The last jar :(

The last of the last. Taken a few weeks ago (I’ve been slacking on downloading pics from the camera).

This was our first year growing butternut squash. Things worth remembering…
-Give them plenty of space, they like to spread out.
-Don’t give up on them, various times throughout the summer I thought they were dead. Then another off-shoot would form and more squash would appear.

The last harvest of cucumbers & zucchinis.

Had a busy Sunday. Cooked & canned all of the tomatoes into a delicious pasta sauce.

Chilled Cucumber, Basil, and Mint Soup
recipe found here

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
via kingarthurflour.com

You’d never know there’s zucchini in this ultra-moist, rich chocolate cake.

1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter 
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups (12 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt 
2 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup (2 1/4 ounce) Dutch-process cocoa
2 teaspoons espresso powder, optional but tasty
2 cups shredded zucchini (about one 10” zucchini, about 12 ounces) 
1/2 cup (3 ounces) chocolate chips
1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips, for icing

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lighlty grease a 9” x 13” pan. 

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Beat in the eggs.

Stir in the sour cream, buttermilk, or yogurt alternately with the flour. Then add the cocoa and espresso powder, mixing till smooth. Finally, fold in the zucchini and 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 30 to 35 minutes, till the top springs back lightly when touched, and it seems set. Slide the cake out of the oven, sprinkle it evenly with the 1 cup chocolate chips, and return it to the oven for 5 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven, and use a cake spatula or rubber spatula to spread the chocolate chips into a smooth glaze. Cool on a rack. Yield: 24 servings.

I love that I just harvested corn in my suburbia garden!

Thanks for the idea Old Pine Tree! Today we made Dilly Beans. I love trying new things, especially since our bean crop has been pretty amazing this year.

Our next mission is to find a pressure cooker/canner so that we can do the rest of the beans. More to come…

Since we picked another pound of green beans today I figured getting some in the freezer was a good idea. Boiling, blanching, drying & packaging.