My apron sure got a workout today, not to mention my feet! Picture this for a whirling dervish…me, overseeing three children’s school lessons while canning 50 large *picked today* tomatoes from the garden into A. tomato-okra soup/sauce base and B. Italian tomato sauce with oregano, basil, onion, celery, fresh parsley…oh and add to that mess a big box of zucchini to peel, seed and shred for the freezer! Got 30+ cups shredded with the help of my fantastic lil’ daughters!

So this post is allll about zucchini! My big sis is the one with more zucchini than she knows what to do with, and she is such a darling that she shared a bunch with me…she also shared her Kitchen Aid mixer “slicer-shredder” attachment, to make a big job much easier! Whew…I’m forever in her debt. My husband is forever in her debt. He never knew zucchini bread could be so wonderful. He’s a banana bread fiend, but after tasting zucchini bread, he is forbidding me to ever use zucchini for a side dish again. (Did I mention that he is so not a fan of zucchini? Up till now that is!)

So my big sister also passed on a family heirloom…Grandma B’s recipe for zucchini bread. This is so delicious, people. I made a double batch and we could have eaten both loaves easily, five ways!

Grandma’s Zucchini Bread

Mix together:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 beaten egg

Then add:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2-3/4 cup chopped nuts, if desired

Bake at 350F for 35 minutes.

Next up, Zucchini Pie. Can’t wait to make this and fool the family!

Zucchini Pie (a.k.a. Mock Apple Pie– Shh!)

*tastes like Dutch Apple Pie

• 4 cups zucchini*
• 1 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• dash of salt
• 2 TB flour
• 1 TB lemon juice
• Dash of nutmeg
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp butter (approximately)
• 1 (9-inch) pie shell

Topping

• 1 stick margarine or butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour

*Peel zucchini. Cut lengthwise; scoop out seeds. Slice to resemble apple slices. (heh heh)

Cook zucchini 10 minutes in small amount of water. Drain. Mix cream of tarter, salt, flour, lemon juice, nutmeg, sugar and cinnamon with zucchini. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Dot with butter.

Make topping by mixing butter, sugar and flour and crumbling over ingredients in pie shell. Bake at 375F for 45 minutes.

I’ll let you all know how our “pie” turned out! :O)