farmerdilla, i do have a lot of zuchs, however, there were five or six like the ones i posted ... two with actual soft, rotting ends ... if this is ber, how can i alleviate it? less watering? spraying with *something*? all the rest of my zucchinis are wonderful ... they are not *old* plants, we planted late (early june) and they were not huge when planted .... thank you for all help -- as much as i complain, we really do love zucchini -- last night i grilled shrimp kabobs with zucc and green peppers and our very small onions ... yummm .... we love our zucchinis ...

Well as long as the skin wasn't too tough for your taste, I still think you're fine. Especially since your plan is to use it in baked goods, where the zucchini is amost untraceable in the final product. Here is a link that might be useful: My favorite Chocolate Zuccini bread recipe

Dusty: niiiiiice work on them hab cookies! They look a little more polished than our rustic batch, but with the same cool little orange hab pieces sticking out of the top and sides! mudman: you'll definitely get more heat if you put in more habs. It's hard to say why your cookies aren't very hot. Could be the habs (mild plant, or hot plant but a mild batch of habs after a rainstorm - mine do that), or the mix of ingredients, or your heat tolerance, etc. I've found it's just kind of a crap shoot. That's why I usually just put 5 habs, 3 with seeds/ribs removed, into almost any mid-sized recipe like these cookies - there's a randomness factor involved with the heat, so I figure that quantity provides an average, everyday hot-but-tolerable heat level that can then be tweaked as needed. The butter and sugar in this recipe definitely absorbs and disperses some of the heat, but still, it shouldn't be mild with 4 habs w/ seeds and ribs. Maybe try 5 or 6 next time. I should note that the tapenade has a higher perceived heat level than the cookies, so if you're trying to make something brutal and cruel, that might be something else to try ;) Also, have you tried a raw hab off your plant to verify the heat level? Sometimes they come off the plant milder, due to weather. good luck!

I can only comment on the Bluestar RNB, which seems not to be a front-runner for you. But as you ask about the hot doors . . . it just has not been any sort of problem for us. The door gets very warm under certain conditions, and you might be surprised if you were to fall against it with palms flat. Surprised, but not injured at all -- our door just doesn't get hot enough to burn somebody. Moreover, if I'm baking, or roasting (or braising, etc.) while working at the range, I'm not especially aware of heat coming through the door at all. And the oven door handle stays just fine -- don't need a potholder to open the door at all. Our two younger kids had just turned 9 when we bought the range and I'd had similar questions, and had them resolved before we bought place our order. They've never had problems getting getting burnt, and neither has our small dog. Of course other kids may be younger, and things happen, but I don't see a danger from the door itself. With our range, a little kid could fall against the glass door, or poke it with a finger while looking at cookies, and not be injured at all. Startled, perhaps, but not injured. The far more significant risk seems to me to be common to any range at all: little kids need to know that a stove is not a toy, but something to be careful about. They need to know that they oughtn't to go crashing into it or leap up and grab things. They need to know that whether you buy a BS, or CC, or NXR, or GE, or a 20 year-old whirlpool from a garage sale. An open flame is an open flame; a hot coil is a hot coil; and a pot full of boiling water can scald anybody.