Holly Bower’s Zucchini Bread

Anyone else have exploding zucchini plants?  I’ve made at least half a dozen loaves of my favorite zucchini bread over the past month and this particular batch may not be the last.  This is because I purchased what I thought were cucumber starters and later found out I’d planted zucchini.  :/

Not that I don’t like zucchini, I adore zucchini!  I sauté it with garlic and shallots, I roast it with parmesan and olive oil, I stuff it with sausage and then slather it with homemade tomato sauce, I make zucchini cakes, zucchini fritters, ratatouille, grill it, dice it fresh and then toss it into an Italian chopped salad and obviously, I make zucchini bread.  The only thing I haven’t done is make zucchini noodles – which is on the list for the next batch of zucchini.

But I’d really had my heart set on those cucumbers. I was going to make pickles all summer long!

Now, I realized my mistake just as the starters began to grow because zucchini grows up and cucumbers grow out.  I feel like a failed farm girl wannabe.  Hence the wannabe part.

So now I have all this zucchini that I’ve been passing out to neighbors, along with zucchini bread, making an assortment of recipes with my abundance of zucchini and including it in every meal.  I’m not kidding.  If I tell my family the side dish is zucchini one more evening, I may have a revolt on my hands.

The upside to all this zucchini are the array of delicious recipes to be prepared.  I adore them all but one of my favorites is this lovely zucchini bread recipe.

When we lived in Washington state we visited the San Juan Islands often.  Ranger Craig is a private pilot and he’d fly us over to the islands for the day or a long weekend.  Our girls grew up exploring the islands every other weekend during the summers and I absolutely cherish those sweet memories.  One summer we rented a home on Lopez Island and biked, hiked, explored, ate loads of yummy food and visited the local bakery, Holly B’s.  I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this bakery visit was the highlight of the day.  Holly B’s bakery is well known around the islands and for good reason.  Her baked goods, pastries, sandwiches and soups are some of the most delicious in the area.   Everything is prepared with fresh, seasonal ingredients and as Holly says “with lots of butter and a warm heart”.  This is why her cookbook is called “With Love & Butter“.

I’ve dogeared almost every page and there are stains, butter and batter splotches all over the book.  Well used and loved.  Holly B’s zucchini bread recipe is simple to make, fresh tasting with just a touch of clove and cinnamon and moist and lush and everything a perfect zucchini bread should be.

Delicious Wishes and Loads of Love (and Happy Baking!)

Karista