It’s that time of year – the zucchini time of year. Recall Forest Gump: Zucchini pancakes, zucchini tarts, fried zucchini, sautéed zucchini, baked zucchini, zucchini frittatas….

Thing is, after so much zucchini, it still sometimes seems that there aren’t enough things to do with it. I crave it all winter long, and then wham! four weeks of zucchini madness. I have a few zucchini posts coming up in the next few days, with some of my favorite zucchini recipes, and I’d love it if you’d share yours too! To start things off, though, a few thoughts about harvesting, and the exodus from Egypt.

We were harvesting on Friday morning. It’s quite an affair, harvesting zucchini. Our 3’ beds make for a lot of leaning over, and the plants themselves create a little sanctuary for their fruit that is not always so easy to penetrate. Finding, harvesting, and carrying out the zucchinis was a little like redemption –- and I found myself saying, “I will bring you out!” and “I will deliver you!” From this spiky lair, beautiful zucchinis, I will rescue you. Into the summer and my harvest bin, I will deliver you from this narrow place where you are. Like God bringing Israel out of Egypt, I was collecting my zucchini to bring it to better things.

I looked up the rest of the promises God makes to the Israelites in the Exodus (I knew there were four, and they all basically mean the same thing, but in the differences is the poetry…). Exodus 6:6 says “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments” and this too, I could have said to my zucchinis, but I would have added: “With an outstretched arm covered in longsleeves I will reach for you, from between your spiky stems, I will deliver you.” Because zucchini plants are spiky, and their juices are a skin-irritant, and even with longsleeves your hands and your wrists get red and scratched and inflamed and sore. A little bit of Naf’s Vicks salve is always appreciated.

And finally, “I will take you to be my people”. Well, the zucchinis have firmly established their place at our table the past weeks. I’ve had sautéed zucchini with onions and tomatoes and a little cumin; zucchini stir-fried with cabbage and peaches; dehydrated zucchini chips, with cayenne and salt; and zucchini pancakes with eggs and feta. I never thought to eat zucchini raw, but when they’re tiny and just-picked they are soft and sweet like butter, and I’ve eaten a few like that, too.

So anyways, zucchini harvest is here in earnest. Stay tuned for Zucchini Flowers Are Sexy and Zucchini Monsters As Big As A Baseball Bat, Or Bigger! And do share your zucchini stories – it’s that time of year….

Here’s my for Zucchini Feta Pancakes, from my dear friend Katerli, which I first made in Los Angeles in 2003 with a giant zucchini from our friend Danny’s parents’ garden.

Zucchini Feta Pancakes
1. Coarsely grate 4 packed cups worth of zucchini. Salt & pepper to your taste.
2. Separate 4 eggs. Mix yolks with 1 heaping cup crumbled feta, 1/2 cup minced scallions, 1/3 cup flour. Add yolk mixture to zucchini.
3. Beat egg whites until stiff, then fold into batter.
4. Pancake!