Zucchini Stew

In the summer when I have zucchini completely overtaking my garden, this is a recipe I make quite often. It's simple, easy and adaptable. Chances are, you'll have everything you need for it right in your pantry. It's also vegan which I find to be a nice chance of pace during the week. I usually serve it over white rice or pasta.

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 28 oz. can of diced or petit diced tomatoes
1/2 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 handful fresh basil, roughly chopped
1/4 - 1/2 cup chicken stock (optional)
salt
pepper
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add zucchini, tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil and salt & pepper to taste. Simmer for aprox. 30 minutes, or until zucchini is tender. If mixture becomes too thick, add chicken stock (you could even just add water or vegetable stock if you want to keep this completely vegan) and thin the sauce to your preference. Check again for seasoning and add more salt and/or pepper if need be.

Once zucchini is tender, serve hot over a bed of pasta or rice. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Also makes great left overs!

Fishing Cake

I made this cake for this past father's day, but it can easily be made for any special occasion! It's a marble cake that was made in a 13x9 pan. Then for the water, I used light blue buttercream and swirled in a darker blue for more depth. The grass was made of green buttercream, and the dock and fishing pole was made of gumpaste. The fish and other little sea-creatures were made of fondant. Overall this was a fun cake to make, and my dad and grandfather's really enjoyed it!

My 1st Wedding Cake

Well, I finally broke down and did it. I made my first ever wedding cake. It was sort of a last minute thing - I go to the bank every day for work and one of the teller's I talk with mentioned he was getting married in a few months and needed a cake. Well one thing led to another, I got in touch with his fiance (now wife!) and I ended up doing their cake! At first I was rather stressed (mainly about trying to cover the big bottom layer in fondant without it cracking) but I was really pleased with how it turned out!

And the best part about the whole experience was that the bride and groom loved the cake - how it looked and how it tasted! They've even referred me to some of their friends who are engaged!

So all in all, my 1st wedding cake was a success and I'm so glad I did it!

Hi!

Hi! Remember me? I'm Kristen and I'm a blog slacker.

Although Le Petit Pierogi has been severely neglected, it's not been forgotten. But you see, back in April I got a promotion at work! yay! But as we all know, promotions always equal way more work. I definitely haven't stopped cooking/baking (I've even done my 1st wedding cake!) but it's been hard to find the time to post my pictures/recipes because, truth be told, the last thing I want to do when I get home at night is stare at the computer after staring at it all day at work. But the good news is, I work in a seasonal industry where spring and summer are the busiest months of the year.

So things are finally slowing down, and I thought it might be time to dust off the ole' blog again. Hopefully some of you (any of you?) are still with me! And if you are, THANKS! But I've got lots of great recipes to share and lots of CAKES!!! I can't guarantee I'll be as active as I once was, but I do hope to continue blogging and sharing recipes!

It feels good to be back. :)