I just love synchronicities! I recently stumbled upon my neighbor’s zucchini patch while exploring my yard. He is a wonderful old man who we chat with regularly now and he has a patch of plump, prickly green zucchinis. He has since been bringing them over by the bagful for us to enjoy. My Year and a Yay! studies has me researching the next Sabbat – which is Lughnasadh (or Lammas) on August 1st. It celebrates the gathering of the Summer crops and is one of the 4 major Sabbats. It’s also my first official one as a student so I’m really excited to experience it completely. It turns out that one of the classic ways to celebrate Sabbats is to bake bread – and with the growing pile of zucchinis on my counter – it couldn’t be more perfect!

‘The Sun, the hearth of affection and life, pours burning love on the delighted Earth.’

~Arthur Rimbaud

I am having a difficult time getting Flora’s ‘The Simple Sabbat’ book so I turned to my other favourite guru, Ellen Dugan and her book, ‘Seasons of Witchery’. I used her zucchini bread recipe and made 2 yummy loaves that even my teenagers gobbled up! I froze most of it to pull out for breakfasts and a few special pieces for the actual Sabbat on the 1st. Here is the recipe:

Zucchini Bread

 In a large bowl, mix the following ingredients together by hand:

3 cups shredded zucchini (yes, skin and all!)

2 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts (I added these to the recipe-good for kids)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

Spray 2 loaf pans with cooking spray and evenly pour in the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until you stick something sharp in the center and it comes out dry (I use a steak knife so that I don’t pull apart the top of the loaf). Remove from the oven and let completely cool.

I sliced mine up and then put into ziploc baggies for the freezer. This way the kids can pull out a piece at a time and enjoy for breakfast or in their lunches.

The first stages – zucchini, spices and walnuts.

Headed for the oven!

Toasty brown and smells divine. The speckles are raw sugar pieces that I sprinkled on top before baking.

Green goodness and some fresh butter. Mmmmm!

It is a really simple recipe and very tasty. I know it will be a part of our future Sabbats!

I’d love to hear about what you are planning for Lughnasadh – I’m still in the gathering stage for our celebration and I’d appreciate any recipes or ideas that you and your family enjoy.