Thursday, September 20, 2007

Chocolate and Zucchini, they should win an Oscar!

...as part of the Blog-able Feast...welcome to Vivian Love's Blog...
As Dave Barry said, “…you cannot grow just one zucchini. Minutes after you plant a single seed, hundreds of zucchini will barge out of the ground and sprawl around the garden, menacing the other vegetables. At night, you will be able to hear the ground quake as more and more zucchinis erupt.”

This is what usually happens in our garden!

My son, Todd, age five, with our bounty of zucchini.Todd, age seventeen, "Why do we still have to grow zucchini, Mom?"

When my children were little we would plant things in our garden that were easy to grow. Zucchini was one. Every year we would end up with a great bounty of zucchini. In order to get the kids to eat all that zucchini, I would make up different recipes. One really good one was:

Chocolate, Chocolate-chip Zucchini Cookies
Remember, “chocolate doesn't make the world go around ... but it certainly makes the ride worthwhile!”…and it helps you eat up all your zucchini!

The Cast of Characters:


½ c. butter flavored Crisco
½ c. granulated sugar
½ c. brown suger, firmly packed
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 t. vanilla (I like Mexican vanilla the best!)
2 ¼ c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa
1 t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 ¾ c. grated zucchini (drain well)
1 c. chocolate chips

The Script:
Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Spray cookie sheets with Pam. Cream together Crisco and sugars until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour, cocoa, soda and salt and gradually stir this into creamed mixture.

Fold in grated zucchini and chocolate chips.

Can "The Purse Dog" have some? No way! The Purse Dog says, "Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my closeup!)

Drop cookies onto cookie sheets. I make mine big when I make this dessert (you’ll see why!). Bake for 13-15 minutes. Remove and place on foil to cool. Makes about a dozen large cookies or 4 dozen small ones.

The climax of this Epic Drama (or is it a ‘One-Hit-Wonder’?)


It’s all about presentation, according to my friend Martha Stewart. Did I ever tell you about the time my daughters and I met her? (It was long before she went to prison.)

Notice who is making a cameo in our little drama. It's none other than some new Lakehouse Dry Goods pink hydrangea fabric! So pretty, don't you think?
Top these cookies with ice cream and syrup. They’re rich and delicious!

Your family will be big fans!

Epilogue:

What is the Director of this Epic Drama (Vivian Love) working on these days?


...a new project with Lakehouse Dry Goods fabrics. Soon to be a pattern. First inspired by a quilt I made for my daughter’s wedding. Stay tuned to see what the new project will be!


...and I’m also teaching freemotion machine quilting classes at Cranberry Quiltworks once a month. Above, you see a class sample I did with black cotton sateen and variegated threads.

End Credits:

Photos by Vivian Love, on location in Yorba Linda, California.

Fabrics by Holly Holderman's Lakehouse Dry Goods.

And of course,

No animals were harmed in the posting of this blog…(in fact they were spoiled!)

7 comments:

PamKittyMorning said...

Ohh that looks so tasty Vivian!!! Love the pictures of Todd and the zukes!

gina said...

The was quite a chocolate-movie performance. Great job, Vivian...Your talent oozes over into many categories!

Holly said...

very clever...loving your little purse poochie.

can't wait to see the new quilts.

H2

Mary Anne said...

YUM !!! Those cookies look great !! I'm still having to disguise veggies to get my kids to eat them -- and my oldest, like your son, is now 17 and SHAVING !!! AAAACK !!! We also have a picture of him , like you do of your son, as a little guy holding BIG zucchini --- now he's a BIG guy and probably still won't eat the zucchini unless it's hidden in those yummy cookies!

Thimbleanna said...

Ohh, yum! Must try those cookies -- and they're probably the perfect pick-me-up when you have jet-lag (love that excuse btw!) Can't wait to see the new pattern.

Cheryl said...

Oh yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmy!!! I can't wait to make this one. Quite
the presentation - two thumbs
up:-)!!

Anonymous said...

That is absolutely the BEST way to eat your veggies! Love the purse pooch too!