Tell Me a Story – Zucchini Bread

Tell Me a Story Challenge :

Choose a person.  Then do any or all of the following:

• Make a list of the top ten stories about this person, a word or phrase will do.
• Choose one story and tell a compelling, short version that will interest your family members in one minute or less.
• Tell a more detailed version of that story including photos if you have them.

Note:  You can read about my inspiration behind this challenge here.  I’ve decided to reverse the order in my post.  If you are reading this, you like stories so I’ll start with the full story, then the bite-sized story to hook my family members, then the list of ten stories.

I remember well a day about 12 or 13 years ago.  I had oodles of zucchini from my garden and decided I was going to make zucchini bread for the first time.  I called my aunt and asked for her recipe.  She talked me through it and I carefully wrote it down.  As we were finishing up she said, “I got this recipe from Aunt Marilyn.  I’m pretty sure it’s Grandma Peterson’s recipe.”  Aunt Marilyn is my great grandmother Naomi’s youngest daughter.

I was nervous as I was mixing up the bread.  It was a large batch with lots of ingredients and I really wanted it to turn out.  I remember thinking about my great grandma as I was working.  It was a cool little moment as I felt like I was following in her baking footsteps.  I finished up the mixing and put the loaf pans in the oven.  An hour later I was delighted to see that the bread looked pretty great.  After it had cooled a bit I was rewarded with a delicious moment of connection across the generations.  Over time I started adding chocolate chips to half of the loaves and that was equally delicious.

It’s been a few years since I have made my great grandma’s zucchini bread.  I think it’s time to dust off that recipe and reconnect.

Naomi’s Zucchini Bread:

• 6 eggs (turn on mixer for one second)
• 4 cups sugar
• 6 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups oil
• 4 cups grated zucchini
• mix well
• 6 cups flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp.soda
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. cloves
• 1 tsp. allspice
• 2 cups chopped nuts (optional)
• Stir together, pour into four floured bread pans, bake at 325º for 60 min.

I also add a few shakes of my favorite cinnamon plus spice blend and leave out the nuts.

One Minute Story

The first time I made zucchini bread I used my great grandma’s recipe.  It was delicious!

Top Ten Stories List for Naomi (well, in her case eight):

• Picking Cherries
• Chocolate Cake
• Divinity and the Great Depression
• Zucchini Bread
• Letter to Grandpa
• Selling Eggs
• “You have my mother’s eyes.”
• Nao-ma