We decided this week to use our abundance of CSA zucchini on something non-super-healthy…zucchini bread!  The recipe below comes from All recipes and has a ridiculously large amount of positive feedback…for a reason.  Even with our few tweaks, it was so delicious, I highly recommend making it!  Note – the measurements actually yield 2 loaves of bread, I halved the recipe and therefore only made 1 loaf.

Mom’s Zucchini Bread
from allrecipes.com

3 C all-purpose flour
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp baking soda
1 Tsp baking powder
3 Tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 C vegetable oil (we used 3/4 plain apple sauce, 1/4 oil)
2 1/4 C white sugar
3 Tsp vanilla extract
2 C grated zucchini (I used 1 1/2 C for my half recipe, a little extra)
1 C chopped walnuts (we omitted)

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).  Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.  Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

Enjoy!

PS. And here’s a close-up, you can really see the zucchini!

Do you ever make appetizers for dinner?  It’s one of my favorite treats on a weekend night when we have a movie or a big game to watch.  This past Saturday night we got Sherlock Holmes 2 from Netflix and thought it would be the perfect night for apps for dinner.  We made chicken wings and a bacon black bean dip that was just out of this world.  You have to make this the next time you have a need for an appetizer!  My husband made the entire thing and said it a little laborious, but once he tasted it, he said it was totally worth it…

Spicy Black Bean and Bacon Dip
from The Boston Globe Magazine, February 6, 2011

6 slices bacon, fried and crumbled, with 1 Tbs rendered fat reserved
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tsp cumin
1 Tbs lime juice
2 Tbs chopped pickled jalapeno peppers plus 1 Tbs packing juice (we just used a regular jalapeno chopped up and omitted the juice)
1 29-oz can black beans, drained but not rinsed, 1/2 C beans reserved
1 1/2 Tbs Tomato paste
s&p
3 scallions, thinly sliced

In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the bacon fat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cumin and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute; set aside off heat.

In a measuring cup, combine the lime juice, jalapeno packing juice (we omitted), and 3 Tbs hot water.  In a food processor (we used a magic bullet), puree all the beans except for the reserved 1/2 C, the onion mixture, tomato paste, 1/4 Tsp salt, and black pepper to taste, about 30 seconds; scrape down the sides of the work bowl with a flexible spatula.  With the feed tube open and the motor running, add the lime-jalapeno mixture in a slow, steady stream; process until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping if necessary.  Add the reserved beans and pulse just to combine.  Scrape the mixture into a bowl and stir in the jalapenos, the scallions, and the bacon.

Cover and let flavors develop, about 30 minutes.  Adjust the season with salt and pepper, if necessary, and serve.

Enjoy!

A fun thing to do while you’re in Newport, RI is to go to a Polo match – pack a picnic, some chairs to sit on, and some wine or beer to drink and it’s really a fun night and oh-so preppy, right? Anyway, this past Sunday night they were playing a special exhibition game according to their website so we made some food, bought some delicious cheese, and chilled a white wine.  We got there just in time for the match to start…but there was no one else there!  Long story short, after we called the Polo hotline (yes, such a phone number exists!) and found out the torrential rains throughout the weekend made it so the fields were too soaked to play on!  D’oh!

We drove around and decided to take our picnic elsewhere – to Brenton Point, aka, the Kite Park because the wind gets so strong there everyone flies kites.  We had such a nice time, it was the perfect night to have a picnic by the ocean.  Our sweet baby girl had a ball rolling around the grass and eating her own baby dinner on our picnic blanket.

And here was our view:

I thought I’d share what we made in case you have any summer picnics coming up and need ideas!

We had shrimp cocktail, grilled veggies (eggplant, onions, summer squash, zucchini, and green peppers, I know, it sound like a lot but we had so many leftover veggies from our CSA the week before!) and 2 delicious cheeses – an herb-ed goat cheese and a brie.

We bought a super cold Riesling to wash it all down and ate one of these for dessert – a fun picnic in the park!