Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts Inaugural Zucchini Bread Bake-Off August 23

Ahhhh zucchini. Who doesn’t enjoy the delicious taste of this juicy, unassuming, late summer crop? And talk about versatile.  You can eat zucchini as the star or a secondary character in so many different kinds of dishes. You can savor it fried, grilled, stir fried, in a lasagna, zoodled. . . but it is also delicious in sweet applications like pie or bread.  There is however one problem with zucchini. It grows and spreads prolifically.  There comes a time towards the end of the summer when those who grow zucchini have a lot of it, and they need to get rid of it before it goes bad.  Pennsylvanian Tom Roy came up with a solution for this crop’s prolificness problem: National Sneak Some Zucchini onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Day. This holiday is celebrated every year on August 8. (Roy also came up with 80 other zany days like No Housework Day and Stay Out of the Sun Day. Click here to see all of the “holidays” that Tom is credited with inventing.) 

How does one best celebrate this holiday? Well, obviously by sneaking some zucchini on your neighbor’s porch. This could be in the form of actual zucchinis, as the farmers of years gone by would have done, or you could sneak a dish made with this delicious fruit such as zucchini bread or zucchini lasagna or gratin. 

However, the people at Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts like to celebrate the best way they know how. . . with an awesome contest. Their inaugural zucchini bread bakeoff will take place on Saturday, August 23, 2025. And, not only is this a fun event for the community to show off their baking skills, it is also a way to give back to the community with the entrance fee becoming a donation to Manna Food Project. 

Here are all of the details:

• Entrants can submit one mini loaf of homemade zucchini bread. The competition will be divided into three categories. 1. Classic 2. Creative Twist and 3. Kids (for those 14 and under).
• Entrants can drop off their mini loaf between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 23. No need to preregister. 
• The entry fee is a $15 cash or check donation to Manna Food Project. Contestants must have this when they drop off their entry.
• Judging begins at noon, and the winners from each category will be announced at 3:00 p.m. both in store and via Facebook live. 
• Entries will be judged by a panel of local foodies based on appearance, texture, flavor, and creativity. 
• Each participant will receive a $25 gift certificate to Grandpa Shorter’s family of stores (Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts, J.W. Shorter and Son Mercantile, and Luci and Carl’s Candy Cabin).
• The top baker in each category will win a $250 gift certificate to a collection of downtown Petoskey businesses. 

It is as simple as that. And, there is no reason not to enter this contest. For a $15 entry fee (which is going to Manna), you will automatically receive a $25 gift certificate that you can use in all three stores, plus you have a chance to win a $250 gift certificate to shop more of your favorite downtown Petoskey stores. If you have any additional questions about the contest, give Grandpa Shorter’s Gifts a call at 231-347-2603.

I will leave you with 5 interesting facts about the zucchini:

1. Zucchini is a fruit and not a vegetable.
2. Both zucchini and zucchinis are acceptable plural forms of zucchini.
3. Zucchini was first brought over to this country from Italian immigrants in the 1920s. 
4. Zucchinis are 95% water.
5. Zucchinis have more potassium than bananas.