To my Zucchinarito

Hi, guys. Few and sparse are the posts these days, but life has been panic-filled and non-soothing, so the words that come out of my brain are generally mucho negativo...and who wants to hear that, amirite? On a funny note...nope, got nothing.

That's all right though. I think this is what "working-life" is like for most people. Time kind of passes and tasks are completed, deadlines met, interactions had...food made and eaten over time (serious, I'm still eating that pie from the last post, that stuff is delicious and totally pack-able for lunch). Ladidah.

Results of this kind of lifestyle though, I have to say, make things kind of murky on the personal front. Let me bring up some unformed thoughts before we move on to less ethereal things. Is it me, or is it really difficult to measure "personal growth" during adulthood? As a child and in hindsight, I can safely say that it was easy to tell if I was getting "better or worse" as a human being, less intelligent or more aware....but as an adult, well, I'm beginning to wonder if these things really even matter anymore. After all, people who constantly talk about how they "need to grow, personally" end up being some of the most intolerable people to be around, just to reiterate my last point. So, as adults, shouldn't we have technically plateaued in how much we still "need to grow?" 

That sounds wrong too though...to not grow. If you aren't concerned about growth, does that make you a douche, or worse yet, a bland and uninteresting person? Why in the world do people feel the need to constantly grow, and I don't mean change, I mean "grow?"I've got no answers, but I just get all these emails at work asking me to set "personal goals" whatever that means. While I know that these requests are related to work, I can't help but wonder where to exactly, am I supposed to grow? 

Perhaps these are moot questions, and maybe it's damn near impossible to measure human growth past a certain point. I learned a few nights ago that crocodile growth-rate and size are directly related to their climate and mass of food intake. I also learned that they're a surprisingly polite species...but more on that another day. Anyway, as long as they eat a lot and stay in hot climates, they can become giant very quickly. On the other hand, if it is cold and food is scarce, crocodiles remain tiny indefinitely. If only growth were that clear for us. Then again, crocodiles certainly aren't self-evaluating their goals all the time, and they seem to be thriving just fine. Maybe that's the problem. A crocodile suffering from existentialist musings...now there's the funny thought!

Onto other things that did not thrive. My zucchini plant died a few weeks ago, from a combination of humid-weather-inducing propagation of too many mildew spores...alas, the muggy Augusts and Septembers of Baltimore, not for the delicate of spirit. If you remember, the concern regarding the general survival of my first zucchini plant was immense. He was planted and re-potted and sprayed with fungicide, watered daily...and for a brief moment there, he thrived. I saw sprouting blossoms and the beginning of wee little zucchini fruit. To the right is him in his prospering glory. It was all very exciting, until the re-pot went wrong and one branch starting wilting away. Then the fungicide, even though it was applied at night, seemed to bring own yellowing of the larger leaves...and by the time the humidity hit and the spores began spreading everywhere, it was too much for this little plant to handle. Blossoms died, the beginnings of fruit wilted away. It was all very sad. The pepper plants look great though...let's see if they can last through the winter. 

So, as an homage to my little zucchini plant, I made some zucchini bread, to both mark the end of his life as well as the concurrent end of summer. Let's remember his finer moments. Also, as a lesson to all future plant-caretakers, be cautious of humidity and powdery mildew in the summer, and make sure to plant your plants in large enough containers. Next time, I think I'd opt for a wider and larger container of sorts, so that the squash can stretch themselves out. Try, try again.

In general, I think zucchini bread is pretty mild in flavor (unlike the robuster qualities of banana bread), so I tossed in some blueberries for good measure and for some happy color. Do the same, you will not be disappointed - the blueberries give this already moist zucchini bread an nice little pop of bright, acidic flavor. It's something a little different. As a side note, blueberries were super big and sweet this year here in Maryland. It was fantastic, blueberries are awesome. Now, while the two zucchinis I used did not come from my Zucchinarito (one was yellow and one was a striped light/dark green), this is something that he could have been. Here's to his brief moments of growth.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

makes 1 loaf

2 medium zucchinis with skin

6 TB salted butter, softened

3/4 C light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 C plain Greek yogurt

2 C bread flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon all-spice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 lemon, juiced

1 C fresh blueberries

1/4 C granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees C. Toss the blueberries in the granulated sugar and set aside for later. Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, all-spice, and cinnamon) in a large bowl and set aside for later. Grate the zucchinis and try to press-out as much moisture from the shredded vegetable as possible, using a dry towel to pat away excess liquid. 

Do this all by hand. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, lightly beat in the eggs (one at a time, scraping down the sides), and fold in the yogurt and the shredded zucchini, until a wet mixture forms. Then take your dry ingredients and fold it into the wet mixture, but do it in parts to avoid super lumps and be careful not to over-mix.  Lastly, add in the sugar-tossed blueberries. 

Pour the batter into a buttered loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for  ~1 hour, or until the middle has puffed up (a toothpick inserted comes out relatively clean). Remove from oven and let cool, then serve. I like eating this cold for breakfast, but warmed up with some butter is also tasty. Have fun.