Bob Kaplan plods over with his annual bushel of zucchini each the size of a canoe. Tom Anderson gave me a bagful of goosenecks (squash) and bell peppers from his bountiful garden. Paul Hoog even drops off a huge assortment of bell peppers, more squash and green beans, then brings by some extra squash the next day. I sit now with a produce section the size of Wegmens™.

To accommodate all of this new harvest, for which I am grateful, I had to adjust the shelving in my two fridges. Thank heavens for friends & neighbors with vegetable gardens.

Enormous zucchini have stumped me for years. I've learned to stew, pickle, pummel, casserole, freeze, fry and grill these things until I can't see straight. But because of their size, I think some of the best ways to serve these puppies up, especially for family style dinners, is to hollow them out and stuff them as well as pair them with the other bounty of the summer. Sky's the limit on ingredients for stuffing. We're all familiar with the usual suspects - rice, breadcrumbs, mushrooms and dried herbs - but I found that with a bit of prep this wonderful vegetable is a worthy main dish. Plus you can water ski with one on each foot in a pinch.

Zucchini Canoe with Pine Nut & Red Apple Stuffing

Another original. By putting the two sides together and wrapping them in foil to bake, you allow the flavors to fuse together nicely. Perfect for picnicking. Transport in the foil and carve up on site.

1 lg Zucchini, large & overgrown, the size of a canoe
1 lg Vidalia Onions, sliced
4 tbs Butter
_ cup Pine nuts
1 1/3 cup Bread crumbs, unseasoned whole wheat if you can find
3 tbs Fresh Sage, chopped
2 tbs Fresh Mint, chopped
2 med Apples, Red Delicious or Spartan (red skinned), peeled and sliced thinly
Sea salt and fresh, cracked pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the stems off the zucchini and slice it in half lengthwise, making two good size canoes. Scoop out the seeds (not the meat) leaving a nice canal for stuffing.

Sauté the onions in the butter until translucent then add the pine nuts, bread crumbs, sage and a dash of salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and add the apples and mint, folding in gently.

Stuff both sides level and then place them back together securing with toothpicks. Wrap completely in aluminum foil, wrapping the ends tightly. Bake for about 30-45 minutes until desired tenderness is achieved. Pierce the foil with a toothpick to gauge. Cut into slices.

In closing, as I started to write this month's column I saw an article in The Washington Post by Candy Sagon titled, "What's Green and Flies 120 Feet?" She provided some recipes for ways to "use up" all that zucchini, e.g. summer slaw, the conventional zucchini bread and a zucchini cake. Nothing astounding…except for this. She spoke of a competition that involved flinging zucchini about called "Squash Put." Interesting…but in my opinion (coupled with being raised in a restaurant family) wasting food in any manner goes against my grain (pardon the pun). So for those who are looking to "use up" their zucchini, in lieu of participating in contests such as these, how about donating it to the local food bank ? There are many around… email me and I'll help locate one for you.