Yesterday we spent a good part of the day cooking with a few members of the Walker Jones Farm community. It was a welcome relaxing and recharging day. Hanging out chatting, listening to music and doing kitchen prep work felt like the perfect remedy to the day in day out busy-ness that we all practice! The product of our labor will be part of the meal this coming Tuesday at the DC Public School Walker Jones' Back to School Night. The school is the home of the Farm at Walker Jones where we have been working. We are really excited that much of the meal that will be served to parents Tuesday night is coming from the farm– collard greens, beets and zucchini. The meal is being prepared with a whole lot of help from our friends.

Yesterday we made beet ketchup and batter for a zucchini cake. The tester recipe below for the zucchini cake we made vegan but the batter for the dinner was made with eggs. If you want you can substitute the 1 cup of tofu with 4 eggs.

Walker Jones Farm Zucchini Cake (vegan version)

1 cup pureed silken tofu (can substitute 4 eggs)

2 cups sugar (we used a vegan cane sugar which is somewhat less processed than most granulated sugars and is also certified fair trade)

1 1/3 cups olive oil (you can taste this so use a good quality oil)

1 c whole wheat flour (we used a stone ground flour from a small mill that adds great taste and texture)

1 1/2 cups all purpose unbleached flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground clove

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon finely grated nutmeg

2 heaping cups shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a mixer and mix until just fully incorporated. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and spray with olive oil spray. Spread batter evenly on sheet pan and cook until cake is slightly springy to the touch, about 20 minutes.