Whoa whoa whoa, look who’s there! The girl who has no appropriate excuses for neglecting her blog for so long…
Okay, we spent July in Ukraine and that time was dedicated to having fun with family and friends (and some doctors and beauty appointments in between). But August, September AND October?! You freaking kidding me, that’s A LOT of days!
If I’m being completely honest with you (not that I wasn’t before), in summer I hit the lowest low of self-esteem. A kind of “my photography sucks, I cannot invent my own recipes, my thighs are fluffy” low. So I spent my days reading books, watching YouTube videos and wallowing into my existential crisis like a mammal.
Not very appealing picture, right? But at least some books I read were great! 🙂
For my old friends it might sound crazy that I now have an anxiety before going to social events. Or that for the most part I don’t feel confident or beautiful or enough. And the list goes on and it scares the shit out of me, because it wasn’t like that before! But I guess moving overseas, changing careers and who knows what else left their trace on me.
So these days I’m working on piecing myself together. I’m not talking about huge stuff here, it’s small steps like waking up earlier and writing down a plan for the day, or recording an insta story with me talking on camera (freaks me out!), or pouring my heart out to you.
And I want to THANK YOU for being here and spending your precious time reading this blog. For every comment that you left or wanted to leave, please know I appreciate you a lot! You’re a wonderful human being and you deserve all the best in life — like, say, this zucchini bread 🙂 I love you!
Why zucchini bread, you ask? Well, I think it’s a cool way to add veggies to your diet ;p
Also recently we tried similar bread in a restaurant and fell in love with it! So I immediately knew I want to make it and share the discovery with you.
This zucchini bread is neither savory nor sweet, so it makes a perfect canvas for creative toppings.
When shooting the recipe, I tried it with sour cream, blueberries and a touch of honey and enjoyed every piece of my toast! Later in the week we topped bread with goat cheese and fig butter, and it tasted bomb, too!
I guess, what I’m trying to say here is — I’m looking forward to hearing what YOU have paired it with!
*makes 1 loaf pan (5 x 9 inches)
For the batter:
113 g (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
100 g granulated sugar
65 g sour cream
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 1 lime
250 g flour
90 g almond meal (or flour)
1,5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
125 g zucchini, grated and squeezed
Preheat the oven to 175 C/350 F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix butter and sugar on medium speed for about 5 minutes until no visible pieces of butter remain. In a small bowl whisk together eggs, sour cream, vanilla extract and lime zest.
When butter-sugar paste is ready, reduce the speed to low and slowly add the egg mixture in several parts, mixing well after each addition. Scrap sides of the bowl and mix again.
In a separate bowl mix flour, almond meal, baking powder, soda and salt. Stop mixer, add dry ingredients to a batter mixture and mix on a low speed until just incorporated. Scrap the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and fold grated zucchini into the batter.
Transfer batter to a prepared pan and bake until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, for about 50-60 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to completely cool.
When ready to eat, slice the bread and toast it in a toaster or in a pan. Add toppings of your choice, and enjoy!
I have been feeling that way about social and blogger events lately too and I’m sad that I think that way. I shouldn’t be like that! I want to meet new friends around here. Anyway, side note – that one (or two?) times I’ve met you, I thought you were really sweet and awesome. Another note: I have that cutting board/serving tray thing too!
Thanks for stopping by Nancy! And than you for your kind words, I loved meeting you at the events, your positive attitude is contagious! 🙂
Oh, and how do you like that board? After this shoot mine has stains on it and I’m thinking about returning it 🙁
Looks delicious as always! It always makes me sad to see people I know and like struggle but I guess everyone has their own little insecurities. I hope you feel better soon and see yourself as other people do – beautiful, smart, funny, creative, full of interesting things to share and discuss! Sending you hugs dear!
Oh thanks you so much dear Uliana! Your words deeply touched my heart :*
Sending you hugs back!
I know that must have been hard to share, but I’m so glad you did because I’m sure a lot of us can relate (I know I can). And for the record, I think you’re amazing!!
Also, these photos are absolutely stunning and that zucchini bread looks incredible. Can totally picture us chatting over a slice (w/ some coffee or tea, of course).
Ahhh Ronee, you’re always so kind to me, thank you! :*
It’s true that many people are experiencing similar things in life and I think the more we share them the more “normal” everyone will feel!
It’s a pity that because of these downs I had to reschedule some of our meetings and now when you’ve moved I regret it even more. But the good news is that I have an excuse to go visit you in LA and show you as much presence as I can! Love you my friend!
And while you’re in LA, remember that I’m here too;)
Happy that we made it happen! 😉