Five-Way Zucchini

By Nichole Giles

One of my favorite things about summer is growing our own vegetables. Every spring, we take a trip to our local gardening center and stock up on more plants than we have room to grow. And every year, I give up flower-growing space to vegetable plants. Not because I don’t love flowers—seriously, I’ve yet to meet a woman who doesn’t have a certain soft spot for beautiful blooms—but because there is nothing more satisfying than cooking food you’ve planted, nurtured, and grown in your backyard garden.

As much as I love growing (and cooking) those veggies, when a single zucchini plant starts spitting out club-sized veggies every other day—it’s possible to run out of new and interesting ways to cook them. So, in the interest of saving your neighbors from receiving boxes of squash on their front porch three times a week, I’m going to share five of my family’s favorite recipes. Enjoy!


Appetizer:

Grilled Zucchini Dippers

You’ll need:
One large zucchini, or two small, sliced in strips three inches long and ¾ inch around (approximately.)
¼ cup low fat Italian salad dressing
1 Tbs Salad Supreme
1 Tbs Parmesan cheese


In a shallow bowl or baking dish, drizzle zucchini with dressing. Add Salad Supreme and Parmesan cheese and toss gently. Cook on top rack of pre-heated barbeque grill for 8-10 minutes or until only slightly crunchy. Serve with a side of ranch dressing for dipping.

Main Course:

Zucchini Casserole
This recipe was passed to me by the late Carol Giles, who got it from her aunt, Vee Harper. Thanks Aunt Vee!

You’ll need:
3 cups zucchini, sliced
2 cups grated carrots
½ cup chopped onions
1 lb country style ground sausage
2 Tbs butter or margarine
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup sour cream
2 pkgs Stove Top Stuffing Mix
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Sauté onions in a large skillet with butter until transparent. Add zucchini, carrots, and a little water. Cover and continue to cook until vegetables are tender. Brown sausage and drain off fat. Make stuffing as directed on package. Mix dressing with sausage until well blended. Pat ¾ of mix into a lightly greased casserole. Add soup and sour cream to vegetables (fold in carefully). Spread on top of stuffing. Top with remaining stuffing mix. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until hot and lightly browned. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top during the last few minutes of cooking.


Stuffed Zucchini

You’ll need:
1 large zucchini, or two smaller sized zucchini
½ lb ground sausage of your choice
½ box Stove Top Stuffing—prepared
¼ cup diced onions
1 can cream of mushroom soup
½ cup-1 cup Parmesan cheese

Shells:
Slice the zucchini in half, lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and discard, then scoop out the meat of the zucchini and set aside. Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray and place hollow zucchini shells inside. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Filling:
Chop the zucchini meat into bite sized pieces, set aside. Brown the sausage, drain, and then add to prepared stuffing. In sausage drippings (no more than a tablespoon) sauté zucchini meat and onions. Drain leftover fat. Mix ½ can of soup with vegetables, and then add mixture to stuffing.

Stuffing the shells:
Spoon filling into zucchini shells until you can’t fit any more inside or on top. Top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.


Side Dish:

Baked Zucchini Bites

You’ll need:
1 medium zucchini chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 Tbs olive oil
1 dash each of dried oregano, basil, and thyme
3 dashes of Salad Supreme
3 dashes powdered Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
(Any of your favorite spices could be used on this!)

In a medium sized mixing bowl, drizzle oil over zucchini and toss lightly. Sprinkle spices, Salad Supreme, and cheese liberally and mix until zucchini is well coated. Spread evenly on un-greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until fork tender.


Desert:

Chocolate Zucchini Bread
(From Carol Giles)

You’ll need:
½ cup margarine
¼ cup oil
1 ¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp soda
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups zucchini (no seeds or peelings)
¼ cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp vinegar
½ cup milk
4 Tbs cocoa
½ cups chopped nuts (optional for those of us who don’t like nuts!)

Cream margarine, oil and sugar. Add eggs and beat. Sift all dry ingredients. Add vinegar to milk. Add to creamed mixture alternately with dry ingredients. Makes two loaves. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and add nuts if desired. Bake at 325 for 45 minutes.

"Room for Two" Book Review, and an Afternoon with Abel Keogh

By Nichole Giles

“Sweetie, I’m home.” I tried to put as much kindness into my voice as possible. I didn’t want to have another argument—at least not right away.

Silence.

“Sweetheart:”

A gunshot echoed from our bedroom, followed by the sound of a bullet casing skipping along a wall.

Everything slowed down.

When a life is destroyed, when guilt says you played a role in its destruction, how do you face the days ahead?

Twenty-six-year-old Abel Keogh chooses to ignore the promptings he receives concerning his wife’s mental illness, and now he feels he is to blame for her choices. If only he had listened…



I have to admit, my faith in the LDS publishing industry is shaky. I’ve seen so many really well written books being rejected, and lots of merely so-so books being published, that it’s hard to feel truly excited about picking one up and taking it home. And to be honest, more often than not, I’m more inclined to turn to the national market for my pleasure reading. Sad but true.

I picked up a copy of “Room for Two” at a writer’s conference where he spoke. I had the opportunity to read the first paragraph, and was so hooked, that I bought it. Just so you know, it was the only book I bought that day, and I waited in line for half an hour just to pay for it. Then I went right home and read it cover to cover. People, I was seriously impressed.

First of all, that Abel had not only the courage to share this experience with the world was amazing to me. Second, his book teaches a lesson but is in no way, shape, or form preachy. He owns responsibility for certain parts of a circumstance he didn’t choose, and ultimately, learns how to move forward after this devastating, life-altering thing. I can’t help but admire the guy.

We all have turning points in our lives. We don’t usually know they’re turning points until after the fact, but we all have them. We can’t always control what happens to us, or other people’s actions or choices. What we can control is how we react to our circumstances.

“Room for Two” is the story of a year out of Abel’s life. While this book is sad—I mean make sure you have a box of tissues, you’ll need the whole thing—it is incredibly well written, and shows emotional growth in Abel throughout the story. I read it in a few hours, hardly able to put it down—even to go to the bathroom.


Abel and I are on location in international waters. The sound of tropical music mixes with the smell of salt and brine, the sun shines brightly, and a light breeze teases our hair as we cruise along on one of the world’s largest cruise ships.

NG: Hi Abel. Thanks for taking the time out of your vacation to visit with me for a while. I see that you've brought your beautiful wife, Julianna, with you on this trip. Did you bring your children as well, or is this a sort of second honeymoon?

AK: Second honeymoon. We love our kids but because they’re still so young we don’t get much time alone. This is a much needed break.

NG: I understand that both you and Julianna are runners. They have a track on one of the upper decks. Do you always run, even when you're on vacation?

AK: We try our best to run when we’re on the road for business or pleasure. Usually that means finding a hotel with a good exercise room or finding local places to run. We both find that it makes vacations and business trips enjoyable if we can get at least 30 minutes of running or other exercise in every day while traveling.

NG: In your book—well, in your life I guess—you used running as a healthy way to overcome strong emotions such as confusion, anger, and heartache. I got the impression it is also a source of joy for you, as well as your wife. For those of us who aren't marathon runners, what kind of alternative activities would you suggest?

AK: Do something you enjoy. If you don’t like the exercise, you’re not going to stay with it. If running isn’t for you, try bike riding, swimming, weight lifting, basketball, or something else that you’d enjoying doing daily or at least several times a week.

NG: Is it harder to run on the deck of a ship as opposed to the solid ground at high elevations, or is it easier because the air is thicker at sea level?

AK: Lower elevations are better to run because there’s more oxygen in the air! Since most of my runs are approximately 5,000 feet above sea level, I always enjoy running at sea level.

NG: You seem like such a positive person. Even when your world was falling apart, you reached out to help other people in similar situations. That took a lot of guts. How do you feel about support groups?

AK: I’ve personally never attended a support group though I might have tried one if there had been one specifically for young widowers. That being said, I have mixed feelings about them. Knowing that you aren’t alone and that other people are going through a similar experience can be a tremendous help. However, I know several people for whom in-person and online support groups have become a crutch instead of a temporary method of support. They can’t give up the support group. As a result, they’re unable to let go of the dead and move on with their lives. I don’t think that’s healthy.

NG: Not that your story is forgettable in any way, but personally, I don't have the most stellar memory. When you were writing your book, did you find it hard to remember all the little details of what had happened? Or did you have journal entries to back up your memories?

AK: I wrote the first draft of Room for Two from memory. However, I kept a detailed journal during that time and referred to it on revisions to make sure what I wrote was accurate. I was glad I kept the journal because there were some details I’d forgotten.

NG: Do you consider blogging better than private journaling?

AK: I don’t think blogging is better than keeping a journal and vice versa. It’s a different medium and has different uses and audiences. I keep a private journal as well as a public blog. Sometimes the content of my private journal spill over into by blog. On the rare occasion that happens, I usually edit it before posting it.

My journal is more for my family after I’m dead. It’s very personal. There are many things I write about in the journal that I’d never share with the public. Despite having my own website and writing a memoir about a year of my life, I still believe in keeping some things private. A lot of bloggers would be smart to do the same.

NG: Obviously, a situation like yours was difficult to get past. Did you find yourself reliving it as you wrote? If so, how did you handle all those emotions a second time?

AK: I relived everything when I wrote the first draft. Experiencing all those emotions again turned out to be somewhat helpful as it aided in the writing process.
It’s been long enough now that I can read most of the book without becoming emotional. The exception to that is chapter three. I still tear up when I read it. It’s the only chapter I refuse to read in public.

NG: I understand that you're working on a new book, this one fiction. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

AK: I finished the first draft last week. The working title is “Angel of Light.” I’m not going to detail the plot too much right now until the second draft is done. I’m hoping to have publishable manuscript by summer’s end.

The one thing I’ve learned is that fiction is much more difficult for me to write. Writing this book has been quite a challenge. However, I think my writing will be better because of it.

NG: After you finish your blog tour, do you have any upcoming promotions or book signings in the near future?

AK: I don’t have anything scheduled at this time though I’m currently working on a few appearances. However, I’m always open to speaking at churches, book clubs, of other organizations. Anyone who wants to schedule something or contact me about a possible book signing or speaking engagement can do so through my website http://abelkeogh.com.

NG: Abel, thanks so much for sitting down to chat with me when you could be doing the Macarena by the pool or participating in the "Man With the Best Calves" contest. It looks like Julianna is waving you over to the ice cream stand. What's your favorite flavor?

AK: Vanilla bean.

NG: Ooh, that sounds delicious. Maybe I'll get one of those myself. Right after I stretch out on one of these lounge chairs and have a nap. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. Oh, and when you're out surfing, don't forget to look for the perfect wave and aim for shore. It's a momentum thing.

Room for Two
Trade Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Cedar Fort (August 2007)
ISBN-10: 1599550628
ISBN-13: 978-1599550626
Purchase the book here.

A Rotten Game of Tag

by Nichole Giles

Okay, so, I was really hoping I wasn't going to have to play this game. I've seen it going around the blogs belonging to some of my friends. But really, I wasn't planning on playing. Thanks a lot, Heather! But, being the good sport that I am, I'm going to play along. I guess.

1) My Kitchen Sink: Yes, that is zucchini you see on the sideboards. Our plants are already producing faster than we can eat them. YUM! I love fresh, garden grown veggies.

2) The inside of my fridge:

Yes, it is usually this empty. I live with teenagers, the food I buy is practically gone before it even gets in there!

3)My favorite Shoes:

Seriously, you didn't expect me to pick one pair, did you? How can you even ask me to play favorites? The rest of my shoes might get their feelings hurt. I didn't include them all--that would take too much space--but these are the ones I wear the most these days. What can I say, it's summer. If it was winter, you'd be looking at boots and slippers.

4)My Closet: Um, yeah. That's my half, and yes, I do require a stool to reach those shelves. (See the stool covered in shoes above?) Don't you wish you knew what was under those bags? Fine, they're my really nice dresses. But I'm not taking them out to take more pictures. This is already a big enough pain in the...

5) My Laundry Pile:
Is it cheating if I didn't get the laundry out of all the kids' bedrooms? That's too much work for a Sunday afternoon.

6)What my kids are doing right now:

Left to right, Brayden, Gary, behind Gary is Madison, Brittany, some neighbors, and a few of our seven Golden Retriever puppies. (Who also count as my kids these days.) I had to search for Mckay, who was in his room and by the time I found him, so was Madison.

7)My Favorite Room:

It depends on the day. Today, my favorite room is my back porch, and my favorite seat is on that swing. Those vines you see smell fantastic, and it's just the right amount of sun and shade. I even write out there sometimes. Evening is the best.

8)My Most Recent Purchase:

It's Sunday, so this is what I bought to take with me to critique group last night. Because we met so late on a Saturday evening, we had dinner, and I brought the drinks. By the way, I've been looking all over the place for that cherry limeade and finally, FINALLY, I found it yesterday. Woo hoo! It came highly recommended, and is so, so good.

9)My Fantasy Vacation:

It just doesn't get any better than that! A beach, a swimsuit, crystal clear, blue water, an enormous bed, and possibly some time on a cruise ship jumping from island to island or port to port. Is it really so much to ask? Oh, and can't forget the most important ingredient. SUNSHINE.

10) Self Portrait:

Yeah, well, I've been driving around in my topless car. I'm a bit windblown, what can I say?

So there is your glimpse into my crazy life. One of these days I'm going to make up one of my own games of tag and make people post pictures of their bookshelves, their strangest gift ever, their unmade beds and...hm, that isn't a bad thought actually. I should probably keep my ideas to myself before someone tags me again!

Here is the best part. I get to tag three other people. I tag...

Rachelle Christensen

Keith Fisher

Cindy Beck

Ha ha, you're all next!