Fun in the Kitchen

 

With the logistics of moving and the excitement of a new neighborhood and a yard with a creek and playmates and hidden treasures like toads and worms to discover, we haven't spent a lot of time in the kitchen this year.  (Although it often seems like I spend ALL my time there.  Make the meal.  Feed the meal.  Clean up the meal.  Repeat. And repeat.  And repeat.)  And even though Sam has been asking on a weekly basis if we can make his favorite cookies, I have really not wanted to get out the flour and the sugar and the measuring cups and deal with the mess of sprinkles all over the ceramic and frosting smeared all over the bane-of-my-existence countertop that never looks clean no matter what I do.  We've done pizzas on the grill with friends several times, but when it's just our family of three alone, the last thing on my list of things to do would be "Make MORE mess in the kitchen." 

 

But when we sauntered down to the garden last week and discovered that all the rain that had produced a giant zucchini plant leading to a generous supply of zucchini and cucumbers that we could not possibly eat all in one weekend, I asked if the kids wanted to make zucchini bread.  On the way back to the house we crunched down most of the smaller cucumbers and saved the big ones to make cucumber salad for dinner.  Eva hoisted a large zucchini over her head and said "Whoa.  This is super heavy." And Sam carried the largest zucchini with both hands and asked if it was the largest zucchini I'd ever seen and what WAS the largest zucchini I'd ever seen and what did I do with it and how did it get so big and did I think we'd ever grow one that big again.

 

Later in the day I pulled out an old recipe for blueberry zucchini bread and Eva peeled and shredded the zucchini before eating handfuls of it raw alongside the quart of blueberries we set aside for the last step.  Sam played with Lego at the dining room table but showed up for the tasting of the batter, and it was so much fun that I didn't even mind sweeping up flour and cinnamon and mopping up egg whites and milk.  When it came out of the oven Eva declared "TT is going to LOVE this!" 

 

Now we just have to make about 10 more batches before we're out of zucchini.