What I do with all that Zucchini...

Last Christmas when the parents and in-laws asked my husband and me for Christmas gift ideas we told them we would just like to receive money. We had something very specific in mind to do with it... we wanted to buy one of these:

If you don't have a food processor, get out your Christmas Wish List and add one to it right now, this minute! Seriously, it's one of the best kitchen power tools I have. I think I may even get rid of my small chopper and blender, I love it that much! We use it for any number of things: cutting butter into something I am baking, canning, preparing to freeze veggies, shredding cheese, mixing dough, chopping onions, making salsa, making baby food, blending refried beans, the list goes on and on........... So, I bring this up now because it has become a life saver for dealing with my garden. This week things were a little crazy with our schedule and we couldn't get out there to pick vegetables for several days. There were several baseball bats zucchinis out there for me to use up.

Here is where my food processor comes in ---- I can really quickly chop the zucchinis into large pieces that will fit into the mouth of the processor and run them through the shredder disc to get cup after cup of shredded zucchini!

What am I going to do with it when I am finished?

I love to put my zucchini into bags by the 2-cupful so that when I am ready to prepare a recipe that calls for it, I can grab one bag per 2-cups and let it thaw on my counter ahead of time. I usually put them in smaller bags and then put those into a large gallon size bag in the freezer, labeled and dated. Zucchini will be good for 9 months in the freezer or 14 months in a deep freezer. Do your very best to get all the air out of the bags.

TIP: Use a soda straw, insert it into the bag and zip it all the way closed up to the straw. Suck out the air and then pinch the straw closed and continue sealing the zip as you pull the straw out. You can do that or you can invest in one of those fancy vacuum sealing machines... but that might have to wait for next year's Christmas Wish List...

We make a lot of casseroles and soups in our house. Adding a cup or two of shredded zucchini will totally fool the kids (even the hubby sometimes) and can be a great way to add more veggies to your diet without affecting the flavor or texture of the dish.

We also love to eat Zucchini Bread. I prefer to make it in muffins these days so that my little people can just reach into the refrigerator and pull one out of the container. I use this recipe, which makes 2 regular sized loaves of bread, or in my case--24 muffins.

Several summers ago, a mother of some of my piano students shared this recipe with me and I give it to you now:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup oil

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup buttermilk

2 cups zucchini, peeled and grated

2 1/2 cups flour

4 Tbs cocoa

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 (12oz) bag chocolate chips

Brown Sugar

  

Cream butter, oil and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla and buttermilk and mix well. Add zucchini, flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder and mix well. Stir in one cup of the chocolate chips. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. Top with remaining chips and some brown sugar. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Photos from a Springtime Garden (Pt. 3)

A few more photos to share...  

Potted Confederate Jasmine.  It will have petite, fragrant, white flowers, come later this spring and early summer.

Trusty Ajuga Reptans...  this will spread and fill in gaps pretty much anywhere you want it to.  And possibly even where you don't want it to. 

Lovely.

Old-fashioned verbena

Mazus Reptans

The Brunnera is starting to bloom.

Japanese painted fern and Ajuga

Peacock moss.  It has an amazing bluish-green color!

Here comes the lily-of-the-valley.

Such a humble plant but one of my favorites...  whether you call it myrtle, periwinkle, or vinca!

Photos from a Springtime Garden (Pt. 2)

The hosta are popping up, getting taller by the minute...

Creeping phlox...  around these parts this doesn't last very long, but I love its sweet blossoms and the foliage can hang in there for a while, even into the hot months.

More creeping phlox.  No idea why there is one lonely pink blossom among all the white!

Trumpet honeysuckle vine.

Can't resist another pic of the rhododendron.

Here come the Japanese maple leaves...  just a few days later these are almost entirely out!

This hydrangea is threatening to eat my porch...  it's so gorgeous though that I allow it to be monstrously huge.  Do you know how to properly prune a hydrangea?

 

 

Photos from a Springtime Garden (Pt. 1)

The warm weather has arrived in central North Carolina and along with it the plants and trees are greening, growing, and flowering.  I thought you might enjoy a few photos of what's blooming around here this week.

(L to R) Rosemary, lemon thyme, lavender, and creeping thyme

Last year my husband installed a small patio in our backyard using some paving stones and leftover brick from another project.  I put a few herbs in along one side.  The basil and parsley died off but these remained.  The lavender was moved from somewhere else where it wasn't thriving and is doing much better here.  A volunteer columbine is peeking out from between the rosemary and thyme.

Potted strawberries that keep coming back (original plant was bought in 2009!)...and a bit of a potted Confederate Jasmine that is greening up

Primroses...  one of my favorites.  They really don't like the NC heat but I keep trying and planting them here and there anyway!

Maybe, just maybe, if I keep spraying the smelly stuff on these pretty rhododendron flowers, just maybe I can see them bloom before the deer eat them up!

I have finally found a product that works to keep the deer from consuming my plants and flowers, but you do need to keep spraying it (especially during the growing season) and it is kinda pricey -- I buy the concentrate and mix it up myself in a spray bottle.  I haven't found this in big box stores but it is sold in several local garden centers around here. Visit their website for details on all their products!

Hellebore -- another favorite that does really well in this climate.

Did you know that maintaining hellebore plants properly includes snipping off last season's leaves once the new pretty green ones have emerged?  See the ones laying on the ground that are turning brown?  In another week or so I will snip those off as they will have been replaced by those bright green ones.

Lambs ear next to another type of rosemary

What's growing in your neck of the woods?

Plant the Promise of Spring!

and everything that's new, has bravely surfaced
teaching us to breathe
what was frozen through, is newly purposed
turning all things green, so it is with You
and how You make me new, with every season's change
and so it will be, as You are recreating me
summer, autumn, winter, spring

(Every Season by Nicole Nordeman)

What flowers would you like to see peeking out of the earth after a long winter? Daffodils? Tulips? Hyacinths? Crocuses? The time is coming when you can plant these bulbs in preparation for Spring 2012! What a fun activity you can do with your kids...

Now: Buy several dozen bulbs from a local nursery where they can tell you the best ones to grow in your area. Have your children come with you and choose the colors. Explain to them that they will have to practice patience as they wait for these flowers to bloom. When the weather turns warm again, these plants will start to grow. What a fun thing to look forward to as winter's cold sets in!

Autumn: Dress up in warm clothes and get some garden gloves. Use a shovel to turn over the dirt where you want the bulbs to go. Give your children small trowels so that they can participate in this part! Teach them how to dig and turn the earth over again to loosen the soil to make it good for the plants to grow in. Take a look at each bulb and discuss the differences. Explain how the plant will shoot up from the bulb, push through the dirt and come out on top, looking for sun! Plant these bulbs according to the package's directions, making sure that the pointy side is up! Bulbs are planted at least 2x as deep as the plant is tall. Have the kids fill the hole with dirt and then spread a layer of mulch over the area.

Help your children make some markers with giant popsicle sticks to label where the bulbs will come up and which flowers to expect!