Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Zucchini Cake

The zucchini is spilling out of the garden.  The big, luscious vines are providing beautiful dark green fruits everyday.  With zucchini if you miss picking one, in 24 hours it will be big and overgrown.  One of our favorite uses for the big fruits is to make cake.  I make the entire cake in the food processor, but you could also use a regular mixer.  Even folks who do not like zucchini will love this cake, and if you don't tell them the zucchini is in it, they will never guess that it is there!

Zucchini Cake

Grate 2 cups of zucchini and set aside

Cream together:  1/2 cup of butter, 1/2 cup of oil, 1 3/4 cups of sugar. 

Add 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 cup sour milk (add 1/2 Tbls of vinegar to the 1/2 cup of milk and stir).

Mix together 2 1/2 cups of flour, 4 Tbls cocoa. 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt.  Add dry ingredients to the egg mixture and stir until thoroughly incorporated. 

Stir in the grated zucchini.  Pour into a large jelly roll pan or a cookie sheet with a rim.  Sprinkle about 3/4 of a large bag of chocolate chips on top.  You may also want to add some pecans.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.  Be careful not to over bake. (I find that 35-40 minutes works in my oven).  This is delicious plain, but is also good topped with ice cream.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Vegetables

This morning we had 3/4 inch of rain.  It is so welcomed after long, hot, dry days.  I've watered every day, but that is just not as good a rain.  Despite the dry weather, I have an abundance of produce from my own garden and the farmers markets.  My kitchen cabinet is laden with zucchini and sunburst squash, cucumbers, green beans, peppers, tomatoes and blueberries.  The sunflowers are beginning to bloom and everywhere the bees are still working their magic on the blossoms.  I love this time of year.  The garden is so plentiful, and it makes everything look hopeful and secure.  We feed ourselves and can put some up for winter too.  It is deeply satisfying to see enough food on your cabinet, grown in your own garden, to feed the family for several meals.  It goes to something primal beyond any other work I've done to be a part of the life cycle in planting, growing and harvesting.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Midsummer's Night

It is almost dark.  The last of the color is fading from the trees and grass, and soon the whole scene will go gray and then black.  But just as dusk pulls the shade on another day, my yard is alive with the tiny golden light of the fireflies.  Dozens of lights dance from the grass to the trees and into the deep woods beyond the house.  I think  for a moment about grabbing a jar and running barefoot into the dewy grass to catch the tiny lights and keep them in the jar with holes punched in the metal lid as I did when I was a child.  One summer when my son was quite young and was very ill, I caught  a whole jar of fireflies and then turned them lose in his room.  In his illness that night, the tiny jeweled lights flying across his walls and floating over his bed eased his pain and helped him to sleep.  Tonight I just enjoy the show and wonder where these delightful insects recharge during the day.  They have no idea how many children they have thrilled with their magic lantern dances in the night.  Or how many adults still drift back to childhood just watching the fireflies of midsummer dance.
Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. ~Author Unknown