Hey, Mom

Even one zucchini plant can be a prolific producer. If everyone in your neighborhood has planted zucchini, you may find you can’t eat it fast enough. This easy to grow squash is, thankfully, a versatile food in the kitchen. It can be cooked, eaten raw, added to baked goods, soups, salads, and more.

It is best to pick zucchini when it is relatively small, like about 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches diameter. This is the best size for cooking, as it is tender. But sometimes we can’t get out in the garden and before we know it we’ve got a giant squash. The big ones are fine for grating for cakes or bread. It is best to take the seedy middle out before grating, but you can and should leave the skins on.

Finding recipes:

The Internet is great for recipe hunting. I found a nice cake recipe that my family enjoyed. It’s a lot like a spicy carrot cake. I used cream cheese frosting. It was very good, but there are many, many more out there. I will try another recipe next time. This one from All Recipes looks good and it uses more zucchini, which appeals to me.

There’s no harm in experimenting either, or inventing your own recipes. I wanted to cook just zucchini for supper one night, but I wanted it to have a lot of flavor and be somewhat filling. My brother in law made something similar to this one time, but I didn’t have his recipe. I made my own and it turned out great. Feel free to try it or add it to your recipe file.

Zesty Skillet Zucchini (Serves 2-3)

1 green zucchini
1 yellow zucchini (or summer squash)
1 medium tomato, cut into one inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped red onion
4 slices (thick sliced) bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
kosher salt to taste
crushed red pepper
fresh grated parmesean cheese

Wash zucchini and cut ends off. Quarter zucchini lengthwise, then cut into one inch pieces and set aside. In a large skillet, brown the bacon until not quite crisp. Drain off some fat if desired, but leave about two tablespoons in skillet. On medium heat, add the onion and saute two minutes. Add the tomato, the zucchini and salt. Saute, stirring often, until zucchini is tender (not translucent). Stir in red pepper to taste right before serving. Top with parmesean cheese.

Variation: Blend in 1 cup cooked farfalle pasta

Getting a truly fresh strawberry taste after the season is ended is easy. Sure, I know, you can buy strawberries in the grocery store, but I think those come from a laboratory somewhere. They don’t taste like strawberries grown locally in season. Nothing tastes like those. To keep the taste, make freezer jam, something so easy everyone can do it.

To make three jars of jam, I use Sure-Jell and follow the easy recipe included in the box.

What you need:

• Three containers (I use pint jars), but you can use plastic containers
• 1 box of Sure-Jell
• 1 quart of strawberries (make the jam the same day you pick or buy the fruit; do not let it get overripe)
• 4 cups of sugar
• a large bowl
• various measuring cups (so you won’t have to wash them during the process; I use two one cup and a two cup)
• a large mixing spoon for stirring the strawberry mixture
• a potato masher
• a small saucepan
• a wooden spoon (for stirring the Sure-Jell as it cooks)
• a ladle
• a canning funnel (if you’re using pint jars)
• a timer (I use the one on my stove)

The entire process takes very little time, maybe 40 minutes if you include clean up.

Some hints to help:

• Don’t soak the strawberries in water; rinse them gently in a colander and drain well.
• If you can’t make the jam right away, store strawberries in the refrigerator in a covered container. They will continue to ripen if you leave them out.
• Mash the berries a few at at time, like ten and start measuring. You don’t get them mashed well enough if you do them all at once. Plus, you might waste a few if you mash them all. You only need two cups of mashed berries (including the juice they make).
• Follow the directions, especially the measurements, exactly.

Once you’re done, you’ll have jam that really does taste like fresh strawberries. I guarantee you’ll wish you had made more and you will never again want “store-bought” cooked jam. There is no comparison.

It makes great gifts, too!