Last night I was standing in my kitchen sobbing and gasping words of apology and regret to Brad while some cashews burned on the stove top.
I made a mistake. I thought I could handle something I was feeling by myself and leave Brad out of it. I was wrong and last night was my messy lesson learned. A day later, having been filled with the grace and forgiveness of my astonishing husband, I can’t believe I ever thought marriage could be anything but baring our whole souls to one another, seeing the naked ugly and the naked beautiful. If marriage is supposed to reflect our relationship with God, how did I imagine I could hide an ugly part of my mind from my husband and still have a relationship full of love, joy, and trust? I certainly can’t operate that way with God, who knows all and feels all right along with me.
So I’m humbled this morning by a man whose love for me is gentle, whose understanding of marriage is pure, whose forgiveness of me is quick and complete. And I’m in awe that I am yoked to a man who takes pains (though it seems effortless) to show me what Christ is like.
………
Last week, on a night when I felt very good at marriage but actually was in the middle of making mistakes, I did one thing right: I made zucchini fritters.
When the well of dinner ideas runs dry, remembering I can grate the random vegetables in my fridge and mix them in a bowl with eggs and herbs feels like a gift. I mixed these with some leftover hash browns and eyeballed the rest and I encourage you to experiment too. As long as you wind up with a mixture of slightly wet, flavorful vegetables, it will fry up and it will be delicious.
zucchini fritters
makes about 12 fritters
You could use all zucchini, a mix of squash, more potato, less potato, it’s all going to be good once you put it in a skillet with a little fat. Other add-ins: olives, parmesan, diced sweet potato (steam it briefly first so it cooks through), mushrooms, quinoa, cannelini beans, I could do this all morning.
2 zucchini, grated (I left the peel on mine)
2 to 3 cups grated potatoes or leftover hash browns
2 to 3 eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
a handful of green onions, minced
a small handful of fresh basil, minced
juice from 1/2 a lemon
salt
pepper
red pepper flakes
avocado or coconut oil
Use a paper towel to squeeze the extra moisture out of the zucchini (and potatoes, if they’re raw). This will help the edges crisp in the pan. Everyone wants more crispy bits! Stir together all the ingredients. The vegetables should all be glossy, but you shouldn’t be able to detect egg floating in between (then you’ll wind up with mini frittatas instead of fritters).
Heat about 2 tablespoons avocado or coconut oil in a skillet on medium low. There should be enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan and then a little bit more. When the oil is glossy and thin, spoon the veggie mixture into the pan as patties. Fry until the bottoms are brown and crisp, then flip and repeat. My first batch took about four minutes for the first side and two for the second, but that got progressively faster as my cast iron held more heat. Replenish the oil every other batch or so.
If you like, squeeze some fresh lemon juice on the top. Serve hot! Although they’re just as good cold the next day for lunch.