Monday, April 30, 2018

Z is for Zucchini

In Florida, Frank had a huge garden every year. He’s grow corn, onions, potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and other kinds of squash . . . just a huge garden. I loved the produce, but I’m here to tell you that I didn’t like what I had to do with most of the veggies when they were ripe for picking. I had to either freeze or can them, and I’m just not domestic enough to enjoy those chores. Also, almost every year, the veggies needed to be either frozen or canned right at final exam time, when I needed to be making and grading tests and getting final grades done; or everything needed doing just as we were getting ready to leave for Europe, when I needed to be getting all the last minute things done for the trip. I loved the onions, potatoes, and cukes, though, because I just needed to go out and pick or dig veggies for dinner.

I think that the last time Frank had the huge garden was in 2002, the year before our move to New Mexico. Things are different here in the Land of Enchantment. It’s almost impossible to grow a garden of any sort because of the lack of water. You need to know that some people have beautiful gardens – both flower gardens and vegetable gardens – but it takes MUCH tending and LOTS of water. I’m not much of an outdoor person, even for having beautiful gardens, and Frank has grown weary of working so hard, sometimes not getting anything to grow.

But . . . one year (and I wish we could remember which one!) we had so much zucchini that we couldn’t even eat it all. He would go out in the evening to check the growth and find six or seven inch squash, only to find that they had grown to ten or twelve inches by the next morning. Amazing! I have searched for a photo that I have of him holding one at least fifteen inches long, but to no avail. That summer, just as I was leaving to go to Pecos to do a math inservice, he came in the house with a box full of zucchini. He said to tell the teachers that I wouldn’t be doing the meeting until they had taken all of the zucchini with them. A couple of years later, I was in Hagerman visiting a teacher. The new principal came to the desk in the office, and we began to chat. We both said that we thought we’d met before. He told me that he used to be the principal at Pecos Middle School. Then the light bulb went off in his head, and he said, “You’re the zucchini lady!” Funny, huh?

Let me tell you a couple of things to do with zucchini. We found or created lots of recipes that Summer of the Abundant Zucchini! The first is one that Frank made up, and it’s delicious. He’d slice the zucchini into what he calls “slabs” lengthwise. I prefer to call them “slices.” Then he puts either butter or olive oil on the griddle and grills them. At the end, he puts slices of cheese (any kind will do) and melts the cheese. These are absolutely delicious! My hero is good at making up recipes.

And what about me? I’m a recipe gal. So I found a delicious dessert  recipe. I hope you make it sometime. You can really fool people!

Zucchini Dessert Squares– I found this recipe in the New Mexican one summer, but I lost the recipe. Since you can find anything on the Internet, I googled it and up popped my recipe. Tastes like apple pie!

Ingredients
         

     4 cups all-purpose flour
         2 cups sugar
         1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
         1/2 teaspoon salt
         1-1/2 cups cold butter
         FILLING:
         8 to 10 cups cubed seeded peeled zucchini (4 to 5 pounds)
         2/3 cup lemon juice
         1 cup sugar
         1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
         1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions
         In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly; reserve 3 cups. Pat remaining crumb mixture into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 375° for 12 minutes.
         Meanwhile, for filling, place zucchini and lemon juice in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 6-8 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender. Stir in the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg; cover and simmer for 5 minutes (mixture will be thin).
         Spoon over crust; sprinkle with the reserved crumb mixture. Bake at 375° for 40-45 minutes or until golden. Yield: 16-20 servings.

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4 comments:

Marcy said...

You can never have too many zucchini recipes and I've never seen this one before. Thanks for sharing!

Cerrillos Sandy said...

Do try it, Marcy! Delish! Thanks so much for reading and commenting on all of my posts. I think I read all of yours and loved every one, but I need to check to be sure that I did. Honestly, I don't know if I can do A-Z again. It's really hard thinking of words. After I decide, though, I love writing about my choices. Happy Summer!
Great big hugs,
Sandy

jagbir said...

Usually, I never comment on blogs but your article is so convincing that I never stop myself to say something about it. You’re doing a great job Man. Best article I have ever read

Keep it up!

Joshua said...

This is my first time to see a blog thanks you so much mom for sharing, I loved his Mr frank was so curious about cooking staffs , than you mom hahaha, its really interesting to continue reading more.