unpleasantly strong. For 6 pounds of Italian prunes I used 4 3-inch sticks of cinnamon, just a tiny bit of blade mace and 8 cloves. I placed the spices in a bag and removed them before the jam was finished. I didn't want the spices to be too strong, especially the cloves, which are kind of the bullies of the spice world. A bit of nutmeg could substitute for the blade mace or an allspice berry or two would be nice. Alternatively, just cinnamon and cloves would be fine. My notes to myself after finishing were to reduce the size of the batch and not try more than about 3-4 pounds. Also, I made the jam in the oven. (Well, I thought I was making butter!) But I have made strawberry jam in the oven. It's an easy and less stressful way to do it, especially if I'm canning other things as well. A good way to multi-task and keeps the burners free. Carol

Made the Southern Living Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake and it was wonderful - and it looked just like the picture! I thought the bananas were a bit too soft; mine were just getting a few brown spots. I think it would work better if the bananas had just turned yellow. Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake One quick flip and this cake tumbles from the skillet perfectly golden and party ready. Bananas Foster Upside-Down Cake Photo by: Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Lydia Degaris Pursell YIELD: Makes 8 servings HANDS-ON:20 Minutes TOTAL:1 Hour, 18 Minutes COURSE: Desserts, Cakes/Frostings Ingredients 1/2 cup chopped pecans (We used walnuts) 1/2 cup butter, softened and divided 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons rum 2 ripe bananas 3/4 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 3/4 cup milk 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose baking mix 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon Preparation 1. Preheat oven to 350�. Bake pecans in a single layer 8 to 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stirring once. 2. Melt 1/4 cup butter in a lightly greased 10-inch cast-iron skillet or 9-inch round cake pan (with sides that are at least 2 inches high) over low heat. Remove from heat; stir in brown sugar and rum. 3. Cut bananas diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices; arrange in concentric circles over brown sugar mixture. Sprinkle pecans over bananas. 4. Beat granulated sugar and remaining 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add milk and next 2 ingredients; beat just until blended. Beat in baking mix and cinnamon until blended. (Batter will be slightly lumpy.) Pour batter over mixture in skillet. Place skillet on a foil-lined jelly-roll pan. 5. Bake at 350� for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in skillet on a wire rack 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen. Invert onto a serving plate, spooning any topping in skillet over cake. Southern Living NOVEMBER 2011