Zucchini Bread, or How Many Pounds of Summer Squash can you fit in a CSA box?

Lately I've been getting CSA Boxes from the South Central Farmers' Collective (whose farm is actually in Bakersfield). The CSA box is simultaneously an economical source of organic, seasonal, fresh produce for those of us who can't have gardens, and a good way to feel better about yourself in a vaguely liberal, acknowledgement-of-social-privilege sort of way. It's like the Liz Lemonism of produce shopping, if Liz Lemon ate vegetables. The CSA box is also a fun adventure, because you don't know exactly what you're going to get. Sometimes you don't know even after you get home and open the box. Most of it is kale and squash, but what kind of kale and squash? It's an adventure! And since most of it is summer squash, it's exactly like having your own garden. What the hell am I supposed to do with all this squash?!

I think my favorite random box inclusion so far has been the single, tiny eggplant.



That got turned into a sort of ratatouille, along with some of the box's cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash.



Which was delicious, if possibly inauthentic.

Last week's CSA box included, among other things, seven cucumbers (have only used one so far), three yellow squash, two pattypan squash, two Rond de Nice squash, and two zucchini. One of the zucchini was normal-sized, the other was approximately the size of my dog. I hadn't made zucchini bread in a while, so I decided to do that. This recipe is vaguely adapted from The Joy of Cooking. I'm not entirely thrilled with the texture - it's a bit fally-aparty - but maybe I just didn't squeeze enough moisture from my shredded zucchini.

I had to adapt. The Joy of Cooking recipe calls for two cups of shredded zucchini.



And I had six. THIS IS ONLY TWO ZUCCHINI.

Makes 2 big loaves. Or halve everything.

2 1/2 cups white flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
Juice of 1/2 lemon
6 cups grated zucchini, squeezed of excess moisture
1 cup walnut pieces (optional)

1. In a large bowl, combine flours, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt.
2. In another large bowl, combine sugar, eggs, oil, applesauce, and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly.
3. Combine dry and wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
4. Add grated zucchini, stir to combine.
5. Add nuts, if desired.

Pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until done.



Notice that there is a lot of batter here. I recommend putting the loaf pans on a cookie sheet to catch potential drips.

Aaaaand done:



This recipe has been approved by the post-production crew of Hotel Transylvania.

Finally, I would like to take a moment to ask a question that's been vexing me for some time:



What idiot designed my kitchen and decided it was a good idea to put an outlet directly above the sink? Do you know how hard it is to keep cords from draping themselves in there?

Edited to add the media pairing (this was my idea, why do I always forget to do it?): Iron Chef America's Battle Zucchini.