Wowza! How about scooping out the seeds (halve lengthwise) and filling with a hamburger-type mixture? Veggies and meat all in one, Something like this, perhaps: Zucchini Boats

(No, guess BLUE not ;-) . I don't now what that means).

Happy zucchini eating!

"No, guess BLUE not ;-)"

Absolutely no reason to include that, unless to cause even more political discord 🙄

Sometimes very large zucchini can have less flavor (even slightly bitter) and/or not be as tender. Cooking can help, and the boats Suzieque mentioned are good. Here are some more ideas.

https://kalynskitchen.com/low-carb-recipes-for-oversized-zucchini/

That can happen quickly. Grilling is the best way to cook--IMPP. I have also enjoyed slicing them in rounds sprinkle with parmesan cheese and favorite spices microwave. Make them by the plateful. When they get sooo large shredding and making bread chocolate zucchini, spice bread is delish. We use applesauce substituted for the fat.

Thanks for the good ideas. Funny, the yellow squash has hardly given any bounty, but the green zukes crank out and the squash are difficult to spot, even when they get large.

The zuke boats look good, but no ground beef or pork on hand.

Maybe when the temp drops, I will grill them.

I have rellies in those hot states and they don’t have high heating costs in winter, but I’d miss snow and blue lips and feet and my opportunities to contribute to global warming.

This is the reason I grow yellow courgette cultivars!

hahahha The yellow will sneak up on ya too!! It's about how often you check. Plants need to be inspected almost daily when the plant is cranking them out.

If they taste funny, chop up and put in compost pile or do what I do and just dig a hole in garden and bury them.

I found two bell peppers yesterday I hadn't seen the day before. I'm so happy!

We had two that large which we didn't see under the leaves. My daughter made chocolate zucchini bread with them. We have been grilling them along with mushrooms and onions every night on the grill. Alas, they are done and he pulled the plants out yesterday. Tomatoes are still going strong despite our severe drought. I felt like I live in one of the southern states all summer. ...over 90 here now with the same humidity.

Lily, when you say they are ”done,” what does that mean? Won’t the plant keep producing?

like zinnias?

Floral, ”This is the reason I grow yellow courgette cultivars”

So courgettes stay small? Ah!

Tomatoes are still going strong despite our severe drought. I felt like I live in one of the southern states all summer. ...over 90 here now with the same humidity.

You wouldn't still be getting tomatoes if you lived in the deep south. With our constant high temps there's no way flowers will set fruit. We're lucky to dip below 80 at night. But, there's always a chance for a fall crop if you care to maintain plants in this miserable heat & humidity.

Petalique...Zuchiinis produce just so long and no longer. Husband pulled the plants out and threw them in the compost pile.

" So courgettes stay small? "

In my experience, courgette is the French word for zucchini. And is also used for same in the UK.

Many French words are used as is in the UK, words for which we have other equivalents. A napkin in the US is what you use at the table for hands and mouth - in French, the word is serviette. And in the UK, serviette is also used.

See if you can find a zucchini soup recipe. You can freeze it and have a taste of summer come autumn.

I'm not a zucchini fan and with that perspective, I'd suggest that zucchini doesn't give a taste of summer even in the summer. Not much of a taste of anything, too subtle for me.

Assuming they aren't icky tasting they're perfect for zucchini latkes except for the pan frying in the heat. Ina's recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/zucchini-pancakes-recipe-1948910

I love the soup made with Laughing Cow cheese and zucchini. If the zucchini don’t taste as good as you’d like, the broth, cheese, and the rest of the ingredients make up for it.

I should get out more! Thanks to all of you for serring me straight — in many ways.

I had this (RRRR wRrrrong) concept that in warm climates, vegetables and fruits, rabbits and chipmunks would just keep producing, nonstop. Also, that (get this) you could just leave the plant in the ground and count on it next year to produce!!! That seems reasonable to a New Englander who is not allowed to read or travel.

Arcy, I really liked your and others ideas to grill the large zucchini after cutting them i to thick strips. I went out to the garden ro get some herbs and saw dark threatening skies. No rain war forecast, but with hot humid days, we often get pop up showers. I gave up on the grilled idea for the time being.

Now I will try to put together (for tomorrow?) a Caprese Salad. I have made something like it, but never the real deal. Of course our pantry has no ”Balsamic Glaze” and no balsamic vinegar.

I did, however get to pick some zinnias.

Many French words are used as is in the UK, words for which we have other equivalents. A napkin in the US is what you use at the table for hands and mouth - in French, the word is serviette. And in the UK, serviette is also used.

I have lived in the pacific northwest all my life and we also call them serviettes but have definitely heard them called napkins, particularly in restaurants. When I lived in saskatchewan briefly, I asked a young fellow where the napkins were (as I was aware that that is what a lot of people call them) and he directed me to the feminine hygeine products.

No, yellow courgettes don't stay small. I grow yellow ones because you can see them amongst the leaves.

As for serviettes, my family always used that word while DH's family said napkin. So you can't make generalizations about usage.

My family uses the word napkin if it is cloth, and both napkin and serviette for paper. Usually napkin, though.

Never serviette for a cloth one.

Ah! Thanks, floral! good ide? maybe a flame orange.

These things grow leaps overnight — probably because they are all water!

And it does seem true that they are short on flavor. DH makes a zucchini bread, BUT we have worked out a recipe that uses only the grated green skin or organic or pesticide-free zukes, and we add healthful things like flax seen, maybe some bran or whole wheat, walnuts, raisins.

For all the real estate they demand, maybe green beans or more parsley would be a better investment. Or eggplant. Butternut squash — but that wants even more space.

Note that I said "In my experience".

I think a few Canadian-speaking serviette users snuck in their responses without identifying themselves more directly. Likely more a British influence from ancestors than an American one.

I've never heard either serviette or courgette used in the US - never - and I've never heard zucchini used in the UK. As for the term for what I call napkins in the UK, both my experiences with friends and in places like restaurants have been consistent - napkins are of the sanitary kind (as mentioned above) and sometimes a chuckle and mention of "nappies" (that which is put on a baby's bottom). And what I call napkins referred to as serviettes.

A request for a serviette in a restaurant or other food establishment in the UK is always understood there and never would never be here,. In my experience.

Some things will keep on growing here - I've had peppers that lasted several years - with stems that eventually looked like little tree trunks. I have perennial 'walking' onions and a number of herbs. I've had basil and kale last over a few seasons too.

I've been using a lot of zucchini from the stores - never had success trying to grow any summer squashes here - making sheet pan roasts with Italian sausages, and many batches of a really yummy saute to use as a pasta/pizza topper - deconstructed meatballs( I make the mix and then saute loose like ground beef) mushrooms, zucchini, onions, garlic, sweet peppers, chopped canned tomatoes, fresh parsley and lots of fresh basil - sooo good! I'm eating some right now on a flatbread pizza with smoked gouda 😁

I also add zucchini to chicken and rice, and you can stuff zucchini boats with a rice mixture too.

My one surviving 8 ball zucchini has a golf ball sized zuc on it now. We're getting storms/rain daily for the last few days so I'll have to make sure to check on it tomorrow or it may be massive! I think tomorrow I'm going to plant some crookneck squash. I think I still have time and I'm hoping the vine borers will be gone by the time the plant is ready to produce. I lost all my other zucchini plants from them.

I like to julienne zucchini and add to sauteed sliced onions. They're also good as a sub for pasta in something like this. (I reduce the cream.)

https://www.prouditaliancook.com/2014/07/zucchini-noodles-slow-roasted-cherry-tomatoes-cream.html

Thanks so much. I have lne of those metal mandolines and I bet I could make “noodles.” It has a lot of blades and adjusting angles.

carolb, I love your ideas. It did not occur to my heat slogged mind to make a stir fry mix or pizza topper.

I've had squash "pasta" dishes made with spaghetti squash. The "spaghetti" itself is bland.

When our kitchen was being remodeled we had a temporary set up with a microwave and toaster oven. No way to boil pasta. I found microwaved spaghetti squash to be a life saver especially with the summer tomato harvest. It was a great vehicle for fresh tomato sauces.

I grill zucchini slices brushed with garlic oil and then fold soft marinated goat cheese through the cooked strips.

I love spaghetti squash. Thanks for the reminder. I'll look for some at the store.

I don't think zucchini that large are worth the trouble and use of other ingredients to make them palatable or desireable. I love young zucchini prepared a number of ways, but those giants are just a waste of time and effort to me. They are not particularly nutritionally dense and so many additional ingredients used to make them edible just add fat or sugar for very little benefit. I would cut my losses and compost them.

Before the advent of cheap foreign holidays and the opening up of new food experiences in the UK, British gardeners only grew vegetable marrows. Courgettes were not something we knew. So any recipe for marrow can be used for oversized courgettes, including chutney, marrow and ginger jam or stuffed marrow.

A few ideas here https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/marrow-recipes

I love zucchini, but when they're too large they go to the compost heap. I lost my two plants to the vine borer--after weeks of patrolling them for squash bugs and the eggs masses. I really miss having them--so many favorite recipes, but I have late zucchini plants coming--just wish they'd hurry up.

I think, also, that they are not worth much once they get that big . I would let it go to the compost. By the time it gets that big the seeds get big and tough and the skin gets thick. There is not much culinary value to it .

I have heard that tomatoes dont set fruit in hot weather and we have had a long run of actual 100 degree days and days that the heat index is above that and a horrible drought that has so much all around turn dry and crunchy. Yet, we continue to get tomatoes from the local farm. I was really afraid that it would not be so this summer. I guess they must have some irrigation. You can see that the tomatoes look a bit sun burnt but they are stil nice and sweet and I am canning and making sauce. Also, the summer squash seem to be doing well enough that there is an abundance of them, too.

I see the folks picking the tomatoes out in the field and they look pretty darned hot!

Over on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and into Delaware they grow lots of tomatoes for the canning industry. They dont hand pick those fields. The run some manner of harvesting equipment through there.

But, that monster zuke is not worth whatever you might put with it in order to eat it. So, why force it? Let it go.

It's nighttime temperatures that affect tomato fruiting. As long as night temperatures are 75F or below, the flowers will set fruit.

I should have put a ruler next to it. I think it’s only about 10” long. The yellow squash next to it is very small — perhaps 6”. But I hear Oly and others about the additions to season and flavor it might add a lot of fat and calories.

Zucchini is not particularly flavorful. It might be the tofu of vegetables, tofu being more nutritious (?).

10 ins is not that big. I'd just make a batch of ratatouille for the freezer. Really easy.