Wordless Wednesday

Z is for Ziploc, Zinnias, and Zucchini!

It has been so much fun having a vegetable and flower garden this year! I spent the morning shredding zucchini in 2-cup amounts and storing it in Ziploc baggies for the freezer. Of course, I had to save a fresh supply to make zucchini bread! I have so many wonderful recipes from friends and family, so it was hard to choose. I decided to try my mother in law's recipe first. It couldn't be easier, and is as yummy as it looks!

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 C oil
2 C sugar
3 C grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
3 C flour
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 C dates (or raisins, or dried cranberries, or chocolate chips!)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything together and pour into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for one hour, or until done.

Makes 2 loaves.

Garden Glory!

I picked the first zucchini and green beans from my little garden today! For those of you who don't know me very well, I'm TERRIBLE when it comes to plants and growing things, so this is a pretty big deal to me! The zucchini plant looks like it is going to be the gift that keeps on giving and giving and giving. I plan to freeze a lot of it and use it for soups, casseroles and breads this winter. There is such a sense of satisfaction in growing and storing your own food! I have already been online searching for a variety of zucchini recipes, and plan to cook the green beans tomorrow for dinner. Yum!

A Lovely Afternoon

I had the privilege and pleasure of spending this afternoon with two lovely women, one of whom I know, and the other I recently met and am beginning to develop what I hope will be a wonderful friendship. When I arrived at my friend's home, she had a beautiful table prepared for us. Each place setting had a small white china plate, with a small spreader and a floral napkin placed in the middle. A goblet of iced tea had been poured for each person, and the table had a lit candle and vase with roses in the middle. The house was filled with the aroma of fresh blueberry oat scones still baking in the oven. The conversation was delightful as we shared about our families, common interests, and current goals. As I drove home, I was reminded of Titus 2:3-5 which says, "Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored." This afternoon was a great blessing and encouragement to me, and I thank you, Anita and Dorcas, for being Titus 2 women in my life. Thank you for a lovely afternoon!

Blueberry Banana Bread

This is my banana bread recipe, but since I currently have a huge supply of fresh blueberries, I thought I would throw in a cup for a different twist!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
2 medium-size bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a medium-size bowl, combine sugar, bananas, eggs, and butter; beat until smooth. Add banana mixture to flour mixture. Stir until all of flour mixture is moistened. Add blueberries and gently mix. Place batter in a greased loaf pan, and bake for 50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Makes one loaf.

Alphabet Soup

Quote of the Day from my six year old daughter: "Mom, do we get to go to GPS today?" (She meant VBS)

Bountiful Blueberries!

I took the children blueberry picking this afternoon. I had never been to this particular farm before and was quite pleased with the abundance and size of berries!

As we got to work, the comments started flowing. My son said, "I like this way better than picking strawberries because I don't have to bend over!" My daughter just kept saying, "Look at the size of these berries, Mom! They're huge!"

Noelle was concerned about the occasional bee that would buzz by, but I used that opportunity to talk to her about the process of pollination, and that the bees are necessary! She asked if the birds liked the berries, and I said that they do, and that this is one of the many ways that God feeds the birds!

They really did a wonderful job and were very proud of their buckets of berries. I forgot to include my bucket in the photo, but we ended up picking 10 pounds in an hour and a half! They have already put in a breakfast order for blueberry pancakes!