Gingerbread Prefab!

Is it too early to talk about gingerbread houses? We think not!

We all don't live in a traditional house though, some of us in apartments or prefab home or modern ranches. Why not make a gingerbread house of the actual home you live in! Here are some interesting gingerbread creations that inspired us!

 Gingerbread Trailer:

Gingerbread Modern Ranch:

Gingerbread Estate:

 

Gingerbread Prefab:

Gingerbread Apartment Building:

 

photo credits:

http://easydreamer.blogspot.com/2010/12/not-your-mothers-gingerbread-house.html

http://alilovescurtis.blogspot.com/2007/12/gingerbread-goes-eichler.html

http://historycenterfw.blogspot.com/2010/11/brief-history-of-gingerbread.html

http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/michelle-kaufmann-designs-mcmansion-gingerbread.html

http://www.dailytonic.com/gingerbread-houses-2010-at-the-swedish-museum-of-architecture-in-stockholm-se/

Zucchini Cottage Fries

A cross between potato chips and oven fries, our zucchini cottage fries are a welcome addition to any dinner without using a drop of oil. With only a fifth of the calories of potatoes, zucchini makes this a veggie-rich side with a modest amount of calories.

 • 2 medium zucchini's
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 cup of bread crumbs or panko
• 2 TBL of parmesan cheese, finely grated

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Line a sheetpan with a silpat or a sheet of parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine breadcrumbs with parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Whip the egg white in a medium-sized bowl until frothy. Set aside.

Thinly slice the zucchini, about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. Coat zucchini slices in egg white, allow the excess to drip off, then transfer the zucchini slices to the crumb and cheese mixture. Flip to coat, shake off excess crumbs and transfer to lined baking sheet.

Bake at 450 F until the bottom sides begin to brown, about 6-8 minutes. Flip them over. Bake another 6-8 minutes or so until golden brown. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

For a gluten free / dairy free option, use just zucchini and egg white. Cut the zucchini 1/8 inch thick and be sure to use parchment paper when omitting the crumb/cheese coating. They turn into crispy chips this way!

A Watched Pot Never Boils

... especially when you're hungry and ready to add the pasta already. Starting with less water cuts down the time to boil, but how little can you get away with when cooking pasta?

A NY Times piece by Harold McGee investigated this very topic. His findings: yes, less water can be used, but the less you use, the more stirring is needed to keep the pasta from sticking together.

We were still curious on how we could speed up the process of cooking pasta and one thought was to cook it in the microwave. While microwaves aren't the healthiest heating source... we wanted to run this experiment anyway.

Unfortunately, all of our microwave attempts only lead to spectacular boil-overs! We did find this method from No-Stove Cookery's which sounds promising: cook 1 cup dry pasta with 2 cups water in the largest microwave-safe container that fits in the microwave, and cook at 50% power.

Do you cook pasta in the microwave? Any tips to share?