Two things you want but don't know it yet...

1. Chocolate Zucchini Cake.  Our garden is booming waaay past the point of daily consumption. Never mind, there is always baking. 

Allrecipes.com describes this cake as 'fudgy', and I'd agree. It is fudgy, gooey soulfood. With undetectable veges.

For once, I followed the recipe exactly.. almost.  I subbed half the zucchini for grated beetroot and used choc chunks instead of walnuts. I feel that in cakes, nuts interfere with the smoothness of the cake-scoffing experience. Nut butter, yes, but not actual nuts. 

There is a lot of sugar in this cake (two cups). I will make it again using a combination of stevia and erythritol and see if that works. It should. Stevia tends to go well with anything involving fruit or veg.

Some of my favourite things...

I've spent a lot of time in the last week waving people goodbye at the airport (and battling traffic to get them there!). Today I saw my brother, his lovely partner and The Squishies off. My littlest niece is an airport pro. She understands that when leaving you must attempt to kiss everyone to death. So cute.

Also, thanks so much everyone for the **BIRTHDAY WISHES**. I do seriously love getting older, or maybe it's just that life keeps getting better? It could also be that I'm just too busy to think too hard about the length of my telomeres.

I wanted to introduce you to a kitchen favourite of mine. I have a few essential devices. One is my high-tech Kenwood device-of-everythingness and another is this exceedingly low-tech ceramic garlic crusher, so please take a moment to say 'hello'. It crushes the garlic and squeezes the garlic juices out of it, which flavours cooking with garlicky wonderfulness.

For exemplar, tonight's prawn and pumpkin curry, as below. Can you tell I've been reading waaay too many scientific articles? Tired of saying 'for example', many authors resort to 'as an exemplar' or even 'as a most stirling exemplar'.  I'm telling you, published scientific people with multiple advanced degrees; I'm starting to get the giggles every time I read 'stirling exemplar'. Please cease. It's just not necessary.

Disclaimer: I do realise that sometimes 'exemplar' IS the correct and only word to use, I'm not talking about those times...

To celebrate my new maturity, and because he is secretly worried that I'm going to get empty nest syndrome now that the fam has flown, The Programmer came home with a really pretty bunch of flowers.

Yesterday Mamasana did the same thing. My house is all floral and I've only got one more article to read before I am finished the second to last assignment of the semester and there have been no aftershocks to speak of for days. All is good at Sara HQ.

What I'd like to know: what are your most essential kitchen devices/implements/gadgets?  Please share, even if this means giving away the secret to your culinary successes.  I won't tell.