Zucchini




	WRITE 2 THE HEART Stories that are aimed "Write 2 the Heart" June 5, 2002 Issue 060502 Cheryl Speir, Editor, moderator@write2theheart.com ----------------------------------------------------------- By subscription only! Welcome to your latest issue of "Write 2 the Heart" ------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a heart-warming story to share? We are accepting story submissions at this time. Please e-mail your original story to moderator@write2theheart.com ------------------------------------------------------------- Diane's new garden was a huge success!Anyone who has had a vegetable garden can relate to bumper crops. Isn't it funny how squash always becomes an overflowing blessing? ------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------- Zucchini Summer By Diane Dean White -------------------------------------------------------------- That summer was warm and wonderful, the kids were young and we had just moved into our first house. It was in the city, with a fenced in backyard and beautiful lawn. I was sorry that some of the backyard would have to be spaded and rototilled, but I was going to have a garden! With three children, I knew how much money could be saved by freezing and canning the bounty which the Lord would provide. My husband lucked out on the rototilling. A neighbor who had rented one for the day, came over with his son and offered to spade up the ground! I kept the lemonade and iced tea coming out to the man and son working on my soon to be garden. I was so grateful for their kindness. "How large do you want it?" our neighbor asked. "Oh," surveying the entire yard, "From the back fence post to this area"... I started walking off a good distance. "Wow, you're going to have a lot of weeding to do," our neighbor replied. That was my first inkling that I might be making this a bit too large, but I had a number of things I wanted to plant and he was offering! Later that evening as Steve walked in the door the kids ran up to their Dad. Our oldest, said "You should see the backyard, Daddy...the grass is gone" Not the best way to approach the subject. I laughed..."Honey, guess what? Our neighbor down the street rented a rototiller to do his own yard, and he and his son offered to do ours." "Hey that's great," he said striding for a glance out of the back kitchen window. "Good heavens, Dee, did he think we had farm land here, why is it so large?" "Well, I thought about it," I replied, "and I knew I wanted to freeze and do a lot of canning, so I figured the number of seeds I'd need, and asked him to make it this size." "Well, you must have ordered the entire seed supply from Burpie, but I guess I'll start it this weekend. We'll want to get the seeds and plants in the ground by Memorial Day." The weather couldn't have been better, and as we watched the kids at play with their swing set and tire filled with sand, we proceeded to make our trails, holes, build our mounds and plant our seeds. Everything had been all laid out on paper as to what was going to be planted where. Now we could all watch the seeds and plants grow. "How did we get so many tomatoes from just those few plants" I was in awe, "The vines are weighed down with those large beauties!" I couldn't wait to see how everything was coming up. The snap beans were doing great, the radishes and onions, the cukes, and the zucchini. Lots of zucchini! "Look at all that zucchini, Steve...I don't remember planting that many seeds", I said. "Well, dear, we did...remember you wanted to harvest, can and freeze" he smiled. At night we had great meals. Fresh green beans, zucchini simmered with onions, and sliced tomatoes with our meat. As our yield increased, I started inventing new ways to use zucchini that summer. I sliced, battered and fried, I used it with meat and tomatoes in a casserole. I made a vegetable dish with zucchini, cheese, onions and tomatoes. And I simmered it with onions. Then I found a recipe for Zucchini Bread, and I started to make breads. When a dish was needed to take to a Church function or someone's home, I volunteered to make a cake. I found my bread recipe that made two loaf pans, would also make a wonderful looking bundt cake. It was so moist and didn't need frosting, people loved my cake and breads. I was in Zucchini heaven! As the summer progressed so did the zucchini, and I could see the need for some help with my home economics pursuit. I called Mom and asked if she would like to come over, with her empty canning jars. "Just wear old clothes Mom, we'll be doing some canning," I chimed. "Bring a nightgown, you might want to stay a few days." I was constantly sending a dish of something down to the neighbor who helped me with my initial ground breaking. Was it my imagination, or during my third trip did his wife paste on a smile of "Thanks...dear"? That casserole had been my own invention! Mom came and we "put up" tomatoes, whole, diced and pureed; chili sauce; bread and butter pickles. Mom even had a recipe for pickling zucchini cut into chunks. And we made breads, lots of them! I used the regular size bread tins, but also smaller ones, the size we could use for gifts. I added some maraschino cherries to the batter and made tiny zucchini breads to give out at Christmas time. We blanched and froze the beans and by mid August my garden was getting pretty bare, except for a few pumpkins we planted later in the season. As summer turned to fall I gathered the pie pumpkins, placing them in my canning room and surveyed my garden within. It looked great! "I can't wait until Christmas when I can give out pint jars of chili sauce and little zucchini breads, tied with pretty bows," I announced. "Yes, dear," I thought I could detect a less than exciting note to my husbands voice. "I just know our friends will be looking forward to your homemade gifts, especially the zucchini bread" he stated. You would have thought he'd eaten it everyday this summer! Well, maybe he had! Anyone for a good zucchini bread recipe? © Diane Dean White 2002 Thelamb212 @ aol.com (You are encouraged to write to the authors to let them know what you think of their story, just remember to remove the space before and after the @ symbol. The space is placed in the address to protect our writers from viruses.) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Diane and her husband Stephen reside in Hilton Head, SC where she continues her love for writing. She is a former newspaper reporter and fundraising writer for organizations. Her stories have appeared in several major newspapers across the country and in thousands of homes in Michigan. They are the parents of three grown children and two grand-gals. Diane has a women's ministry called SEEDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT, at:< www.heartwarmers4u.com/members?thelamb212> and Featured writer for Ripplemaker, at: <http://www.ripplemaker.com/Writer- of-the-Month/Diane-White.htm >. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Moonbeams By Martha ----------------------------------------------------------- I wonder if the moon can tell Just how many dreamers are under its spell The dreamer who feels so very near To shedding a lonely little tear; The dreamer who lives in fantasy of a lovely world, in ecstasy; The dreamer who loves you to bask in his light of silvery beams, on a starry night When all about is quiet and still, with not a sound, the vacuum to fill. Loving thoughts the dreamer inspire toward fellowmen, to acquire. The problems of the busy day- Now, in the stillness, sweep away. Soon, peaceful slumber will acclaim The dreamer, as they play the game of giving messages to send far and near, to many a friend, With blessings for the coming day, and happiness, with them, to stay In every kind of work they do, Until another day is here again, Give thanks to God, and say "amen". A composition with love ! By Martha If you have any comments on this poem feel free to e-mail them to Martha's daughter, Ronnie raschen @ shaw.ca ---------------------------------------------------------------- Mom and I were best of friends and she was a terrific mentor for me. She died in 1999. Wanting to fulfill what she herself would have shared, I have been working putting together a web site of her work. I hope to have the site up in a couple of months. Ronnie ------------------------------------------------------------------ From Our Readers Who would have thought there was a lesson to be learned from a dandelion? I admire anyone who can take an everyday object and turn it into a spiritual lesson. Who can look at the lowly weed in the same light after reading Donna's story. Janice ** Cheryl, Great job on the ezine! I loved your comments on the note-passing. My husband just bought me a gift the other day, one that went straight to my heart. A new dictionary and thesaurus set. Ah, that man is a gem. :o) Hugs, Lisa ** I love your computer junkie life. Clare ---------------------------------------------------------------- Cheryl's Corner Bookaholics should never clean out a bookcase! We should always send someone else to do it. I start thinking I am going to organize and give many away. I pick up an old copy of "The Princess and the Goblin" and I ALWAYS have to turn to the first page and read: ..."every little girl is a princess, and there would be no need to say anything about it, except that she is always in danger of forgetting her rank, and behaving as if she had grown out of mud." I love the whole passage in that first chapter. I pull down the devotional "At The Name of Jesus" and have to look at the borders around each devotion. I love the art work. I check to make sure nothing has changed in "The Southern Gardner's Book of Lists". Maybe I am overlooking a flower to attract hummingbirds or butterflies. I will reread "National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles & Amphibians", I am not convinced that a snake we found in the front yard was venomous, yet, I can't find one like him. Then of course there are the cookbooks, I must drool over the pictures of cookies. I guess if I want to get anything done, I had better walk out of this room and shut the door. God Bless Cheryl ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- © 2002 Write 2 the Heart Nothing may be reproduced or published without the written permission of the individual author or copyright owner. All rights belong to the authors. --------------------------------------------------------------- All subscriptions sent to your e-mail free of charge.