Zuni Bread!

I have mentioned before what a fabulous cook my mother-in-law is. There are several recipes that Chris has begged me to get from her.

It all began a few weeks ago when I met up with my high school friend, Wendy Phraner. We had a super fun afternoon eating southern food (fried green tomatoes and she crab soup!). After lunch we walked around in the little southern town of Duluth, GA. We even got a special tour of one of the art "galleries" by a lovely little lady whom I will call Miss Betty (honestly I can't remember her first name but she was so glad to have customers that we got the full tour.) It was the kind of visit that makes you think "We need to do this more often."

Right before we parted ways, Wendy gave me a grocery bag FULL of garden goodies. Some from her CSA and some from her own garden. When I got home and unpacked, there it was. The mother of all zucchinis!

I casually mentioned that I would make Zucchini Bread. To which Chris responded: If you make it you have to....HAVE to make the real thing. It must be Zuni Bread.

Enter a fast email to Mama G! 

Apparently this is Chris' great grandmother's recipe. And it is an old Maine recipe that she used to make for the Rockefellers. Known to be a good cook, word about her got around and when the Rockefellers heard, they asked her to cook in their "summer cottage." It is pretty simple and I made it exactly as written. Here is the recipe. It makes two loaves.

4 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
3 1/2 c. unsifted flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 c. grated zucchini (I was glad for this since most recipes say stuff like "2 zucchinis...you see the size of that thing I had??)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Blend the first three ingredients first, then go ahead and add the rest of the ingredients. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. The recipe makes 2 loaves.