Day of Zucchini

So I venture off to Rochester's Downtown Farmer's Market....for the first time since I've lived here (13 years) to see what they have. Lo' and behold 6 BIG zucchini's for $2 (3 for $1). I'll take 'em! My plan was to make zucchini bread & oatmeal zucchini cookies for Andrew's school's Fall Arts Festival, baked goods section.

Well, I get started to realize I do not have a Zucchini Bread recipe, nor is my mom at home to pull out the best zucchini bread recipe ever from her files....reminder to self -- copy all of mom's recipes.... so I go to one of my frequented sites...All Recipes.com...and do my search. Well, they had a few listed, but I went with one called "Mom's Zucchini Bread". How could I go wrong?!

I pull out all my bowls and buy all the ingredients needed (yes the cupboards were bare), and get started on peeling and shredding my zucchini. I look down to realize I am using Pampered Chef's peeler and shredder and reflect on how many years ago I purchased them...I was prego with Andrew...and thought about if I had ever used the peeler before...probably but then again most of my meals in the past couple years were made at Dream Dinners. I do know I hadn't used the shredder since April/May 1999. I was very pregnant with Andrew, hosting an all day scrapbooking crop at my house, and I sliced my finger on the super sharp shredder that I was using for the FIRST time that day. I had to leave for the Emergency room to see if I needed stitches, which fortunately not, but I did get a tetanus shot that I still remember today and fear the next two years when I'm due for another one. Afterwards, I put the shredder in the back of the cupboard...obviously not be used again for over 8 years.

Enough digressing, I shred up two of the big zucchini's realizing I have A LOT of zucchini, more than the recipe (that makes 2 loafs) requires. So I put the apron over my head, tie it back, and start my all day project of making zucchini everything. At the end of the day, I had 8 loafs of bread, 6 mini bundt zucchini breads, and 2 whole zucchini's left...which I grilled up for dinner.

Andrew gets home from school and decides he also wants to send in Rice Krispies Treats. Well of course my mind goes towards the simple, prepackaged, on the shelf at Krogers, ready to go treats that I've purchased many snacks days over. Andrew's mind was of real ones...like Grandma makes. Okay, so in the 11 years that I have been a mother, I admit I have NEVER made Rice Krispies Treats at home. So off we go to Krogers in search of ingredients...no I'm not like my mom and have the ingredients already in my pantry. Well, I started to get nervous as I picked up the Rice Krispies boxes and couldn't locate the recipe and all I remember from making them as a kid was marshmellows. Finally on the Super Size box there was the recipe. Doing my Michigan Math, I calculated out how many batches I could make with the Super Size box so I can make them all and leave my cupboard bare of ingredients yet again. 3 batches of RK treats and I have about 1 cup of cereal left, but have a 1.5 bags of marshmellows....humm, I don't think my Michigan Math calculated correctly...really it was buy 4 bags for $4. Good thing my kids like eating marshmellows...they are now bouncing off the walls from all the sugar.

By the way, I tossed the idea of Oatmeal Zucchini cookies. Although they are good, I had my manufacturing system down and didn't want to interrupt production by adding a new mix to the bowl.