Lavender Blue Days

I love zucchini! It seems like one of those vegetables that no one really loves, but I do! I love zucchini stir fried with onions and mushrooms, I love zucchini sliced in half and cooked on the grill, and I love the tasty zucchini crumble the girls and I made for dessert today! Here's the recipe:

Makes 6-8 servings

4 1/2 cups flour

3 cups granulated sugar, divided

½ teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups butter, cold

6-8 cups thinly sliced zucchini (about 4 large zucchini)

2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg

•Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

•Stir the flour, 2 cups sugar and salt in a large bowl until well combined. Add the butter and cut it into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse oatmeal.

•Pour half the mixture into a 13x9-inch cake pan. Using your fingers or a rubber spatula, press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and set aside.

•Combine zucchini and lemon juice in large pot over high heat; cook until zucchini is tender, 8-10 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 cup sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Simmer 1 minute more. Stir in ½ cup of reserved flour mixture and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens. Remove the pot from the heat to cool for 10 minutes.

•Pour the zucchini mixture over the baked crust and sprinkle with the remaining flour mixture. Return the pan to the oven and bake until it is lightly browned and bubbly, 40-45 minutes.