Shelby

Just ribbons of zuke (cut my finger a few times making those lol) layers with salt and lemon juice. I let that marinate for at least four hours. Then, right before eating, I drizzled smoked olive oil over them and sprinkled some parsley. Sooooo simple and good. Zuke fritters last night (they weren't this dark in real life, dunno why they look that way)

Crappy picture/good dinner. GOOD tomato from the garden on this BLT. Yes, that is squishy white bread from the store. I like that kind with this sandwich. Along side zucchini fritters and a zucchini roll up. The fritters weren't that dark looking in real life.

Hi Chris, Wichita is the "big city" that I mention when I say I've gone grocery shopping. However, we don't frequent the restaurants much. We like wine with our meal, and it's just too long of a drive home. I can, however, tell you a few things. There are three main "areas" you might enjoy perusing: Old Town is fun to stroll around. http://www.oldtownwichita.com Traffic can be bad...lots of one way streets down there, but once you're parked, you can walk everywhere. Lots of shops, bars and restaurants to peruse. It's kind of like Bricktown in OKC. Hana Cafe has great sushi. Mort's cigar bar is fun...usually a band on weekend nights. The Larkspur is usually good, although, I ate lunch there a while back and it was awful. The Warren Theater is nice if you want to catch a movie. You can eat and get a good glass of wine during the show. I've only been once. The food was so-so (bar food) , but it was a fun experience. I've heard great things about Sabor http://saborgrillwichita.com Bradley Fair is also cool. http://www.bradleyfair.com Traffic can be a bear around noon and five on Rock Road. A few good shops--there's a Williams Sonoma. Il Vicino pizza is good. As is the Bella Luna Cafe. Oh, and although it's been a while since I've eaten there, Ya Ya's Eurobistro http://www.yayaswichita.com has always been one of my favorites. I don't know how it is now, though. The Waterfront--I haven't been over there for a long time-- http://www.thewaterfrontwichita.com Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant is really good. Chester's Chophouse is upscale. I've heard good things about the raw bar there. http://www.chesterschophouse.com I see a Whole Foods is opening in Sept. I'll maybe finally get to see what the hoopla is about lol. A few random restaurants that we like (not upscale at all....just some local gems) : Connie's Mexico Restaurant 2227 N Broadway St, Wichita, KS 67219. Totally authentic Mexican food. EXCELLENT salsa. I don't think you can get wine, but they have lots of icy cold beer. This place has been there since the 20's or 30's. It burned down once and they rebuilt. It's in an OLD part of town. It looks a little ghetto-ish, but it's just old. Saigon Restaurant 1103 N Broadway St Wichita, KS (316) 262-8134 Vietnamese food. Pho is killer. It's also on N. Broadway.....you might want to go for lunch (I've only been at lunch time) and not dinner. Beer is available...not sure about other liquors. That part of town is a little icky. But, keep in mind, I'm a weenie. Also on Broadway in that area are some grocery stores--authentic Mexican and a couple of Asian markets. I can't recall the names of them....or if they even have names lol. But if you drive around, you will see them. Traffic in that area is congested around noon, but it's not terrible. For a quick bite to eat: Dog-N-Shake is a local chain with several locations http://dognshake.com . Definitely NOT upscale, but they put celery salt on their dogs. Delicious. Nu-Way is also local. Loose meat sandwiches. They make their own root beer. Don't skip the root beer. I almost want to get in the car right now and go get one lol. No website. If you google you can find the locations. There are a couple of good Farmer's Markets that are open on Saturday mornings. LOL this may be waaaaay more than you wanted to know. One is in Old Town (see above) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Town-Farmers-Market/111998888816100 One is at 21st and Ridge Rd. http://www.sedgwick.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=423 I used to frequent this one a lot a few years ago. Right now you should be able to get some good corn, cukes, squash and maybe some tomatoes to take home with you ( I don't know what you are growing this year). These blogs might be interesting and helpful for you: http://stuffedandschwasted.wordpress.com (hasn't been updated for a while and you have to skip over some recipes, but some reviews here) http://blogs.kansas.com/dining/past-reviews/ OH and there is a casino open now. I haven't been. http://www.kansasstarcasino.com That's what I have off of the top of my head. I may think of more.

Thank you!!! http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/banana-zucchini-bread I used that recipe. I omitted the nuts--don't care for nuts in breads and I used 3 bananas instead of 2 because I had 3 going mushy on me. Oh and I sprinkled sugar on top before baking. Gives it some sparkle

Zuke banana bread These were the hit of the evening. It's amazing how something so simple can be so good.

I re-read this whole thread today and I was thinking again how hard that job must have been! I can't imagine!!! I just took 2 loaves of zuke/banana bread out of the oven. I have spag. sauce with zuke simmering on the stove. The experimental pickled zuke is in a jar in the fridge. It smells JUST like the pickled eggplant. If it is a success, I'll post how I did it. It says to wait at least 3 days before tasting. I also peeled and thinly ribboned long-ways 2 zukes and layered them with some salt and lemon juice. I am going to take the out of the fridge in a bit, roll them up, drizzle with some smoked olive oil and a dash of parsley and eat. We will see if we like them. Annnnnnnd, all of that didn't make a damn dent in the basket lol. I think I used 5 or 6 total.

Looks perfectly delicious. I want to snatch a fry.

Dcarch, lovely as usual! What were the wings stuffed with?

No, we didn't smoke it. Here is the link to the olive oil site http://thesmokedolive.com . I highly recommend getting some. Maybe I'll give the Wens. cheese another chance if it's plain.......

My husband semi-retired so he has more time. He built a "greenhouse" on the back of his shop. He used windows from an old farmhouse etc. He did an amazing job, but I digress. Over the winter he cultivated tons of plants--among them a LOT of squash. Soooooo, we have beautiful squash plants (we are fighting the squash bugs already) and lots of squash. I just told him that I should go pick some blossoms and he rolled his eyes. Not sure what that means lol. National Leave Squash On Your Neighbors Porch day isn't until sometime in August, so that idea is out for now lol.

I am experimenting. I had the best pickled eggplant at an Italian restaurant years ago. They put it on their salad. They looked like little anchovies in size and shape. Anyway, I am wondering if I could duplicate that using zukes. I have them weighted down now in salt to press the liquid out.

Well, it looks pretty! You could always make a bread pudding out of it......

BUMP Yep. Already. Every. Dang. Year. We plant too many lol.

Never boring! I am pouring over old zucchini threads here for some new ideas (I have a bazillion of them already--zukes, not ideas) and while I do that, I eagerly await new posts on this thread

Oh thank you everyone! (smokinjack--I grew up in Lake City, Colorado--nice to see a fellow mountain person here ) I used this recipe from King Arthur Flour http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/baked-english-muffins-recipe I didn't have any Hi-maize fiber so I added a scant 1/4 cup of flour and I omitted the pizza dough flavoring (ick) The only tricky part of the recipe was flipping the pans over, but I succeeded without too much turmoil lol.

I didn't like the texture of that cheese. It was ok...but not something I'll buy again. And, now I'm stuck with that whole wedge. I love smoked olive oil. I put it on everything these days. Really good on asparagus when you roast it. Also good on squash. That salad I made is really light--just seasoned with s and p. It will be even better when and if we get some decent tomatoes out of the garden.

Hmmm...I have a whole bag of figs to use up. Might have to try that with my fave oatmeal cookie recipe. Looks great Blether!

It was 20 years ago, on the 4th of July, that my husband and I had our first date. We watched the fireworks together With all of the "4th of July" food that we had last weekend, we decided to have our champagne and favorite snack type foods last night to celebrate ( we don't celebrate our first date every year, but we felt 20 years was worthy ) From the left going clockwise: Shrimp, salami, mountain gorgonzola, granapadano stravecchio oro del tempo, hard boiled eggs, tomato/cuke/red onion tossed with smoked olive oil and red wine vinegar, olive spread, provolone piccante, wensleydale with cranberries (husband did NOT like this cheese) prosciutto and in the middle were olive oil and salt crackers. And the star of the event Foie Gras with peach and fig preserves and a fig almond "cake". edited to say that the foie was duck ---------- Kim, I have mushroom envy! Huiray, I could never tire of seeing that delicious pasta.

I want a chilled coconut with a straw

Oh yeah. YUM! Chips on a sandwich! Doritos, cheese and mayo.....Lay's, peanut butter and pickles. Delicious!

That pizza looks....interesting. Is that (gulp) mayo on top?

Grape leaves go on the bottom of the crock and on the very top to help them stay crisp. The leaves came from the south end of our property.

New batch of pickles in the crock

Your grocery store is amazing. Simply amazing. I would LOVE to be able to have access to the seafood and meat. In the produce pictures...the 5th one from the top. Are those mushroom stems?

Kim- I use this recipe for the pork lettuce wraps http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/thai-ground-pork-salad I add some sautéed shiitake mushrooms to it, too. LOL that was more of the tobiko that was also on the deviled eggs.