Zuchinni! :D

[Midnightmom]

 

The following series of comics was orig. published July 27, 1998

 

        

 

 

      

 

 

     

 

 

[Midnightmom]

Do your hands look like this after slicing/handling a bunch of zucchini???

 

Then, read this:

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What To Do If Your Hands Peel After You Cut Zucchini

 

Let's paint a picture: you've taken the time to figure out the difference between a green and a white zucchini and crafted a delicious stir fry (or one of many zucchini-focused recipes that taste so delish). You've settled into the couch after your tummy-pleasing meal, and as you reach for the remote, you notice it: Your hands ... are peeling.

 

Hmmm.

 

"That's strange," you think. You smell your hands, and they smell ... well ... like zucchini. Bad zucchini? Nah — you would have tasted something off when you ate your meal. Could the vegetable be the cause of some sort of allergic reaction? Probably not, you think. 

 

A Reddit user experienced the same issue, noting, "I've washed it multiple times to make sure I got off all the goo. There's no pain or itchiness where the peeling is, just numbness at the tips of my fingers." A chef was quick to jump in and offer an explanation for the phenomenon. "This is NOT your skin peeling off, and not some kind of medical reaction, or allergy to zucchini," the pro began.

 

If it's not a medical reaction, then what could possibly make your hands peel after handling zucchini?

 

It's just a case of zucchini being zucchini. "There is a very fine 'slime' in the zucchini, and when you handle it, it gets on your fingers, and is rather difficult to get off," the chef revealed to the concerned cook.

 

"When it dries, it stiffens, which is why your hands feel 'tight', and the peeling is actually just the hardened slime coming off your hands" (via Reddit).

The chef compared the phenomena to playing with glue as children. "It's like when we were kids, and used to put the Elmer's glue on your hand and wait for it to dry before peeling it off," they elaborated. "This slime is also what makes zucchini want to stick to your knife more than something like yellow squash or cucumbers when you're cutting a few cases of it," the expert cook added. The pro, who claimed 20-plus years of kitchen experience, suggested using a cleanser with scouring properties, recommending "something like an Ajax cleaner, or Barkeeper's Friend scouring cleaner."

 

Read More: https://www.mashed.com/378515/what-to-do-if-your-hands-peel-after-you-cut-zucchini/?utm_campaign=clip

 

 

 

[Midnightmom]

Zucchinni truths! 

 

 

[Jeepers]

Isn't that the truth! I wish I liked Zucchini. But I don't. Don't like squashes either. If I have room next year I'd like to plant one zucchini plant just to shred and freeze it for bread. I like most other veggies though.  

 

Don't tell anyone but I've never had an okra. I seriously don't think anyone in my family or my D-ex family has either. I tasted an avocado once. Wasn't a fan. It tasted like some sort of cheese. I wasn't expecting it to be that soft. That was about 50 years ago when I lived in California. I guess okra and avocado's weren't a thing in southern Indiana when I was growing up. 

[Littlesister]

Fried okra is really good and I also make stewed okra with basil, tomatoes and a little sugar. my DD hates okra but loves the stewed okra.

[Midnightmom]

6 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Isn't that the truth! I wish I liked Zucchini. But I don't. Don't like squashes either. If I have room next year I'd like to plant one zucchini plant just to shred and freeze it for bread. I like most other veggies though.  

 

I don't know why the running joke is that zucchinni is so prolific that it will take over your garden. I planted several zukes last year and only harvested ONE tiny little veg.

What I didn't know is that zucchinni plants have BOTH male and female flowers. If the pollen doesn't get to the stamen there ain't no babies! This means you have to attract pollinators such as bees and butterflies or pollinate the flowers yourself - with a paint brush or a Q-tip, for example. I wish you success. 

[Midnightmom]

18 hours ago, Jeepers said:

If I have room next year I'd like to plant one zucchini plant just to shred and freeze it for bread. 

 

Comment from my dehydrating group on how to make "zucchinni flour:"

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Zucchini flour.

Might be old news to some, but you never know right. With rising concerns on wheat costs just thought I’d share it.

There’s probably fancier ways of doing this out there, but here’s how I learned. Easy peasy. Nothing to it.

 

We love and make tons of zucchini flour every year. You may have heard it called Amish flour or troops flour before. It’s a Staple in Amish and Mennonite household for generations here. It was also embraced in the 1940’s during rationing.

 

You let your zucchini grow, oversized is actually better. Large to extra large. Marrow sized. I peel mine with a carrot peeler, into thin even strips for less drying time. Or slide it through a mandolin for speed of prep.

 

Run it through the electronic dehydrator or just thread it. . No large seeds if possible for finer texture. Everything else is fine. It must be absolutely dry. It’s essential. If in doubt always dry it more, any moisture will ruin it during storage

 

Then run it through a food processor or hand grinder until you have a powdered consistency. It will be a marbled green looking power. Texture is similar to a good quality whole wheat flour. That is zucchini flour. Three large zucchini is about four or five cups for me finished.

It can be used to replace 1/3 of flour in most recipes without any change to the finished products, acts as a thickening agent for gravies, great for breading fish but we really tend use ours for tortillas and bannock since those are our quick go to breads. It also makes great dumplings and brownies.

 

Store in air tight jars , or we often vac pac ours

 

 

[Jeepers]

No problem growing Zukes here. How do you know if the seed is male or female. Or do I want to know that!  

One or two of the veggies will do me just fine. If not, I'll buy a couple. Or more than likely be gifted some by a few hundred neighbors and friends.  

[Dee]

I don't care for zucchini either, BUT I do like zucchini bread, zucchini chocolate cake, plain zucchini cake and zucchini muffins with raisins, nuts, craisins, shredded carrots, coconut or whatever I have in hand to throw in.  I make tons and freeze them for eating in the winter.  They're delicious all winter long and even what little I have left now is still good.  We had a piece of chocolate cake just yesterday with our dinner.  Things need to be wrapped well in plastic wrap.  I even freeze in 2 cup portions ins sandwich bags.

 

Zucchini is so nutritious and good for us that, even though I only eat it in baked things, I find it well worth the effort.

 

It grows well here in Iowa.  I didn't plant any this year because tons of people will be glad to get rid of it by giving it away.  My kind of gardening! 

 

Edit:  Where did you live in CA, Jeepers?  I grew up in the LA area.  Rosemead to be exact.

Edited June 12, 2023 by Dee

[Midnightmom]

11 hours ago, Jeepers said:

How do you know if the seed is male or female.

It's not the seed, silly. It's the flowers. 

 

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The male flowers of a zucchini plant are the ones with the short stems; female flowers have longer stems and a zucchini-like fruit at the base of the flower. I've heard from many gardeners over the years when their zucchini plants drop their blossoms before setting fruit or when the new fruit dries up.

 

 

How to Pollinate Zucchini by Hand - FineGardening

 

[Jeepers]

WHAT?! I can't plant zucchini seeds? Heck with them then. I'll wait until the neighbors vines drift into my yard.  I mean I'll just go buy some, They do vine don't they? Asking for a friend. 

 

 

Dee, I lived in Monterey when DH was stationed at Fort Ord while in the Air Force. He went to Chinese language school at the Presidio. We lived just a couple of street up from Cannery Row on Drake Ave. We would lie in bed at night and listen to the seals bark. Charming. For the first few minutes.