I’m looking at my second zucchini of the season, a fine 2 pounder. Everyone has stories of trying to get rid of extra zukes - from the generous (bringing them in to work) to the aggressive (finding unlocked cars and leaving them on the passenger seat) to the creative (dog toy). I was actually hoping to get fingerlings and blossoms, but after stepping on a main stalk while trying to navigate a mob of tomatoes, I’m happy to have this whopper surprise me - I swear the vine was dead last Sunday. It’s going in to zucchini bread - a long time favorite that boggled my little brain as a kid; not only could my mom make a cake with cheese, but she could make bread with a squash! Very few of the other foods I grew up with followed me to adulthood, in fact I haven’t had zucchini bread in several years - no one else seems to get past that whole bit about putting squash in bread.

Fine. More for me! And if there’s more zukes in my future, I hope whomever breaks in to my car is courteous enough to leave a recipe for chocolate zuke cake.