Local food: zucchini...

It's zucchini season! Luckily for us we have 2 local food sources: Cousin Julie and Brother Ben. Next year I should be producing my own, but until then, we'll be enjoying the fruits (er, vegetables) of their labor once in awhile.

Growing up, zucchini was my favorite vegetable. My mom used to saute it with bacon & onion and boy was it delicious. These days I usually skip the bacon (sigh...my metabolism is a mite slower than it used to be) but it still makes a tasty side dish without it. Throw in a little squash for variety when you have it (thanks Julie) and life just doesn't get much better.

Since Julie had quite a bit of the green gems to give away last Sunday, I took a few extra to try my hand at a new zucchini bread recipe. It's a must try, but I wasn't surprised, it comes from Olive Oyl's grandma, so it had to be good. (For those of you who have it, it comes from page 115 of the SMBC cookbook). Here's the recipe:

Zucchini Pineapple Bread

• 3 c. flour
• 2 tsp. soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 3 eggs
• 1 c. salad oil
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 2 c. grated zucchini (I used 2 medium-sized zucchini)
• 1 (8 1/2-oz. can crushed pineapple)
• 1 c. chopped walnuts
• 1 c. raisins (opt.)

**I left out the walnuts & raisins.

Beat eggs with mixer until blended. Add salad oil, sugar, and vanilla. Continue beating until thick and foamy. Stir in shredded zucchini and pineapple. Sift together flour, soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir gently into zucchini mixture, just until blended. Add nuts and raisins. Divide batter between 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 35o degrees for 1 hour or until wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Turn onto wire racks to cool thoroughly.