Hi-ho, thar buckos!
Tu-Na’s Treasure Chest. Actually, my sister found my hiding place when she came shop hopping with us for Day 8. She peeked inside to see what was for lunch.
’tis be Cap’n Tu-Na tellin’ ye that I have th’ loot counted, ‘n safely stowed.
She sure was surprised! I called it my “high fiber” diet.
Thar’s much more thar than I thought. ’tis just taken much longer than expected. Be back in a day or a pair wit’ th’ first ‘o th’ loot from me 2016 Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop to show ye. In th’ meantime, here’s a couple a pictures to whet ye appetite!
Were you thinking that was all?
Look what was waiting for me when I arrived home! Inside the envelope was the tiny Dresden plate template that I bought along the hop at the Spinning Spools Quilt Shop in New Ulm, MN. They were sold out but said they’d ship it when it was back in stock. I’d forgotten I ordered it so it was a nice surprise to have it waiting for me along with a hand-written note from the owner. It will be perfect for my 1930s repro fabric.
In addition to taking lots of pictures, I’ve had a pressing project to work on, too.
I’ll show you this project soon; I promise.
And these giants need some tending. The garden produce got out of hand while we were gone.
I’m thinking Oven-Baked Zucchini Fries, Zucchini Brownies, and Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread; my husband is thinking compost.
Stay tuned for Part Two of “The Loot—The Free and Almost-Free Stuff” coming up soon. Yes, I came across some really good deals—so good, in fact, that they made me think I was a pirate; I’ve got the credit card debt to prove otherwise! If you haven’t caught up with all my Quilt Minnesota Shop Hop adventures, you’ll see the list here.
What I Learned Today:
- The cooler holds more than I thought.
- The cooler made a good storage place after the garden produce was left at my daughter’s.
- Receipts add up faster than I thought.
- 380 pictures of loot are a lot to weed out and edit.
- The loot—it’s almost embarrassing.
Question: What do you do with overgrown zucchini?
Linking Sunday to Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun than Housework for Oh, Scrap!
Monday to Beth at Cooking up Quilts for Main Crush Monday (Button on the sidebar) and Love Laugh Quilt for Monday Making
Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats 
Sounds like you had a lot of fun and picked up some great treasures. What do I do with overgrown zucchini? I smash them and feed them to my chickens. Blessings, Gretchen villacrestfarm@gmail.com
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That’s a clever way to add vegetables to their diet! Alas, no chickens on this property.
I think half the fun of this trip is writing about it. Naw, maybe one/tenth.
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My zucchini looks like yours and I didn’t go on holidays. I will be making some bread and muffins.
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That’s funny! I think they grow a foot a day. My husband took a look at my brownie recipe and said, “it only uses a cup of zucchini—hardly worth the effort.”
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I usually just pick the big zucchini and leave it under some of the garden leaves. When fall comes and the leaves freeze, we are in for a surprise! Usually there is more than I remember!
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That’s funny—the hide them and forget them method! We found a cucumber that was 10” long and 3” in diameter and still good. So we ate that one for supper. Kind of like feeling we are in McBroom’s garden. Did you read those books to your kids?They are hilarious.
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Putting all those gems in a treasure chest and calling it loot was a hoot! I am glad you had a successful trip! Can’t wait to hear more!
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In an effort to make room in the car for my sister to join us for day 8, some of the bags of my loot were put in the cooler to fill it up. Also I was trying to hold a lid on the embarrassment factor. But she found me out as we were driving and it was getting close to lunch time! She snapped a pic of it and texted it to my other sister. They haven’t let me forget it yet.
The loot thing just kind of happened as one of my readers called it that and then I just went with it. Kind of like how this whole posting about the hop has been….evolving as I go. So glad you are enjoying reading about my adventures on the Hop.
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I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your shop hop travels. Love the interesting stories about the quilt shops. I am patiently waiting to see all of your purchases!
I also have an abundance of zucchini, but I have had help lately keeping them under control because the deer have also found them!
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We must have fussy deer as they don’t bother the zucchini! They prefer the tulips, strawberries, asparagus, and apples. They even ate some of the day lilies and the seed catalog says they are “deer resistant.” I guess the deer didn’t read that issue.And may the deer leave you at least a few zucchini to eat.
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The suspense is building for sure with a few hints thrown in here and there. I love zucchini and all the yummy food you can make with it. They sure grow fas though.
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I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my shop hop journey. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy my next post about the free stuff and the really good deals. It’s just evolving as I write. Some readers think I had it all planned…fooled them.
Cucumbers also grow fast. We picked one when we got home that was 10” long and 3” in diameter. Surprisingly it was still good to eat.
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No offense intended ; but I am with your husband on this one! Compost!
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No offense taken. You got a “thumbs up” from the husband.
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I like to slice up giant the zucchini, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, and pepper and grill them!
I’ve also made bread and butter pickles with them – a big hit!
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We tried your recipe for a late lunch today and it was delicious! My husband grilled them just perfect–done but not mushy with a hint of burnt. One of the large zucchini filled up the whole grill. We’ll definitely make it again. I can see where using a large zucchini is the best. Otherwise it would take forever to turn them. Thanks for sharing.
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What a fun post! I am amazed how much fabric an ice chest holds!!! To fess up, I did a mini shop hop this past spring – just 7 shops and easy to do in 3 days (leaving after my kids left for school and getting back around the time they did). I was embarrassed that I spent so much! Yes, it’s polite to buy something at each place, but I seemed to go a bit overboard! I can’t imagine the control you had to have to not spend even more than you likely did! So, good for you! Still can’t wait to see it all! So far, so great!!!!
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I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the post. The ice chest held a lot and then I had all the overflow in bags. Photographing what was in the ice chest and the bags took quite some time.
$20.00 here, $40.00 there, $100.00 at a couple and it adds up fast! I started out with a budget in mind and blew that after the first day. So I knew I was in for some serious credit card damage.
Even a small hop like you did is fun. And I bet you are still using up the things you bought. Where was the hop? I’m told many states have hops but MN’s is the best. Maybe I can convince my husband to try out some other states, just to compare, you know do research.
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Hey Karen, if ya got it, flaunt it! Looking forward to seeing what that cooler holds. What a nice treat indeed waiting for you (the Dresden, not the zucchini…been there done that too many years running, although they do make a great almond cake and a chocolate one too)
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There’ll be much to flaunt coming up. Seriously, I think I’ll be doing at least 2 and maybe 3 more posts about it. Too embarrassing to do it all in one! I better start sewing a little faster and shopping a little slower.
We took one of my reader’s idea from her comment above and sliced one of those bad boys into rounds, brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and grilled them until they shouted for mercy. Absolutely delicious! Unfortunately there was so much, it filled a huge 5 burner grill and now I have leftover zucchini, too!
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Looks like you found lots of treasure! Both in fabric and fun memories 🙂 I look forward to seeing all you make.
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I’ve already cut into one large piece I bought on the hop and it’s become a quilt back ready to be sandwiched.
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Need zucchini recipes? I know there are some in our family cookbook that I use for those extra zucchinis!
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I’m making a pan of zucchini brownies now. I plan to check out some cookbooks but if you have a favorite recipe, feel free to share it here.
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What a clever idea using your cooler for your stash! Who needs food when you’ve got all that fiber?? 🙂 Thanks for the peek! Not surprised that Sewing Seeds would do that — such a wonderful shop!
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Spinning Spools was the shop that I ordered that from. They have a cute side yard by their entrance and easily could have featured them.
Sewing Seeds is also in the same town, New Ulm, MN, and is a great shop too. We checked out there and spent a fair amount of time looking around and shopping. I find it interesting that a small town like New Ulm can support 3 quilt shops! Must be a story to check out next year.
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The cooler is a great place for the stash! I leave those big ones for the deer. Maybe they will eat those and leave my daylilies alone.
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Our deer must be fussy. They leave the zucchini and eat the strawberries, asparagus, tulips and apples instead. My husband rigged up a motion light to trigger a radio to play at night when the deer come to dine. Now they dine and dance by candlelight.
BTW: I made the zucchini brownies with a ganache topping and it was delicious. My husband said “Huh, I can’t even tell there is any zucchini in here. Did you forget to put it in?” Actually, I pressed that zucchini down and stuffed that measuring cup so full it was heaping!
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I like to spiralize the zucchini and use it instead of pasta in spaghetti.
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That sounds intriguing. How do you spiralize it? What fun kitchen gadget am I missing out on?
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I like the pirate theme Karen: Looks like you got some great loot. Now to use it all up…Just kidding!
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It was a fun post to write! Sometimes I even amaze myself with the stuff I think up!
Use it up? Am I supposed to actually cut into that pretty stuff? It’s just fun to look at now. I’m sure it’ll take me a year, until next year’s hop, to use it up.
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Holy cow! What a huge pile of loot! I saw the cooler picture and thought ‘what’? But what a smart way to store the fabric for travel! It’s hard to pass up killer deals!
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I heard from some hoppers along the way that each person in their car gets to take a plastic tote with cover and when it’s full they are done shopping. Lucky for me, when the cooler was full, I just stashed the remaining bags behind the seats, in the back and if I would have needed to I could have held some.
My husband is “the king of packers” and that helped too.
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Along with all the dishes previously posted, we grate the large zukes and freeze in quart size bags-flattened for better storage. Then it can be used in spag. sauce, vegetable soup, omelettes…and for a winter zucchini bread. Shop hops are so much fun. My daughter and I went on one and spent two nights in a B&B and enjoyed 3 days of shopping. We had a blast. And as far as the expenditures…it is an investment!!!!
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I never thought about freezing any of it. Good idea. I’ll have to do that. Thanks for sharing. I bet it could then be fried up like frozen hash browns too.
Such good memories you made on that shop hop with your daughter. You are right it was an investment for my husband and I: both in hobby value and our relationship.
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Love this post. What a great double use of your “treasure chest”. Looks like lots of fun stuff came home with you.
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Thanks for the compliments. My next part of the loot post should post later today.
We grilled some zucchini rounds and they were delicious. One zucchini filled up our large 5 burner gas grill! Now I only have 2 large ones left and leftover zucchini in the fridge.
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It sounds like you had a fabulous time! And what fun is hopping if you can’t bring home loot to show for your efforts? Right? First you had fun visiting all the shops and buying, now you’ll have fun again going through all the goodies and remembering the places you visited. Sounds like a fantastic trip!
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And then I’ll have the fun of cutting up all that loot and sewing it back together. I knew I was in trouble after the first day when I had already spent my entire budget for the trips. So I just made a new budget and ended up just deciding memories are priceless. Now just to find the time to sew it all up by next year so I can justify doing it again.
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