Happy Fill-In-the-Blank Day!

posted July 28, 2005

by Sara Rae Gore

http://cooking.cdkitchen.com/NewYorkDish/134.html

With all the yummy, albeit obscure, fun food holidays that are approaching, it's so hard to celebrate just one. What's a girl to do on days like today, when it's National Milk Chocolate Day AND National Hamburger Day? Dive herself right into a milk chocolate hamburger? Hmm, that sounds tempting, actually.

But it can be a little hard to keep up with. It's like a food-recognition frenzy. I have to say, all the bases are covered, ranging from lasagna day, cheesecake day, raspberry cake day, raspberry cream pie day, national catfish month, ice cream sandwich day, ice cream soda day, watermelon day, chocolate chip day, and mustard day. My Lord, my fingers are cramped just typing them all. But the kicker is that these are all within a week and a half of each other!

They say that you gain weight during the holiday season. Well, I guess "how much weight" depends on which calendar you're using! Holy grandma's lard cake, Batman, I'd be 600 pounds if I celebrated every fun food holiday. So, I have decided to pick one. While we are in a conventional holiday lull, I'll sandwich my "Fill-In-the-Blank Day (Observed)" right between the Fourth of July and Labor Day. Then I'll make a really big deal of it.

So, with many to choose from, I'm gonna go for the gusto with "Sneak Some Zucchini On Your Neighbors Porch Night" on August 8th. So clever! So witty! So odd. I love it!

I plan on going all out for this one. I'm seeing streamers, green zucchini-shaped balloons (I mean, how hard can they be to find?), a giant papier-mache zucchini piñata maybe. As parting gifts, cellophane-wrapped chocolate zucchini breads for guests to take to all their neighbors in order to really get into the holiday spirit. Woohoo. I wonder if anyone will show? After all, it's not like it's Groundhog Day or anything! Still, which of my friends can resist if I bake some of my gram's famous chocolate zucchini cakes, and the lure of wacking a giant zucchini piñata, and really making a holiday of it? Ole!

Aside from the zucchini party itself, here's my zucchini challenge: I'm gonna have to sneak it onto my neighbors' fire escapes! How to avoid the police is the real obstacle here, but whoever said "Sneak Some Zucchini On Your Neighbors Porch Night" needed to be easy? It says to "sneak," for Pete's sake. On the other hand, there are the police to consider, as well as the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States--y'know, the one that allows anyone with a fire escape to also own a gun.

Hmm, okay, I have to cheat. I'll just put it in front of my neighbors' door. With a note, because if someone in New York City opens up their front door and sees an unmarked, strange looking package, there are definitely going to be some raised eyebrows, raised voices, and an alarm raised with the precinct bomb squad. Okay, the city dwellers' version of this holiday maybe should be "Sneak Some Heavy Duty Plastic Wrapped Zucchini Cake In Front of Your Friendly Neighbor's Front Door With a Note Attached Day!" There. That's not so different.

Alright, I've got 11 days to prepare. Make a guest list, send out the invitations, find someone, somewhere who makes custom piñatas, put up streamers, and find some zucchini shaped balloons. What a piece of cake (no pun intended)! Who's with me?!

...Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, if you don't feel creative enough to succumb to my peer pressure, I will still share with you my grandmother's chocolate zucchini cake recipe. What a way to end it on a sweet note! Enjoy, but don't forget to sneak some zucchini on your neighbors' porch on August 8th. Words of advice: don't wear a ski mask if it happens to be cool out and don't actually do it at night.

Maime's Naughty & Nice Chocolate Zucchini Cake Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/

Serves/Makes: 10
Ready in: < 30 minutes

* 3/4 cup margarine, room temperature
* 2 cups sugar
* 3 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla
* 2 teaspoons orange zest
* 2 cups chopped zucchini
* 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
* 1/2 cup cocoa
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/2 cup milk
* 1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. In a separate bowl cream together the sugar and margarine. Gradually add the eggs, one at a time, the orange zest, and the vanilla. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Add the milk and mix just until evenly incorporated. Mix in the zucchini and the nuts.

Pour into greased and floured mini loaf pans. Since my great grandmother failed to write down any directions besides ingredients in her handwritten collection of recipes, I suggest you bake these for 20-25 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in pans on wire racks. When completely cooled, wrap in cellophane bags and tie with ribbons as a gift.