Zucchini Bread

Jan here, feeling loved.

 I remember back in the 70's when zucchini was a fairly new vegetable on the scene for backyard gardeners. It was different. Who knew how to use it?

Then people discovered how prolific it was.

 Old joke alert! "How can you tell if a person has no friends?" "They buy their zucchini at the grocery store."

 LOL! Up until my daughter's zucchini plants started producing, that was me!

But then she gave me a giant zucchini, and we're back in the zucchini bread business! My favorite recipe comes from this cookbook that I got for a wedding shower gift thirty eight years ago:

I've been making a version of the zucchini nut bread recipe in this book ever since!

You can tell this book is well-loved and well-used!

Here's the recipe:

ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup sugar
1 cup finely shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1 egg
1/4 cup cooking oil (I use coconut oil)

In a small mixing bowl, stir the first five ingredients together.

In a larger mixing bowl, whisk the egg, then add the sugar and zucchini and stir them in. Then add the oil and stir until everything is combined.

Add the flour mixture and stir until it's all mixed together. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (8" works best.)

Bake at 350° for 55-60 minutes or until done.

In other news, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally was last week. The numbers were down, but I guess that's expected this year. Another change this year is that the bikers seemed to be taking more "long rides" to the Badlands, Devils Tower, etc. rather than hanging out in Sturgis all week.

But then on Wednesday, this happened (I chose the video without sound.)

According to witnesses, the woman tried to approach a baby bison and an adult attacked her. (I think I would say that according to the bison, the woman tried to attack a baby and the adult protected the the little one!)

The woman only had minor injuries, which was a miracle.

Just a reminder - bison are not fuzzy cows. And the signs that are scattered throughout the park are serious: "Bison are dangerous. Do not approach."

Whenever I take photos of wildlife, I always stay inside our vehicle...unless we're hiking.

And then I make sure we keep our distance, walk away, and let them have the right of way!

But with the end of the Rally comes the end of the summer. Starting this week our temperatures will be moderating toward fall, the bucks lose the velvet on their antlers, the fall wildflowers start blooming. Soon the aspens will turn to gold and the north wind will bring the promise of snow...

...all in the next four weeks.

I'm looking forward to it!

Jan Drexler has always been a "book girl" who still loves to spend time within the pages of her favorite books. She lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her dear husband of many years and their active, crazy dogs, Jack and Sam. You can learn more about Jan and her books on her website, www.JanDrexler.com.

Squid ink spaghetti with heirloom tomatoes AND Blackberry zucchini bread

Hello, everybody! It's been a crazy week at Casa Munoz and I'm shocked that after all the cooking we've done, I don't have much to show for it. Why do I not take pictures?? We had a delicious grilled tuna a few days ago, then roasted stuffed peppers, then a layered tomato salad. But do I have photos? NO. Well, I have a few. 

                                              
I'm in love with our garden right now! SO much deliciousness happening out there. Our peaches are all gone and I only managed to can about six or seven quarts of vanilla peaches (sliced peaches with a bit of vanilla bean). Of course, we've also eaten half of those quarts already but I hid one in the back of the pantry for January when we're all sick to death of store bought food.

These bright little peppers make me so happy! I don't eat them plain, like my husband does, but I like them in pico de gallo and stirred into home made Italian sauce. Gives everything just a little kick.

And here is tonight's dinner, squid ink spaghetti. How cool is that? I think someone already posted about black pasta, though. I can't remember who it was but I remember thinking, "Oooo, new and shiny! The kids might love it!" So, here's out take on it. I didn't notice much difference, but that may be because I put a lot of basil in my sauce. (And this is my husband's dish. I don't do peppers.)

 So, a few weeks ago I mentioned blackberry zucchini bread. Here it is! Easy peasy. We got this shredded zucchini from a neighbor, so it doesn't have the skin. (We usually leave the skin on. But the skinless looks prettier in this loaf anyway so...)

 Blackberries from along the river. There weren't many this year. SO SAD.

Now, the recipe is something written down on a stained notecard so I'm not exactly sure where it's from. It looks like my friend Eleanor's handwriting so I'm assuming it's a family recipe. She didn't really work from cookbooks. 

 Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
1 cup blackberries

 Mmmmmmm. Fresh from the oven.

I love the moistness that the zucchini gives the bread. Of course, that might be the 3 eggs and cup of oil, too. :D But anyway, it was a delicious combination and now on our rotation of baking favorites! I'm curious if it would be as good in banana bread, but I'll have to wait until next year because our blackberries are gone. 

Until next time! Be sure to stop by my author pages at Mary Jane Hathaway or Virginia Carmichael, or my blog at The Things That Last.