The Zucchini Bandits . . .

My husband and I went to our community's 24th of July Pioneer Day Parade. It has been YEARS since I have had that much fun at a parade. The big draw for me was getting to see the Stevens Family Band all dressed like pioneers, playing instruments and pulling handcarts. You guys ROCK!

We were very fortunate to get to stand with a bunch of friends from our neighborhood. As we watched the parade entries go by, we thought it would be fun to create an entry for next year's parade -- something where a bunch of women get together and throw zucchini to bystanders.

The idea didn't really go much further than that at the time, but this morning as I was out picking beans, I fleshed it out a bit more. See if you like it.

The Zucchini Bandits

We could each wear a green t-shirt with "Zucchini Bandits" on the front and one of the following phrases on the back:
-- Lock your doors! It's zucchini season.
-- Spreading the green without being seen.

In addition to wearing t-shirts, one of us could make green masks -- kind of like the green version of Zorro.

We could either push wheelbarrows filled with zucchini to give away, or we could operate out of the back of someone's pick-up truck. Whichever mode of transportation we opted for, we'd create banners with our identification and mottos.

You know how businesses enter local parades and pass out flyers? Well, we could recruit a few of our kids to pass out zucchini recipes! Really, really good zucchini recipes.

I can see this being a fun ward Relief Society entry. My mother even suggested that perhaps we could get our husbands to push us in wheelbarrows while the kids distribute the goods.

Becoming Zucchini Bandits would take a good deal of preparation. Those planning to participate would need to plant more zucchini than normal so that we'd have plenty to give away at the parade. They could either pull up the extra plants after the parade, or we could continue to let them grow in anticipation of a fun ward activity -- ZUCCHINI DAZE.

At Zucchini Daze everyone brings a potluck dish to share that includes zucchini as an ingredient. (It would also be a good idea to bring a copy of the recipe for someone to compile and distribute at a later date.) There would also be a fun variety of games and activities that incorporate zucchini. For instance:

•  The peeled zucchini toss: this is a lot like a water balloon toss only using a peeled zucchini instead
• The zucchini crochet relay: teams of 4 or 5 people each are given a medium-size zucchini and a crochet mallet. The object of the game is to use the mallet to hit the zucchini down the field to the next contestant who then hits it down the field in the opposite direction until all members of the team have taken their turn. The first team to cross the finish line with a zucchini that is still in one piece is the winner.
• Biggest zucchini contest: contestants bring the biggest zucchini from their garden to see who has grown the largest squash. (These will be saved to use in the next contest.)
• The zucchini hurling contest: Only those who entered a zucchini in the above activity are elligible for this event. Contestants take their giant squash and get one chance to hurl them down the field of play. The one who hurls theirs the farthest (or who has pieces break off and go the farthest) wins!
• Zucchini craft for kids: our scouts usually do a zucchini boat race for one of their summer pack meetings. This is a fun activity for zucchini daze if your event is near a stream or creek. If that's not the case, simply give each young child a zucchini, mini-marshmallows and toothpicks. Let their creativity take over. (A fun at-home activity would be to use your Mr./Mrs. Potato Head parts to make a Mr. or Mrs. Zucchini.)
• Zucchini sculptures / creative displays: Participants need advance notice of this event so that they can create either a sculpture or some other kind of artistic endeavor using zucchini. You can give judging criteria in advance or simply give a prize for participation.

As you can see, zucchini are a very useful and fun vegetable!

If you have any ideas to add, please leave details in the comments. Enjoy your zucchini!

A Few of My Favorite Things

The following are a few things that I have really been enjoying lately.

Newly Found Blog: Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat?Kiki and Greta take dieting humor to a whole new level. You have to love the women who post these photos under "Who Writes DTBMULF?"















Low Carb Dessert: 1 c. frozen raspberries, 1/2 c. half and half, 1 packet of Splenda Mix these together and eat slowly. Yum, yum, and more yum!


Foundation Make-up: Covergirl's Advanced Radiance Age-defying Compact Makeup. It's fabulous!













Facial Cleaners and Moisturizers: Baby oil gel to remove mascara and eye-makeup. Baby wash for cleansing my face (I also use it in the shower as a body wash.) Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream. Even my teenage son likes the Cetaphil cream. Because it doesn't have added fragrance, it's perfect for the whole family! Best of all, these products are all inexpensive compared to other facial products -- and they work BETTER!

Clothing Store: Deseret Industries -- second-hand heaven. Click on the link to see just how much good this operation does around the world.

Low-Carb Breakfast: Two medium beefsteak tomatoes sliced thick and spread out on a blue speckled enamaleware plate topped with three eggs over-easy. And because we grow the tomatoes and have our own chickens, it's organic and practically FREE!

How to store fresh vegetables through the winter

Onions -- Pull or dig onions from the ground and let them dry out for a week or so. You'll know they're ready to store when the outer layer flakes off and the green tops have shriveled and dried up. Place onions in old (or new) nylon stockings, tying a know between each onion or every few onions. Hang them in a cool, dark place. When you need an onion, simply cut off the bottom onion below the knot. We've been using this method for a couple years. Red, yellow and white onions will store longer than Walla Wallas. Ours lasted into April.

Winter Squash -- Remove any dirt from the outer skin and store them in a box. Be sure to store them in a WARM dry place. If you store them in a cool place (like we'd been doing up until last year), they will spoil and get mold spots quickly. Again, when we stored our winter squash in the furnace room instead of the cold food storage room, we had squash that lasted until spring.

Carrots -- Only harvest as many as you can keep in the fridge. Leave the rest of the carrots in the ground and cover them with a thick layer of fall leaves. You can harvest carrots all winter long. Hubby once harvested a batch of carrots after we'd received a record 24 inches of snow in 24 hours. Of course you can always wait until spring to harvest them. Just do it before they've begun to sprout again. Washing them thoroughly will also keep them from getting shriveled.

Potatoes -- The folks in Idaho use high-tech storage barns to store spuds, but that's just not feasible for home gardeners. The first step to storing potatoes is getting them really clean. Leaving mud/dirt on them will dry out the potato's skin. Once your potatoes are clean and dry, store them in gunny sacks. Potatoes need to breathe -- don't store them in plastic. If you don't have gunny sacks, store them in medium-sized cardboard boxes and cover them with newspapers or some other opaque breathable material. As winter progresses, your potatoes may start to sprout. No problem. Just remove the sprouts before eating them. The Pontiac Red potatoes we planted last year stored well until spring.

Popcorn -- This is the second year that we've grown popcorn. It's a favorite crop with our kids. Unlike sweet corn, you let popcorn stay on the stalk until the kernels dry out; well past the first few frosts. Once the kernels have dried on the cob, remove them by rubbing them over a large bowl. The Japanese hulless variety we planted last year seemd to give off a lot of chaff. Does anyone know how to get rid of the chaff? When you're ready to store your kernels, put them in plastic freezer bags, label them and store them in the freezer. (Even store-bought popcorn pops better when its been stored in the freezer.)

Happy Harvesting!