Zucchini Bread Fresh From the Garden -- Self Reliance 1

Zucchini Bread

One of my favorite things about summer, aside from the beautiful weather, is when the zucchini plants finally start producing. I look forward to zucchini bread all year. This year, I told my wife I was going on a zucchini bread diet. She asked me what this meant. I told her it meant I was going to eat only zucchini bread for the next two months. I don't think she believed me.

Planting Time

In our area of the world, we plant the zucchini seeds after the last frost. We live in an area of "tricksy" weather, so determining the last frost can be a bit difficult. There have been many years I was too excited and planted the seeds only to have a late frost hit our plants. I always save a few seeds in case that happens. Then I just replant. This year, we seemed to be out of the danger of a late frost by the middle of May, so that is when we planted our seeds.

Here is what our plants look like after just two months.

Most years we only plant two zucchini. This year I was determined to have plenty for frying, grilling, steaming, and of course for zucchini bread. As you can see, we have more than two plants. My wife and I planted five. They are quite big and beautiful now.

On the Vine

Here you can see three zucchini on the vine in various sizes as well as one small flower on the bottom left of the picture. The blossoms are big and beautiful. My bees love them. These vegetables grow really fast so it is necessary to check the plants every day for new zucchini. If you plan on using them for zucchini bread, you can let them get a bit bigger. For grilling, frying, or steaming they are much more delicious when they are small. About 6 to 8 inches seems to be the cutoff for tenderness. After this point, they start getting a bit tough.

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini bread is really easy to make. I love it with chocolate chips, although a few of my children prefer no chocolate. Here is a picture of a freshly baked bread still in the bundt pan.

Zucchini Bread Recipe

Here is the recipe if you want to make some yourself:

*1 Cup Oil
*2 Cups Sugar
*3 Eggs
*1 Tablespoon vanilla
*3 1/4 Cups Flour
*1 Teaspoon of each: salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg
*About 3 cups of shredded zucchini. I shred mine with a cheese grater. Sometimes I use more zucchini, sometimes a bit less.
*1 cup of chocolate chips if desired

Mix.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Make sure you spray or oil your pan so that it comes out smooth.

By the way, if you are wondering, I don't eat just zucchini bread--as much as I would like to. I regularly eat healthy foods and only occasionally have a slice of zucchini bread. Sometimes two slices.

Happy Baking!

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