zucchini bread, garden harvest, weather

The weather hasn't been at all summer-like this past week, and forecasts for the coming week aren't any better. For the weekend, we have a reprieve from the rain. My garden certainly doesn't know it's the end of August. However, we do have some romaine lettuce, a few zucchini, some small sweet onions, a few cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and one smallish tomato from an heirloom variety tomato. My mother was kind enough to provide me with 4 huge boxes of gravenstein apples from her orchard. I'll be canning applesauce this weekend.
With cool temperatures anticipated in the coming week, and a zucchini just a bit to large to eat as-is, it seems the perfect time to bake my first batch of zucchini bread this year. I am told I make the best zucchini bread in the world. For the greater good, I will share the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 good sized zucchini, about 8-9 inches long. Of course larger ones can be used if you want to make a bigger batch zucchini and freeze some for later or share it with others. The zucchini must be from your garden or from your neighbor's garden. it is against the rules to buy zucchini.

1 c vegetable oil

3 eggs from your own chickens if you have some, or from your neighbors. From the store if you really don't know anyone with a chicken.


2 teaspoons vanilla. Use the real kind, not the imitation. You want this to taste good.

1 1/2 cups white sugar

2 cups flour. Works well with 1/2 whole and 1/2 white wheat.

1/2 teaspoon baking POWDER

2 teaspoons baking SODA

1 Tablespoon cinnamon. Don't skimp on the cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. You can leave this out if you don't like nutmeg or if you don't have any. Do not run to the store just for this. It will be good either way, just a little bit more fun with it. But don't sweat it.

1 teaspoon salt


Directions:
Shred the zucchini. Measure it to make sure you have about 2 cups.

Use your hands to wring the liquid out into your compost container.




Preheat the oven to 350.
Mix the dry ingredients, except the sugar, in one bowl.


Mix the oil, sugar and eggs in another bowl.


Then mix them together.
Mix in the shredded zucchini last.


Mix it together very well. Pour into lightly greased loaf pan. Depending on the size of your pan, you may have enough batter for two loaves. I always get enough for one loaf and then some left over, but not enough for another full loaf. I use the rest to make muffins.



For loaves, bake about 60 minutes, for muffins about 12. Maybe longer. Of course, check with a toothpick or fork to make sure they're cooked through.



Have some for a snack before dinner. Have some for dessert later. Save a little to accompany your coffee in the morning.

Finally Summer

Is 3 months too long in between posts? Oh well. I've been waiting for something to actually grow in the garden so I could blog about it. Now that it's the middle of August, I'm actually eating what I grow.

Some of the apples are ready! Of course we've been eating them right off the tree, but I also made a quick and easy dessert with a couple of them. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 package refrigerated crescent rolls, like the doughboy makes, or the store brand(yeah, yeah, the trans fats. But they are so good)
1 large or 2 small apples, peeled and sliced thin
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

What to do with all of it:
Mix the apples, brown sugar and cinnamon together, of course. You could've guessed that. Open up the crescent rolls, lay them out flat on a cookie sheet. On each crescent, lay 2 or 3 slices of apple, then roll the pointy part of the crescent over the top. Bake according to crescent roll directions. Not required, but a scoop of vanilla ice cream is an obvious addition. If you're feeling indulgent, have one for breakfast.

What else?
We've had one measly lemon cuke, few cherry tomatoes, and some Romaine lettuce which my husband says tastes weird, and seems a little thick to me.

Yesterday I picked a small zuke, a yellow crookneck, and a few tiny side shoots of broccoli (most of the main heads flowered before I cut them. Bad gardener. Bad.) I also pulled up a sweet onion, which the slugs had eaten the green top off of. I cut up these items, tossed them in some oil in a hot pan, then added some leftover rice and a bit of leftover salmon. I cooked it till the zuke was tender, then added some soy sauce. Yum.


OK, as for the gardening aspect, I have learned to appreciate the humble, often griped about, mole. He does no harm, other than enticing the dog to dig in all the wrong places. Other than that, they push up fresh dirt in a garden that's not rototilled. This can be used to top potatoes, encouraging tuber growth, or to add to the base of corn plants, strengthening them, or simply as a place to plant in between the green mulch. That's why, in my garden you won't find many rows, as many things are just planted where my mole has made a spot for me to plant. The only creature in my garden I haven't found an appreciation for is the slimy, crop devouring slug.