After my last post, on freezing zucchini to make bread all winter long, I was surprised that some of you emailed me, with no earthly idea how to freeze it. Tells me I've spent a wee bit more time in the midwest than most. I thought everyone knew. But you don't, so here goes.

Start with one of two options - Option #1: you either know or work with someone who has an urge to plant way too big a garden, just for the sheer joy of watching things grow, and they continue to drag into work zucchini the size of baseball bats or small children. They proudly set them out by the office coffeepot for others to nab and take home. Immediately, office works try to slyly grab a zucchini, or three if they don't mind looking stingy, and subtly set them on their desk, oblivious to the fact that it takes up a good portion of their workspace for the rest of the day. Or option two - go to the farmer's market and buy a boat load of them, since you're not having to avoid appearing greedy. Buy lots, it's relatively inexpensive, you can only get the big ones in summer, and it'll come in handy the entire winter. But if you can do option one, go for it - you'll make proud the person who chanced looking silly dragging them into the office.

For specific instructions go here. The website has tips on how to choose your zucchini, although if you're going with the free option you can't be too picky. I copied these instructions from there, which are simple:

ZUCCHINI BREAD: Zucchini bread is a favorite recipe for zucchini, but it is not a favorite item to make during warm summer months when the zucchini is fresh out of the garden. To freeze zucchini to use later in zucchini bread, simply cut the top and bottom ends off and then shread the zucchini (skin and seeds included) using the larger shread pattern. You can do this manually or with a food processor/shredder. Once the zucchini is shredded, check your zucchini recipe, and see how much zucchini you need per recipe. (Note: Paula's uses 2 cups.) Measure and freeze that amount in each bag. Label the bag with the date your froze the zucchini and the amount included in the bag. When you are ready to make the zucchini bread, take the bag out of the freezer and place it on a plate to thaw. Once it has thawed, follow the standard instructions. There will be some natural juice that was in the zucchini when you originally placed it in the bag. Use this in the recipe as well.

Basically - #1 buy it or get it free. #2 give it a bath. #3 shred it, skin and all, after you chop off the ends. #4 put it in freezer ziploc bags, in 2 cup increments. #5 label it so you'll know what it is three months from now. #6 use it to bake zucchini bread or muffins all fall and winter.

So here's the recipe from Mrs. Paula Deene. Since you're using a vegetable that essentially has no calories in it, you can go with the fattening version for the bread. It makes two loaves, one to eat, and one to take to your neighbor or pop in the freezer for later.

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
(Note, adding a handful of chocolate chips is great too)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients except for nuts (and chocolate chips if you go that route) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients. Fold into dry, and add nuts (and chips). Bake in two loaf pans (I spray mine with pam) for one hour, or til done.

That's it - Farmer's Markets are usually open on the weekend, and zucchini is in abundance right now. I plan to buy a bunch of it tomorrow at Whole Foods, then bring it home to shred. I'll freeze most, but definitely have to bake a couple of loaves to enjoy next week with morning coffee. That and a boiled egg should make a dandy breakfast.

If you went with option #1, be nice and take a loaf to the guy who was willing to look silly bringing it to work. He'll appreciate that, and maybe plant an extra hill next summer.