Zucchini Bread Recipe

By request: A delicious, easy zucchini bread recipe given to me by my sister-in-law (from a friend of hers) that even my vegetable fearing son Ripley loves. What a review!!

2 greased loaf pans
Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Beat:
3 eggs
2 C sugar
2 t vanilla
1 C oil (I use canola)
2 C grated zucchini

Sift:
3 C flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
3 t cinnamon
1/2 C chopped walnuts or pecans (if desired)

Mix the top list with the bottom list gently until blended with a wooden spoon for a tender crumb.
Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes - 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean and/or the bread begins to pull away from the sides of the pan. Set on a cooling rack in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn the bread onto the cooling racks. Yum!! Eat with butter or strawberry jam! Delish!

Honey Bees Flying in March

Yesterday I ventured under the cover of my hives for the first time. My smaller hive has only the two brood boxes on it, so I was particularly concerned that they may had run out of honey. When I went in, they gave me the 'butts up' sign to communicate their crabbiness -- so it's possible. Since they were a bit crotchety in the first place, I didn't do anything more than put a pile of granulated sugar on wax paper on top of the frames. Some people are opposed to such a thing, some people are 'okay with it'. But after a sugar candy (fondant) making failure, it was my only option. I was finally able to make a successful batch (take 4) last night and as soon as the weather behaves, I'll put some in both hives. My larger right hive has a honey super on top, so I expect they are fine, however I gave them a small pile of sugar as well, just in case. The bees in that hive were down lower in the hive and seemed more cheerful. However, it's as if they were all bored. They were all landing on me! Ooooo .... maybe THIS is a flower?! Or, in the absence of flowers, we may as well go over and check this big white thing out ... Both hives had bees flying, but the right hive in particular looked like a summer afternoon of orientation flights! It made me so happy! I nearly teared up. "We made it through the winter!!" By the time I got my video camera outside things had settled down, but I thought I'd share what I saw. So encouraging!

Ripley skiing February 2010

While not particularly eco-friendly, we did enjoy a week of skiing up in New Hampshire during school vacation. Now we can all ski together as a family!! No more bunny slopes or magic carpet for us!! Woo-Hoo! Take a look at Ripley's navigation skills . . . .