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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Zucchini Overload

It happens every year. From not one to overload in a day: zucchini overload. I take it as a personal challenge to face the zucchini each year composing as few fruits as possible. It is a fun hunt, looking for fruits among the vines - the same green, they often disappear until they are bat sized an tough, so it takes some careful looking to get at the small tender ones we love. My skin reacts to the little pricklies, so I carefully move the big leaves and look at the plant base. One escaped Jonathan's picking earlier in the week - it was wrapped to form a perfect "J" - tucked in so perfectly it was hard to get out!

Last night it was zucchini quiche for dinner. I don't make this vegetarian classic much - but it is always terrific. Many years ago, my friends Beth and Dan asked me to contribute zucchini quiche for their wedding celebration. I made a bunch - and developed an aversion to the smell for many years! But after decades, I can appreciate it again. Tonight was zucchini again - this time the strangest pizza I've ever made. No, not zucchini on top - it was a zucchini and cheese crust (with a few eggs and a tiny bit of biscuit mix) with ground beef and tomato sauce on top. Remarkably good.

On the sideboard are jars of zucchini relish - looking pretty and hopefully tasting great. I bought some at the farmers market last year, and it was pretty, tart, and adaptable - a great accompaniment  to any meat. I followed the recipe in "Putting Foods By", and captured it in small, wide mouth half pint jars. I hope it will make nice gifts.

And there is always baking. A chocolate zucchini cake is cooling in the kitchen - with a teenage boy in the house, it is unlikely much will make it into the freezer! I will probably bring zucchini bread to a meeting later this week - hopefully no one is on a carb free diet; it should count as a vegetable!

It won't last forever - as soon as the last of the big stuffed boats are gone, the vines will wilt and the bounty will be over for the next year. Time to find even more uses...

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