I love zucchini. It is so versatile. You can use it in savory dishes or in sweets. It’s even good raw. I love zucchini bread and muffins. My husband on the other hand turns up his nose to anything but the bread and muffins. After hurricane Irene we had three extra teenage boys living with us and two other adults. One of my friends would leave me a bag of vegetables on my back porch every couple of days. That summer he had a bumper crop of zucchini. I put zucchini in everything. Hey, I had five extra people to feed, three of them hungry teenage boys. I got by with it for a couple of months until I got caught. One of the boys saw me and complained. He was like, “I don’t like the taste of zucchini.” Zucchini doesn’t have much taste. It takes on the flavor of whatever is around it. I cooked it with ground beef to extend the pounds for spaghetti and chili, I’ve chopped it into my homemade spaghetti sauce to help sweeten tart tomatoes.

Recently a friend brought my husband a box of zucchini. I’m truly surprised he brought it home. I gave away a few pieces and had to through one away, but the rest I chopped, sliced and grated putting most in the freezer. After running out of space in the freezer I got the bright idea to make zucchini brownies. Using 2-chocolate cake mixes, I melted 1 1/2 sticks of butter, 4 medium eggs, and a cup of shredded zucchini that has been drained and pressed to remove extra moisture.

When they were done my husband grudgingly agreed to try a small one. I convinced him he’d want a big piece. Hot out of the oven, I cut us both a piece and topped them with a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream. He loved it. I thought it was okay. It tasted like banana and chocolate to me. I thought it needed some salted nuts, but it was tolerable.