Blueberry Zucchini Bread -- The Food That Connects Every Version of Me

Week 395. Fall 2023. I am 40 years old and standing in my kitchen — the Bench house kitchen, the one that held cancer and divorce and cinnamon rolls — and the stove is on and something is cooking and the house smells like cinnamon and falling leaves and this is my life. This is the life I built.

Brett came Wednesday. We sat on the porch and talked about nothing, and the nothing was perfect, the way nothing between siblings is always perfect — full of history, empty of agenda, the purest form of company.

Mason is 12 and reading everything he can find and examining the world under a microscope with the intensity of a tenured researcher.

Lily is 10 and riding horses with the fearlessness of someone who has never considered the possibility of falling.

I made pumpkin bread this week. The food continues. The food always continues. It is the thread that connects every week to every other week, every year to every other year, every version of me to every other version — the woman on the kitchen floor, the woman at the chemo recliner, the woman at the grill, the woman at the outdoor table under the string lights. All of them, connected by the food they made with their hands. All of them, me.

I said pumpkin bread this week, and that’s true — but what I actually pulled from the oven was this blueberry zucchini bread, the kind of loaf that doesn’t ask anything of you except a bowl and an hour and the willingness to be in your kitchen. It felt right for a week like this one: quiet, unhurried, Brett on the porch, Mason with his microscope, Lily fearless on horseback — a week that asked nothing dramatic of me, just presence. This bread is like that. It’s the thread kind of food, the kind that shows up in every season of a life and just quietly holds it together.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 55 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes | Servings: 10 slices

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (about 1 medium), excess moisture squeezed out
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until evenly combined.
3. Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the granulated sugar and brown sugar until slightly thickened. Whisk in the oil and vanilla extract.
4. Combine. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in the shredded zucchini.
5. Add the blueberries. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter, being careful not to crush them.
6. Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50—60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tent loosely with foil after 35 minutes if the top is browning too quickly.
7. Cool. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 210 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 175mg