Kalua Pig, Pineapple, and Cabbage Salad

Slow-cooked Hawaiian style Kalua pig, layered over an Asian dressed cabbage salad and topped with fresh pineapple.

I got out of the car and immediately my ears were soothed by the rushing of water. I began to notice calls--most notably the red-winged blackbird that's been ubiquitous throughout the trip, but also plenty of little brown birds whose names I don't know despite iBirdPlus.

As I stood on the banks of Plum Creek I could envision what Laura Ingalls' childhood home was like. It was a very special moment for me.

A few minutes later a van pulled up with Idaho plates and I met the first group of fellow Little House tourists of our trip.

It is a small world.

Grilled Zucchini with Feta

Tender chunks of zucchini grilled and tossed with feta cheese for a simple side dish to accompany a variety of meals.

Let's talk about volunteering. I come from volunteers (my extended family calendar even had a theme one year about how we all volunteer). My daughter volunteers with the gardening program of the local historical society and my son volunteers at the library. My spouse volunteers at community clean ups and when someone is deployed. I volunteer on the base, at the school, and in the community.

Volunteering is a value for our family. It boosts our community and ourselves. 

In the garden, squash plants volunteer. They come from our compost. They come from Halloween pumpkins, nibbled by squirrels. They grow in the front yard flower bed, in landscaped areas of the back yard, and in the middle of the patio.

The thing about volunteers is that we need to feel valued. We need to feel our efforts are making a difference in the community, and we want validation for the work we have done.

Zucchini Pancakes for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner

Patties of shredded zucchini topped with buttery spread and cheese. Make these small for hors d'oeuvres or large for a side dish/vegetarian meal. A terrific way to eat an abundant vegetable.

I've been eating zucchini pancakes for over 30 years. Whoa. That's a long time for a staple dish like this. High time I put it on the blog.

Growing up, my folks gradually turned our backyard into an edible space. The old small in-ground pool was filled in and used for rhubarb and other perennials, and I distinctly recall having the responsibility of a hammer (!) to break up the concrete patio that became a strawberry patch. My dad grew up on a farm and with his skills we grew beans, corn, chard, squash and tomatoes. In addition to the strawberries we had cherry and apple trees. Urban homesteading before it was hip.

Although we grew up with a glut of vegetables at different times of the growing season, I don't recall my mom stuffing zucchini into endless loaves of zucchini bread. Perhaps like me she hadn't wanted to turn on the oven. She made these savory pancakes instead. In Mom's curling cookbook, where I found this recipe by Lois Robertson of the City View Curling Club in Ottawa, ON, the title is Zucchini Crepes but we always call them zucchini pancakes. These are similar in preparation/use to my Turnip Fritters and to Meghan's Kohlrabi Fritters. 

Use any summer squash you choose--just shred them as fine as your technology allows you and squeeze as much liquid out as you can. You can also freeze shredded squash for out-of-season pancakes. Freezing the squash breaks the cell walls so that when thawed the liquid seeps out and you get a nice dry squash. Since you lose more moisture after thawing, I generally freeze 1½ times the amount of zucchini that I'll want to use after thawing.

For more recipes using zucchini all day long, please see my Zucchini Recipes Collection, part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient. I've also got a Summer Squash Recipes Collection in case you've got a mixed bunch of summer squash and don't know what to do with it. I pin squash recipes of all seasons to my Squash Pinterest board, and share seasonal recipes and round ups from around the web on my FB page. For info on how to use this blog, click here.