When Your Garden Gives You Zucchini, You Make Zucchini Bread!

Back in the 80's I remember zucchini bread being really popular at our house. I think my mother's friend, Phyllis Mazur, turned her on to making it back in those days. My mother always made it in the summer because we would have a plethora of zucchinis from the vegetable garden my father and I had. It was amazing that we were able to keep any of our bounty with all the deer from the forest preserve that our backyard backed up to. But I remember my father reading somewhere that if you placed human hair in cheese cloth and tie it to the posts of the garden fence that this would keep the deer away. There was another tip that he read about and that was to place Coast or Irish Spring soap in cheese cloth and this would keep the deer away as well. So, we did both for good measure and I guess it worked. The small garden churned out so many zucchinis and the only thing my mom knew what to do with them was to make bread. It was either that, or give them to friends and neighbors.  By the end of summer you were so sick of zucchini bread that you needed the full year for your taste buds to regain the taste for it by the next summer.
So, I picked my first zucchini of the year and it was huge!  I had missed it while it was growing, since my garden is jammed packed with plants, that I just didn't see it. Naturally my first reaction was, "I'm making zucchini bread with this beauty!" My version of zucchini bread uses less sugar and oil and there are a couple of surprise ingredients. The addition of honey and some lemon zest gives this a fresh take on an old recipe. I hope you will try it. M :)

Zucchini Bread with Honey and Lemon (makes two loaves)

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 cups peeled, grates zucchini
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3 cups flour 
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup orange juice

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two loaf pans.
2. Beat eggs in large bowl. Add oil, zucchini sugar and honey. Combine well.
3. Mix together the dry ingredients first, then add to bowl, mixing well. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and orange juice. Combine well.
4. Divide batter among two loaf pans. Bake side by side for 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.