Chocolate zucchini cake with chocolate sour cream icing.

Regardless of your sentiments toward it, zucchini is an unmistakable icon of mid to late summer. Despite it's Italian-sounding name, zucchini is native to Middle America. It was further cultivated in Italy and then was introduced to the United States near the turn of the last century. Today, they are widely cultivated around the world.

This year, only one of our two zucchini plants grew; however, it's been quite proliferative. We've given multiple zucchini away and have prepared others on the grill, sauteed with tomatoes and onions, and grated up in cake. Over the past few years, this chocolate zucchini cake has become one of our favorites. Here's how we put it together.

Ingredients:

• 12 tablespoons butter (1.5 sticks)
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups grated zucchii
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Cream the butter and sugar together.

2. Beat in the eggs one at a time until the mixture is thoroughly combined

3. Mix in the cocoa powder, vanilla extract, salt, and baking powder

4. Fold in the zucchini.

5. Stir in the flour

6. Stir in the chocolate chips until everything is combined

Hint: I use my stand mixer and reduce the speed after the eggs have been added. I also find that the creamed butter and sugar can sometimes settle at the bottom of the mixer so I use a rubber scraper to make sure the eggs have been thoroughly combined into the butter/sugar mixture before proceeding to the next steps.

7. Thoroughly grease and flour the bundt cake pan. Sometimes I will also add in a little cocoa powder with the flour.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until it tests done. If you have a cooking thermometer, a general rule of thumb is that a bundt cake is done at about 200 to 205 degrees Fahrenheit.

9. Let the cake cool for about 10-15 minutes and then turn it out onto a cooling rack.

10. Let it cool a little more and then frost it while still slightly warm.

Note: If you want a traditional zucchini bread loaf, 2/3 of this recipe will make a loaf that will fit in a typical 5 x 8 inch loaf pan.

Frosting ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons sour cream
• Splash of vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar to get the frosting to your desired consistency (approximately 2 cups)

Instructions:

1. Beat the cocoa powder and sour cream together (I typically use a hand mixer). Expect this mixture to be fairly thick.

2. Mix in the vanilla.

3. Mix in the powdered sugar until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.

4. Frost the cake while it is still slightly warm.

Warm Winter Woolies (in a season in which things aren't as they should be)

As is evident in a number of my posts through the years, I enjoy wool applique projects. In fact, I was introduced to this art shortly after my first blog post. For the most part, these projects are fairly portable, making them easy to bring along on a given trip. 

I've also shared that I like having winter-themed decor to have in the house after the Christmas things come down in early January. I intentionally avoid including snowman-type decor as part of my Christmas decorations.

Back in April of 2025, my daughter and I visited a number of Utah quilt shops as part of the annual Quilt Shop Hop. Among our purchases was a kit for a set of three small winter-themed pillows to be completed in wool applique. During our June 2025 Alaska cruise, I completed much of the applique work during our "at sea" days while relaxing in the crows nest and looking out for whales. Here are two glimpses of the flora and fauna we encountered (more to come in a future post).

Now, here are some close ups of the completed pillows. I don't know that I have a favorite. I like the colors, textures, and accents of each. Collectively, they add a seasonal touch to the items I include on my fireplace mantel during January and February (sometimes extending into March depending on the timing of Easter).

For us in the West, this has been a winter of things not being as they should be in terms of snow and temperatures. As Thanksgiving weekend came to a close with a Sunday morning snowstorm, we had a sense of winter being on its way. While December progressed without additional snow, we recalled prior years of Christmases without snow. Now that January coming to a close with only two days on which snow fell, a palpable sense of uneasiness is present. As I look out my office window at mountains that should be covered with snow, only the tops are covered. The neighborhood sledding hill which should be well-trafficked by neighborhood children is dry and brown, waiting the the reemergence of renewed blades of grass. While I've not minded the lack of winter driving conditions during my commutes, it's also a feeling that is tempered by things not being as they should be.

This past year here in the United States, and past month, in particular, have also been a season of things not being as they should be. Cases of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases are increasing, resulting in the deaths of children; legally resettled refugees who have not yet received their permanent resident cards have been detained; American citizens have been shot and killed by federal agents during protests; and the expanded use of "expedited removal" has resulted in rapid deportation of undocumented immigrants without receiving due process. Nearly 3/4 of those in immigration detention do not have criminal convictions.

Regardless of one's political persuasion, throughout the Old and New Testaments, the Bible is clear about loving the stranger, protecting the vulnerable, and refusing to look away. The Hebrew people were repeatedly reminded to remember their former state as those who had been treated unjustly and to provide and care for the vulnerable whether those among their community or the foreigner. I'm currently listening to a podcast series addressing the Sermon on the Mount (check out Slow Theology: Simple Faith for Chaotic Times). Their podcast on "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" provided a poignant perspective on the deeper meaning of the term righteousness. This term, dikaiosyne, is closely linked to justice, or the virtue that gives each his due (seeking things restored as they should be). The blessing comes not just for hungering for righteousness (and justice) for ourselves but for others as well. 

While many of us long for the day when all things will ultimately be as they should, we have opportunity (and biblically-based directive) to act on behalf of others in the present. Some suggestions:

• Be willing to learn about current issues, even if it feels challenging and uncomfortable.
• Reach out to elected officials via letter or phone call.
• Identify local and regional efforts to advocate on behalf of vulnerable individuals facing injustice and join in the work being done.

He [God] enacts justice for orphans and widows, and he loves immigrants, giving them food and clothing. That means you must also love immigrants because you were immigrants in Egypt. Deuteronomy 10:18-19 (CEB)