Zucchini Carrot Bread

Week 394. 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.

The garden is winding down, the last harvest, and I stood in it this week and thought about dirt and time and the way both of them turn nothing into something if you're patient enough.

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 butternut squash soup 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.

The butternut squash soup was already done by the time I thought to write any of this down, so I’m giving you what came next — the zucchini and carrots still sitting on the counter from the last pull of the garden, the oven already warm, the kids somewhere in the house doing kid things. This bread is what I make when the season is ending and I need to hold onto it a little longer. It smells like cinnamon and soil and the particular kind of gratitude that only comes from having grown something yourself.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 60 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 medium), excess moisture squeezed out
1/2 cup grated carrot (about 1 large)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and set aside.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until evenly combined.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, then whisk in the sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract until smooth.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined — do not overmix. A few streaks of flour are fine at this stage.
Fold in the vegetables. Fold in the grated zucchini, grated carrot, and nuts if using, until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55—60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top is deep golden brown.
Cool. Let the loaf rest in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Zucchini Carrot Bread — From the Garden That Taught Me Patience