I think I managed to save my zucchini plant (thanks Kate!). Now I am regularly harvesting zucchini.
Time for zucchini bread. I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of zucchini bread, but when I found this recipe in our local newspaper it was different enough that I had to try it. It has become a family favorite. Even my children, who think anything zucchini is disgusting, love it. I did have to trick them into trying it the first time by telling them we were having “muffin bread”. 🙂 It’s official title is “Zucchini Bread with Walnuts”, but we don’t like walnuts so we call it “Zucchini Bread without Walnuts” or just “Zucchini Bread” (aren’t we clever?).
3 cups self-rising flour
1 T ground cinnamon
1 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves (I used Allspice instead because I didn’t have cloves — I don’t know if that is an acceptable substitute, but it tasted pretty good)
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 T vanilla
2 cups grated zucchini
(If you choose – I leave them out) 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease 2 (9 X 5-inch) loaf pans and dust with flour.
Sift flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves (or Allspice) and salt into a bowl.
Beat eggs, oil, milk, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl until combined. Add flour mixture to egg mixture and stir to combine thoroughly. Stir in zucchini (and nuts). Pour into prepared pans.
Bake 45 to 60 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on a wire rack 20 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely before slicing. Makes 2 loaves, 10 slices each.
While making my zucchini bread I realized my spice shelf needed some attention. It didn’t look awful, it was simply difficult to find what I needed without playing the pull-everything-out game. So while it was in the oven, I started organizing.
At the beginning of the summer my mother-in-law brought me this:
(Thanks Eun!) I’m not sure why I hadn’t used it before, but I pulled it out and started arranging. I tried to place like things together on one tier, and because I’m kind of nerdy, I also alphabetized each tier (we’ll see how long that lasts 🙂 ).
While I was at it, I kept going and arranged the entire cabinet. I don’t have a “before” photo, but you can be assured it was not pretty. Here is the “after”:
My husband was so pleased. We can find what we are looking for . . . another benefit of being organized.
I’m linking this post up here.
Related articles
- Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bread (andreasgardencooking.com)
- What Do You Do With an Abundance of Zucchini? Make Bread! (amberwoodterrace.wordpress.com)
- National zucchini day (eatocracy.cnn.com)
- Beyond Zucchini Bread: 15 Fresh Ways to Enjoy the Green Monster Squash (thekitchn.com)
- How we make zucchini bread here at Lydia Street (lydiastreet.com)
