The Zucchini Candy Experiment

I am very happy to announce that our home is overrun with fresh fruit and vegetables.  I am happy because this has been a GRAND year for the garden!  The last couple of years we have drowned in the spring thanks to excessive rain only to be dried out overnight by oppressive heat.  This year we have eased into summer with wonderful temperatures that have allowed the garden to flourish.

I have been looking for creative ways to use my mounds of zucchini that have been coming in.  I usually just saute' up the small ones with a little onion but every now and then we find one that has hidden from us and is as long as my arm.  After filling the freezer with zucchini pecan muffins I ran across a recipe for Zucchini Candy!    The reviews were great so I thought I would try it too.

I only had one package of Kool-Aid since I don't normally buy the stuff.  I made half of a recipe using the Sour Apple Kool-Aid and I made up my own spicy concoction for the other half.  I made a simple syrup and added cinnamon and Sriracha.  I didn't measure the ingredients.  I just added stuff until it tasted balanced.

The result...

It really is good.  I have to admit that my favorite is the cinnamon sriracha.  It has enough heat to get your attention but a great flavor.  The candy is very similar to gummy worms.

And being one that does not like for anything to go to waste, I strained the remaining Kool-Aid marinade, added water and served it to the boys as a nice, refreshing drink.  I took the remaining cinnamon sriracha marinade, strained it, and made jelly.  It will be wonderful served over cream cheese with some crackers! That's the jelly there in the middle ---->



One more fun thing I am doing now is making my own Kefir.  Some of our friends came through town last week and she gave me some Kefir grains.  If you don't know much about Kefir and it's health benefits I would encourage you to do a little research on it.  The boys and I have been having smoothies for breakfast every morning.  I blend together 1 frozen banana, fresh blackberry juice, a handful of blueberries and about 1 cup of Kefir.  It is delicious!