Hey, I would be OVERJOYED to be able to sell even one lousy zucchini around here! Everybody has so much of it we are reduced to leaving baskets of it on neighbors' doorsteps in the dead of night. ;-> Seriously, tho, when I do sell veggies, I usually charge just a bit more than they would pay in the store. I figure mine is all organic and locally grown, so my customers are willing to pay more for it. The "locally grown" craze has hit us big-time, thank goodness! I think a small zucc is no longer than your hand, a medium half again as big. Personally, I'm letting some of mine grow as big as watermelons these days and feeding them to the chickens. At least my birds are overjoyed to see zucchini. DH is a trouper, too. He tells me to just keep finding new recipes on the internet and he'll keep eating it every night! (Although I could tell he wasn't terribly keen on the curried zucchini soup. I thought it was delicious!) I'm in central Texas and my poor veggie garden is a sad, sad critter this year. Between the lack of rain, 100 degree temps every day, and mysterious absence of bees this year, the only thing that's doing real well is the squash. I haven't canned, frozen or dried a single thing yet this summer - gonna be a lean winter. I'd be interested in knowing how other people's gardens are doing. Got any tips for me? I'm already self-pollenating with a chicken feather in order to get even a few beans and cukes. Oh, yeah, and the artichokes are outstanding, too. Where do those things naturally grow; in the desert? My electric bill is outrageous from all the watering (I'm on a well) and I'm beginning to wonder if it's a complete waste even trying to keep the garden alive at this point. I feel like I may just pump the well dry and still have nothing to show for it.

Here's one, I have never made it before. CREAM OF ZUCCHINI SOUP 1 carrot, thinly sliced 1 celery stalk, thinly sliced 1 med. onion, thinly sliced 1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth 3 med. zucchini, unpeeled and thinly sliced Salt and pepper 1/2 pt. cream Garlic croutons or sour cream for topping In large pot put carrots, celery, onion, chicken broth. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. Add zucchini and cook for 20 minutes or until tender. Place in blender and puree. Season. To serve hot: add cream to heated soup and continue to beat until hot - do not boil. Top with croutons. To serve cold: add cream to cooled soup and mix well. Top with sour cream. (Delicious served in bread bowls!!)

Today I bought "Tone's" brand curry powder for $.99, a small container. Label doesn't say hot or not. Guess I'll find out. McCormick's was $6.99 for a slightly larger bottle(!). Chunky Asparagus Soup: 2lbs. fresh asparagus, trimmed/chopped 1 small onion,chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 2Tbl. butter 1/2 to 1 tsp. curry powder 1 jar(4oz.)sliced mushrooms,drained 1 TBl. diced pimientos 4c. veg or chix broth 1can (12oz.) evaporated milk 1/2 lb. process cheese (Velveeta), cut into 1-inch cubes In a large saucepan, saute the asparagus, onion and garlic in butter for 8 - 10 minutes or until tender. Add curry powder; simmer 5 more minutes. Add mushrooms and pimientos. Stir in broth and milk. Heat, but do not boil. Add cheese cubes and stir until melted. Yield: 8 - 10 servings. Pumpkin Veg.Soup: 1 large onion, chopped 2 Tbls.butter 4c. reduced-sodium chix or veg broth 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed 2 large carrots and 2 celery ribs, chopped 1 cup cooked fresh or frozen lima beans 1 cup fresh or frozen corn 1 can (15oz.)solid-pack pumpkin 1/2tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. each white pepper and grd. nutmeg In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add the broth and veggies. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 min. or until veg are tender. Stir in the pumpkin, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cook 5- 10min. longer or until heated through. Yield: 7 servings.

Your soup night sounds fab! We did a nod to it being Christmas Eve with a beaded tree for a centerpiece. Ann T., avoid your eyes, and skip the rest. :) Soup was minestrone flavored stone soup. I think the caterer left as much food as was served at our big party, so there were a lot of celery and carrots, grape tomatoes, cauliflower and broccoli left. Those were all diced for the soup, plus a couple of onions, half a head of garlic, some yellow vine tomatoes, a bag of baby kale and a white cabbage. So I didn't have to go down to the garage, the base was what I had in the kitchen freezer. That's three cups of low FODMAP chicken stock and three cups of beefy cabbage soup. I added a can of crushed tomatoes, a small can of fire roasted, and a smaller can of tomato sauce, plus vegetarian no-MSG bouillion and a little jarred soup base, for the salt. :) Some pepper, Tabasco (because I was too tired to clean serrano peppers from the garden) and mostly red wine. The starter was salmon salad made from the cranberry mustard salmon skewers leftover, broken up and dressed with what I think was the remoulade from the fried chicken drummettes. It had separated, and was a thick mayonnaise consistency and very herby, with a good acid sharpness that went well with the fish (which hadn't gone fishy). That was served with the leftover tortilla chips and relishes: baby corn, spiced baby carrots, pickle chips, raddishes and mixed olives. I also made some kale chips for something light. :) The soup was served alongside a leftovers casserole: a layer of latkes on the bottom (I thought they'd make it easier to serve but they fell apart), then layers of jewel rice, butternut curry, chopped broccoli, then filled with a bread pudding made from dry, bready donut holes, a (new) pretzel baguette, the chicken from the drummettes, the Moroccan beef cubes from another skewer, a couple of sundried tomato chicken sausages I had in the fridge to add more meat, and a couple of (new) leeks sautéed with a packet of small diced pancetta. There was cinnamon on the donut holes, the flavor of which came up more in the custard than it had on the donuts, but it went well with the garlic pepper I seasoned it with. Dessert was a tarte made from a sheet of frozen puff pastry that needed using. It was brushed with leftover passion fruit sauce, topped with leftover crème anglaise, and leftover fruit. :) There were also everybody's favorite freshly baked Toll House cookies from the Toll House cookie expert and party colored Dutch chocolate half dollars (leftover). The pudding casserole could have been improved upon (custard in the bottom layer under the curry to glue it together--the curry was a rich paste so I thought it would do the job, but it just softened everything--and cut up the donut holes smaller so they'd stick better), but everyone liked it and ate well of it. I heard a few "stuffed"'s. :) My fridges heaved sighs of relief to see so many containers removed! Most of all, we had a delightful evening with loved ones who couldn't be at the big party.