Quilts and Zucchini Nut Bread Recipe

The meeting was great and involves raising funds for the Women's Health Partnership which is a non-profit affiliated with U of R which gets grants to pay for mammograms and Pap smears for women who do not have the wherewithall to do it on their own. The grants pay for a very minimal staff as well. The problem is that there are no funds for the "in between" times when a woman gets a positive test and has to have a retest or when she needs to get immediate medical attention. Medicaid just doesn't work that fast so they need funds for the interim. They literally are the most frugal operation I have seen.

Their idea is to have a number of fundraisers including quilt challenge with a specific fabric with the theme of Tree of Life. The people on this committee didn't know anything about quilting so they asked my friend Peg and she got me involved as well to help them implement their idea. They would then ask the quilters to contribute their pieces to be auctioned off to the doctors and other providers who support this worthwhile cause. Wouldn't it be nice to have a quilt hanging in an office somewhere? Would give you some visibility for your art! They will have the show of these quilts as part of the Webster Village Days next year as Scarlet Threads has offered up part of their space to support this project and show the results. There will be other projects they are working on as well as part of their fund raising attempts.




Today is downright dreary -- a welcome relief from all the glorious weather we have been having! (Just joking, folks!) In going over to pick some zucchinis from my neighbor's garden, I stopped to take a picture of my perfect hibiscus and Joe's new fountain.
For those of you who know, Joe lives next door and has wonderful gardens 8 months a year. I did yet another batch of zucchini nut bread and provide the recipe here for your perusal (it is from my neighbor Terry Seweryniack in Batavia and is always a favorite).



Zucchini Nut Bread (4 loaves in 4 1/2, 8 1/2 x 2 5/8 loaf pans)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Spray coat or grease the loaf pans

Mix together in a bowl and set aside:

6 cups flour
4 tsps cinnamon
2 tsps baking soda
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Beat together:

6 eggs
4 cups sugar

Add:

2 cups cooking oil
2 tbsps vanilla extract

4 cups shredded zucchini with skin
1 cup chopped walnuts

Shred approximately two fairly large zucchini whole (don't remove the skin) into nice grated zucchini. You will need 4 cups (or a little more if you want) of the grated zucchini.

Alternate adding the flour mixture and the zucchini and just mix til moistened (don't beat). After all is in (it takes a large bowl -- fills my Kitchenaid bowl to the top), mix 1 cup of chopped walnuts coated with about a tbsp of flour into the mixture. Pour 1/4 of the mixture into each pan. Will fill it up about 3/4 of the way.

Bake for approximately 1 hour and five minutes. I use aluminum pans so if yours aren't you might want to add a little time. If you use smaller pans, less time; larger pans, more time. Just check. This is a nice very moist cakey bread.