ABC...Zucchini!

I'm going on a picnic and I'm taking......zzzzzzzz..... no, not a snooze (although I can remember my dad taking a snooze or two on our picnics), but I am taking something that begins with the letter "z".....

Louise over at Months of Edible Celebrations is hosting the "Picnic Game" and I'm excited to play along!

To play the picnic game, you start with letter A and list what you're bringing that begins with an A, then move on to B, and so on. Each blogger coming to the picnic picks a letter and then gathers everybody's contributions in one place!

Let's begin...
(please visit these lovely blogs--and after virtual eating all that picnic food you can go on a virtual diet with me--there are some great dishes)

A--Almond Joy Pie 

B--Baked Beans
C--Chocolate Picnic Cake
D--Dutch Funnel Cake
E--Easy Blender Chicken Pie
F--Five Bean Salad
G--Granola Bars
H--Herb and Cheese Pasta Salad
I--Incredibly Fruity Raspberry Cakes
J--Jeweled Picnic Bars
K--Kaltschale (cold fruit soup)
L--Long Island Lemonade Cocktail
M--Mushroom Tart
N--Nut Roast
O--Olive Nut Bread
P--Pomegranate Mousse Cake
Q--Quiche
R--Raspberry Chocolate Macaroons
S--Spicy Glazed Shrimp and Veggie Kabobs
T--Turkey and Pear wraps w/Curried Aioli
U--Unoriginal Whole Foods Salad Bar
V--Vegetable Things of Spring Salad..Veal Shank with Risotto..and Viennese Chocolate-Cherry Torte.
W--White Caramel Popcorn
X--X-quisite Layered Fruit Salad
Y--Yellow Squash Casserole
Z.....Zucchini Bread!!

We have an abundance during the summer right? Of Zucchini, I mean. I once heard a Lake Woebegone show and Garrison Keillor talked about how in Lake Woebegone, during the summer, you dare not leave your car unlocked or else you'll be greeted with zucchini on the front seat of your car...left by an anonymous friend. It would show up on your doorstep, in your car, at your work.....

Zucchini here, zucchini there, zucchini everywhere. All left by friends and neighbors who had ALL planted zucchini in their gardens.
And yes....I've planted some. Why? Because it "grows" here in the high desert of Northern Nevada, that's why.
We get tomatoes, we get zucchini, and if we're lucky a radish or two early on.


Zucchini everything (zucchini cake, zucchini relish, zucchini bread ) just seems to scream summer to me...and in the summer, picnicking brings back such fond memories of my youth. Hot days, swimming pools, cold fried chicken, cold baked beans, watermelon and...my mom's zucchini bread. My mom could whip out a loaf of zucchini bread in no time at all....and we were not ones to let a good zucchini go to waste, so we had this quick bread around for most of the summer.


So, brought to you courtesy of me and the letter "z", ( I just finished reading the Complete History of Sesame Street, can you tell?), I give you.... my mom's zucchini bread.


 Zucchini bread


3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking cocoa
3 cups grated zucchini
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)


Combine the first 7 ingredients in a bowl, mix well to coat the zucchini. Add the mixture of sugar, eggs, oil and vanilla (nuts if you want them); mix well. Pour into 2 greased 5x9 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

The end..... not only of my blog post, but of the picnic game! Because.....zzzzzzzz is the last letter in the alphabet.
Have fun on all your summer picnics this year.
Thanks Louise for hosting such a fun "picnic game" (no ants! or yellowjackets!)