Zucchini: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

In late spring, Kelly and I decided what we will be planting in our garden. This year we went out the the back yard and visualized what our little veggie patch would look like being as meticulous as possible (at least as meticulous as K&K can be). Once we decide what we ultimately wanted to grow in the garden the next step is to decide which we would be growing from seeds and which we would just buy as plants. This years' decisions were as follows:

• 2 tomatoes (plants)
• 2 zucchini (seeds)
• Dill (seeds)
• Parsley (seeds)
• 2 cucumber (plants)

Any of you who have gardened before know that sometimes when you plant seeds the little guys just don't make it. To counteract this possibility Kelly and I stuck two zucchini seeds into each hole, thinking that probably only one would make it in each. That was mistake #1. Mistake #2 happened when, after noticing that we indeed did sprout 4 zucchini plants, we didn't thin them out to just let two grow (in hindsight, one zucchini plant would suffice).

In short, what we have now is a big ol mess of zucchinis and some pretty bored palettes. I mean, how many times can you cut up zucchini with some onions and peppers and grill them? Sure necessity may be the mother of invention, but so is DESPERATION. To that end, we have been trying to think of new ways to enjoy the plethora of delicious zucchini (since we technically have 4 plants) that have been mounting up. Here are a few examples:

• millions of ways to prepare grilled zucchini (salads, grilled pizzas, etc.)
• shredded zucchini cooked on the stove with garlic and cheese (trust me, it's good)
• panko breaded zucchini fries (a good first attempt. A few changes and they would be exceptional)
• zucchini cake with apple sauce, pineapple, and pecans (low-fat...except for the cream cheese frosting)
• fried zucchini cakes (think latke but with zucchini instead of potato...simply amazing)

For those of you out there who have zucchini plants, I would love to know what you do with all of them. Even if you aren't struggling under a mound of zucchini, let us know some of your favorite recipes for these little buggers, we'd be eternally grateful.