Zucchini Crecent Pie

I don't even like zucchini... well, usually. We didn't plant any zucchini this year, however a neighbor and a couple friends had bumper crops, leaving Mom and I to stare at the huge pile of zucchinis on our kitchen counter wondering what to do with them all. Mom is on a gluten free diet, so zucchini bread (however yummy it may be) was out of the question. Then I found this recipe from taste of home. I wasn't looking forward to trying it, because, as I've already stated, I'm not a huge fan of zucchini, but it tasted wonderful! We used a gluten free pie crust recipe instead of the crescent roll dough, and used bacon instead of ham. The tomatoes on top added the perfect mix of flavors! If you are tired of zucchini bread, try Zucchini Crescent Pie! (and no, I didn't take the picture, its from Taste of Home!)

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 ounces) refrigerated crescent rolls
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise and quartered
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 cup cubed fully cooked ham
• 1 medium Roma tomato, thinly sliced

Directions

• Separate crescent dough into eight triangles; place in a greased 9-in. pie plate with points toward the center. Press onto the bottom and up the sides to form a crust; seal seams and perforations. Bake at 375° for 5-8 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute zucchini and onion in butter until tender; stir in seasonings. Spoon into crust. Combine the eggs, cheese and ham; pour over zucchini mixture. Top with tomato slices.
• Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Yield: 6 servings.

The Regional

An update at last! As some of you know, mom and I took the past few weeks to get away and relax! Well, as relaxing as helping the the ATI regional can be ;) Visiting old friends and old memories at ITC is always an enjoyable experience! The weekend before the conference started, Sara and Aleita planned an amazing vintage picnic complete with classy decorations, soda in glass bottles, pinwheels, burgers and hot dogs on the grill, home made popsicles, and lots of yummy pie! 15 different pies, I think, was the final count for the pie baking contest. I believe all of us girls had more fun baking, than eating them all! My contribution ~ Lemon Meringue! Before dinner we had a blast laughing away pre-conference stress with a scavenger hunt, bubble blowing contest, 3 and 4 legged races, water balloon toss, and water balloon volleyball! The picnic was a huge success; a great way to get to know new staff, and have fun with old friends!

Abby and Savannah

Three legged races

Four legged races

Water balloon volley ball!

Then came the conference. (cue the scary background music...) O.K. so it wasn't that bad, even though a crazy buckeye put me in charge of conference line running ;) Grant it, there were a few memories I would prefer not to re-live, but then there are memories such as: sitting at the birthday table for Jessica's birthday, pre-conference house keeping with Ruthie, praying with all the line running girls before a stressful meal and seeing God work things out perfectly, making and delivering coffee for special people (though I think Becky and I determined that we needed to perfect our coffee making skills), jump starting the "Encouragement Office," helping to make a card for the kitchen crew and dishpit, (excuse me, I mean "Dish Palace"), playing volley ball and ultimate Frisbee with staff after chores, walking the canal, smoothies and Jone Soda's at the Chocolate Cafe, sitting in the circle talking with Sara... The list could go on.

Most of all, I thank the Lord for the amazing friends He has blessed me with!

Nary a day went by that I went to bed without being challenged in my walk with the Lord or encouraged to seek Him in a matter.

Thank you all for letting your lights shine so brightly!

Thanks to Chad Paine and Skyler Nelson for the pictures!

Vacation Bible School 2010

I survived Vacation Bible School!

Yes, it is true! I really did survive! ... Oh, and the kids survived too... :) After the usual Monday craziness I was starting to wonder about the rest of the week but by the grace of God, schedule flexability, and gummy bears, by Wednesday, Vacation Bible School had settled down to some sort of routine. I never would have made it without Clay! He's the one who primarily helped brain storm curriculum ideas, teach verses, was a team leader, lead games at the end of week fair, and in general, kept everything (mainly me) from going crazy! I don't know what I would have done without him! Favorite memory... Throughout the week, we had skits about Jeff and Ruby, a brother and sister who were attempting to grow the biggest and best pumpkin for the county fair that fall. As they were pulling the rocks and weeds from their garden they found a box! An old box, with a lock! (OK, so it was a cardboard box with masking tape...) What could be inside? Just as they were about to try to open it... Oh, my, we are out of time! I guess we'll have to find out tomorrow! (The kids were so disappointed!) The next day Jeff and Ruby's next door neighbor, Wayne, (the kind of neighbor that always causes trouble) stole the box! Clayton, the ever popular story teller, asked the kids what they thought was going to happen. A five year old shouted out 'Adriel (the boy who played Wayne) is going to repent!' As you could imagine, the room quickly erupted into a fit of giggles! How often do you hear a five year old use the word 'repent?' I owe a huge thank you to everyone who volunteered their time during VBS week! You all are amazing! Between crafts, snacks, playing with kiddos, acting in skits, filling water balloons, and dealing with my repeatedly changing mind, you managed to survive as well! I'm not going to attempt to name everyone, because I know I'll inadvertently leave some one out, but since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are my favorite shots of some of the guys interacting with the kids ;) I'm not sure who had more fun, the guys or the kids!

Clay is somewhere in the dog pile...

Some highlights from the week...

Vacation Bible School would not be complete without catchy songs and verses with amazing hand motions! The boomerang song made a surprising (or not so surprising) come back this year, though I think the favorite song was '12 Men went to spy in Canaan.' (which had absolutely nothing to do with anything we learned that week, but who cares, its fun to sing!) The kids did a great job learning the verses! (and Clay did a great job teaching them) They even said some of their verses in front of every one at church on Sunday! I feel sorry for other churches, we have all the best kids at our VBS!!!

The boomerang song

Learning verses, but I'm not sure what is so funny...

More verses The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace...

12 Men went to spy in Canaan (the big and strong part)

Of course you can't forget the lessons and skits. Its not called Vacation Bible School for nothing :)

Here, we are learning about weeds, not just the kind that grow in your garden, but also those that grow in your heart.

Jeff and Ruby with their pumpkin

This short guy showed up one day to hear us say our verses

Pictures of smiling kids are so reassuring!

Game Time! Need I say more?

We finished the week with a 'county fair!' Though the pumpkins we planted on Monday were not ready, we had fun with balloon sculpting, face painting, tug of war, three legged races, marshmallow eating contest, and a make shift dunk tank!

Levi did a great job on the picture board!

The marshmallow eating contest

Tug of war!

The Dunk Tank! Here is how it worked. Some one would stand on the top of the play structure with a bucket of ice cold water from the hose.

Under them, sitting on a chair, was the person (or people in this case) who were to be 'dunked.'

There was a target to hit with a ball that others would try to knock over. When the target was hit... Bombs away!

Oh, did I mention the extra credit verses? The older kids were given a challenge of eight extra verses to memorize during the week. If all eight were said, they got to put a pie in the face of the leader of their choice! The incentive worked, as you can see...

That unrecognizable face is Clay

Yeah, thats me with the white stuff all over my face... notice the look of sheer glee on Katrina's face ;)

These are a few if my absolute favorite pictures from the whole week :)

Special thanks to John Poma Jr. for the great pictures!