Zucchini Bread

I decided to plant a garden earlier this year. I decided to plant zucchini in said garden. The zucchini plants grew large and had plentiful big, yellow flowers. They even sprouted several cute little zucchinis. A few of the cute little zucchinis grew into big, beautiful zucchinis, but most of them shriveled up and died (my gardener friend said it was because they didn't get pollinated). I was really looking forward to feeling like zucchini was coming out my ears, but I was buying zucchini all summer long. Really!?! How do you do that? I was looking forward to my zucchini growing like a weed and producing more than I wanted. That's what zucchini plants do. But not my zucchini plant.

We love zucchini at my house. We like it fried with onions and butter, and we like it in bread. I had high hope of making zucchini bread regularly during the summer and the fall, but only managed to make one batch. And it wasn't even from my own zucchini. Maybe next year, but not this year.

This Zucchini Bread is fantastic! We usually finish off the batch the same day it's made. If it survives through the night, it is a near miracle.

3 cups zucchini, shredded
1 2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
4 eggs
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup nuts, optional

Beat sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredient and mix well. Fold in zucchini and nuts. Pour into 2 large bread pans that have been greased. Bake at 350 for 50 to 60 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Recipe from my old friend, Lynda.