It's been a long time since I've written anything here. 
So I'm going to ease in slowly and try to build up a head of steam again.   The 16-months have been months of tremendous change in my life but I'm back and hope to a regular read for you once again, if you'll have me.

           So today, I thought I'd share the recipe that has been in big demand when I take a loaf of zucchini bread anywhere.  Because I planted several zucchini plants in my garden, and it's been a great growing season in Grand Rapids, I've had an abundance of zucchini to share, to eat, to bake into bread.  Here's a photo of the zucchini and zinnias (in the Z section of my garden)

          The recipe comes from my Aunt Margaret, one of mom's two sisters who are still around to share great stories and recipes.  When I talked to her on my birthday a few weeks ago, and told her the story, she said that she believes that this one was originally my mom's. That made it even more special for me.

           It's very easy, very tasty and when you see the ingredients, it has no great health benefit.. But it has a cup of zucchini per loaf, how can that be a bad thing?

           So I offer it here for your taste buds.

Zuchini Bread

Beat 3 eggs until thick. Beat in 2 cups sugar, 1 cup oil, 1 TBSP vanilla. Beat well.

Stir in 2 cups loosely packed grated zucchini, 2 cups flour, 1 TBSP cinnamon, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, ¼ tsp baking powder.  Add 1 cup walnuts (raisins optional).

Bake in 2 greased bread pans @ 350 for 45-50 minutes.

Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar.

Cool 10-minutes, remove from pan.

      Because I knew three people in the small cast, because I'm a big fan of Woody Guthrie's music, and because I've felt that over the years I've not attended live theater in Grand Rapids Mi nearly often enough, we went to see a delightful performace last evening.

      Staged in an intimate setting with large screen slide shows at either side of the state to provide context, this show was fun, moving, troubling, laugh out loud funny, well up with tears touching all at the same time.

     With a small but very talented cast telling stories about Woody's travels, passions and music, wrapped around many songs (most that I was not familiar with) had us leaving the theater with a warm glow and a lot to talk about.

    The relevance of the lyrics has not diminished over the decades, they still address aspects of modern society that can be a source of head scratching.  The harmonies were rich, the voices strong.  A wonderful quartet playing a wide variety of string instruments add to the fun.  Themes of job loss, foreclosure, big business vs. worker issues could be taken from today's headlines.

     The cast includes: Annie Beals, Glen Danles, Keenan Foley, Tim Foley, Amy Standel, and G.M. "Bud" Thompson.

     Tickets are available for Friday and Saturday evening performances and Sunday's finale matinee.  Call the box office at 616-234-3946.

     After the show we enjoyed some wine and small plates at Corez- but that's totally another post. Stay tuned.

Hey Look, one of my listings is a TOP PICK on Mary Kent's Blog.

I had a call today from Mary Kent, a fellow Five Star agent asking if it would be ok for her to mention my 6847 Gettysburg, Hudsonville listing as one of her TOP PICKS on her A/R blog.

Of course it was ok with me, how could that be a bad thing?  Plus that she was professional enough to check with me rather than just doing it, pleased me too.

So I figured that the least I could do was give her a bit more exposure by re-blogging it... and it doesn't hurt my Gettysburg to be more broadly spread as a TOP PICK.

I LOVE when anything that I'm associated with is a TOP PICK!