First you weigh it to find out exactly how giant it is. Then you continue to scratch your head wondering just how that 4 pound 11-5/8 ounce thing managed to hide itself this long!
Then you start looking through all the wonderful recipes posted here at Farm Bell Recipes, especially those delicious looking squash recipes recently posted. They all sound so good.
Just as you are pondering these things, a recipe for Cranberry Zucchini Bread lands in your Inbox which demands to be tried. At least that is what happened to me.
By this time I had already gotten out the brand new grinder attachment to the old Kitchen Aid mixer to use on the zucchini. It had to be much easier than using a box grater! And it was. Cutting that huge zucchini into chunks was the most difficult part of the entire process.
Of course, you begin with a pile of parts that you have washed and must get them all back together again to grind the zucchini. Once that is done, just plug it in and start grinding!
The instructions say to cut things into strips to go into the grinder. Well, I suppose that should be self evident, but there I was wondering how we were going to get the zucchini down the shoot and out through those little holes. Well, DUH! (Can you tell that I have NEVER used a grinder before??) You also have to decide whether to use the disk with the small holes or the disk with the smaller holes. I opted, for no particular reason, to use the one with the larger of the small holes. Maybe because it just seems like it is easier to make pieces a little too large into smaller pieces than to make pieces which are too small into larger pieces? Not that I had any plan to use the zucchini any way other than how it came out of that grinder.
By the way, I heartily recommend taking the grinder apart before you use it. Even if you are not inclined to want to clean it before you put food into it, by taking it apart you discover that there are two of those disks in there with holes in them, and you really should only use one of them at a time. Really.
After grinding and grinding and grinding, you wind up with a big bowl full of zucchini mush, uh, that is to say ground pieces of zucchini which you can immediately turn into any recipe that calls for tiny pieces of squash! This day, it went into the new bread recipe. The rest can be packaged into whatever size packages you need for your favorite recipes.
The recipe for this delectable Cranberry Zucchini Bread can be found here so you can print it out or save it to your recipe box!
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Sheryl - Runningtrails says:
Looks and sounds delicious!
I’m drowning in zucchini right now too.
On July 21, 2010 at 5:55 am
CindyP says:
You’re using your handy little gadgets! I just love my grinder.
That zucchini will make you a few loaves of bread! Or some mock pineapple 😉
Great post, Pete 🙂
On July 21, 2010 at 7:38 am
Dede ~ wvhomecanner says:
Great post and you’re USING your new toys woohoo!
On July 21, 2010 at 7:54 am
KentuckyFarmGirl says:
Yum! That bread looks delicious!
On July 21, 2010 at 9:27 am
Leah says:
might have been a lot less trouble to have used the giant zucchini to hit someone over the head with,haha! Looks like it was worth it in the end tho,your bread looks yummy. 🙂
On July 21, 2010 at 10:00 am
kellyb says:
Terrific post that brought a big smile. That bread has me drooling. It looks wonderful. I’m so jealous. I’ve only gotten one zucchini off my plant. It got vine-borer and is now dead. I didn’t let DH plant 6 plants like he wanted because last year we were drowning in zukes. I hope to be able to try your bread.
On July 21, 2010 at 11:31 am
LisaAJB says:
I found one of those in my garden this week! My neighbor and I share a garden, so I felt like I should give the first GIANT zuc to her. She, not knowing what to do with such a monster, decided to dress it in doll clothes and put it on the porch. 🙂
On July 21, 2010 at 11:39 am
Moopsee says:
I’m still waiting for my first anything zuke. I’m soooooo jealous. I love the cakes and savory breads and…. It gives me a sorta excuse to eat carbs — you know, zukes are healthy! 😉
Great post!
On July 21, 2010 at 11:45 am
Rah says:
Here’s a hint. For the ginormous zucchini, I slice them long ways on all sides, and them throw out the seeds. They get so huge in the overgrown zukes. Then you can chop, gring, slice, etc., and treat however you like.
Zucchini boats are good too–cut in half lengthwise then use melon-baller to scoop out the seeds. Cut into 6″ boats and fill with meatloaf or the filling you use for stuffed-peppers. Top with cheese and bread crumbs and bake.
On July 21, 2010 at 11:47 am
Jessica says:
None of us likes zucchini bread so we stuff the big ones for dinner.
On July 21, 2010 at 6:11 pm
SD Sue says:
I had a 10 pound zucchini once, someone gave it to me, and I used it as a door stop. It froze in an early frost and was a door stop for quite a while, until it thawed, ugly.
On July 26, 2010 at 11:17 pm