holy giant zuke batman!

i told my co-worker that my roommate brought a giant zucchini home as a gift for his girlfriend. his girlfriend was all, "what the heck do i want with that?" so then, obviously, he looked at me. did i want the giant zuke? could i do something with it? could i do something with it??! of course. hello! i blog about this random stuff! seriously people.

now, that said, i didn't really want it. i don't really like squash. i actually don't like acorn and butternut at all (unless in a savory roasted soup form), but i tolerate summer squashed fairly well. so i decided to tackle working with this monster. and it was a monster bigger than my calf (as in leg, not pet bessi. not that i have a pet bessi, but you get the idea).

so i decided to try three separate recipes with guy - since clearly i'd have enough. i used a potato peeler and created ribbons of zucchini and put it in a summer pasta salad dish. rather unexciting, but good for numerous lunches at work. next, i cut chunks of beast into strips - and i intend on making zucchini frites sometime in the near future (since they are currently residing in my crisper at home). lastly, i finely grated what was left and incorporated it into paula dean's chocolate chip zucchini bread recipe (using milk chocolate chips, skipping the orange zest, and using mixed nuts instead of walnuts). considering my roommates devoured the first loaf before the night was out, i take that to mean it was a success. (not that i was doubting - were you??)