Thursday, July 29, 2010

THANKS ALEX!!!! Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

Whoever said girls are the needy ones in a relationship was wrong.

Let me tell you about my main squeeze, Alex. You've heard about him before. Big strong Penn State lacrosse player. Likes to hunt and fish. His ideal meal would be a giant piece of meat garnished with meat on the side. Manly man stuff. Well, let me tell you, Alex is needy. (Sorry boo).

At the same time, he is independent, helpful, my rock, and perfectly capable. But for the mean time, he is needy. Let me tell you why.
Me with Pills, Pills, Pills!
Last weekend, he, like any good boyfriend, drove the long five hours between us to cater to me. Bring me food, help me up and down the stairs, yell at me to take my pills... all things you would expect.
Vocidin, It's What's For Dinner
About three hours before he left to go back home, I got the hankering to cook. I really really wanted to make chocolate chip pumpkin muffins (and I will soon) but we had no canned pumpkin. Who does in July?

I did have a bunch of fresh zucchini, though. And I did see a really tasty looking chocolate chip zucchini bread recipe somewhere but we had no chocolate chips. So I puttered around a little more with Alex chiming in every five minutes or so. I can take you to the grocery store. It will take five minutes.

No, no! I don't want to go the grocery store. I want to be crafty and use what I have on hand like all the other bloggers. You know we will end up there eventually, Jessie. Let's just go now. You won't be happy unless we just go.

This playful and oh-so-charming bickering continued for half an hour. Fine. Take me to the grocery store.

Now we're crutching along the aisles of Safeway. People gawking like they've never seen a gal on cructhes before. The same comments as last time I was injured. "Oh what a bummer during the summer! You can't do a thing!" Or my personal favorite, always asked by an old man with a smile and a twinkle in his eye: "Did you kick him?"

So, needless to say, the trip to the grocery store is lengthier than it should be. But, alas, we've finally made it to the baking aisle and WHAT?! There is no canned pumpkin. Oh, c'mon Safeway!
I should have gone to Wegman's. Wegman's would have had canned pumpkin.

I'm deflated but Alex isn't deterred. Just make something else, he suggests. Chocolate chip zucchini bread it is.
What ya need:
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 cup applesauce
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups finely shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Cooking spray

What ya do:
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Place first 3 ingredients in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at low speed until well blended. Stir in applesauce.
3. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture, beating just until moist. Stir in the zucchini and chocolate chips. Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour (mine took an hour and a half) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack, and remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack, and enjoy!
Though I had enough energy to make the entire recipe and take pictures of my finished product (which regrettably looks more like meatloaf that sweet zucchini bread), I was red faced and exhausted by the time clean up came around. It was then that Alex stepped up, tsk-tsked the humongous mess I had made, and cleaned up every speck of flour on the counter.

So, as he has requested, this post is dedicated to him, my dear boyfriend, best friend and the one in charge of cleaning up The Messie Kitchen. Thanks Alex, I couldn't have done it without you.