Zucchini Bread, or how to force-feed surplus vegetables to your friends

          Last summer was my first season of serious vegetable growing, and my first experience with the frightening prolificacy of squash of all sorts. My crop of Costata Romanesca Zucchini was the first of the plants to flower in my community garden plot and, in the beginning, every burgeoning green or yellow finger that grew forth felt like an exciting feat of gardening success. I would ride my bicycle home, admiring the fresh-picked green specimens in my basket, and contemplating what an awesome gardener I was.

          Soon the leaves grew broader, the stalks grew taller, and the zucchini plants started taking over the plot. At this point, I began ignoring them altogether. But still, I couldn't help tripping over 2 foot zucchinis spilling out into the rows. The baseball bat-sized monstrosities were sauteed, put in casseroles, pawned off on unsuspecting (but often grateful) co-workers, and sometimes stored with the best of intentions until no longer edible. As much as I began to cringe at the thought of eating more squash by summer's end, leaving nature's bounty to rot seemed wholly ungrateful. So I turned to Paula Deen.

          This recipe for zucchini bread solves many squash-surplus woes. Firstly, it hardly tastes like vegetables at all - which is a relief to those who get queasy at the mere thought of shoveling more zucchini into their battle-weary digestive systems. My boyfriend didn't lay a finger on the loaf I had in the kitchen for at least two days due to his insistence that he HATES zucchini. But he gladly consumed the whole piece once assured that the - shall we say "generous" - amounts of sugar and vegetable oil in the recipe surely remove the bread from the health food category and place it in a world all its own. Secondly, the recipe, making two loaves and calling for two cups of grated zucchini, will make a sizable dent in your stash. This amount is equivalent to two small zucchinis or one large, and I have even been known to throw a little extra into the batter without detriment to decadence or deliciousness. What results is an exceptionally moist, perfectly spiced, quick bread ideal for breakfast or an afternoon snack. And you can take my word for it -- giving away your second loaf of bread will be so much easier than convincing your neighbors to take one more zucchini off your hands.

Zucchini Bread

Makes 2 loaves

3 1/4 cups Flour

1 1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Nutmeg

2 tsp Baking soda

1 tsp Cinnamon

3 cups sugar

1 cup Vegetable Oil

4 Eggs*

1/3 cup Water

2 cups Zucchini, grated

1 tsp Lemon juice

1 cup Walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together oil, eggs, water, zucchini, and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, then fold in nuts. Pour into two greased, standard loaf pans, and bake for around 1 hour, or until tester comes out clean.

* Eggs can be substituted with egg replacer to make a vegan bread which is, I swear, nearly identical in taste and texture. Just don't tell Paula Deen.