Zucchini wars strike Brooklyn! Or: What to do with an unexpected cucumber.

This isn't the country, but that doesn't mean that we don't grow food or raise chickens (evidenced by large bags of chicken feed at Pip's favorite pet store).  I am not ready to write about chickens, but I am ready to write about unexpected cucumbers.  Lucky me! Yesterday on the gate was a bag of locally grown tomatoes, a zucchini and a cucumber.  Very locally grown, in fact.  The contents of the bag were the fruits of my neighbor Jerry’s gardening labor.  Jerry lives on the other side of the street, the side of the street that gets morning sun on the garden.  This accident of directional fate means that his patch of terra firma produces an abundance of what I can't, namely tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini.  I won't be able to engage in zucchini wars by hanging a revenge bag of courgettes on his gate, but I can return the favor with this terrific recipe for Agua Fresca from Oaxaca.  It requires cucumber, pineapple, celery, sugar and lime.  (Follow the imbedded links for ‘how to’s’ regarding pineapple preparation et al.)

Equipment

• Something to chop with and a place to do it 
• Blender 
• Mesh Strainer ( a medium mesh strainer is best for this)
• Something to squeeze juice out of a lime

Ingredients

• 2 cups of chopped pineapple
• 1 cup of chopped cucumber (after it's been peeled and seeded)
• 1 cup of chopped celery
• Lime juice (from one or two limes- your call)
• Sugar (to taste)
• Cold water (maybe 1/2 cup, again- entirely up to you, you’re the boss!)

Method

• Place chopped pineapple, cucumber and celery (in batches if necessary) in blender.
• Add cold water to facilitate blending and to make this into a beverage!
• Add Lime juice and sugar to taste (you can do this... cooking is an inexact art!)  
• Blend and strain

Enjoy!

Now to contemplate the fate of those lovely tomatoes and an equally lovely zucchini.  Not exactly warfare.  In fact, things are pretty neighborly here in Brooklyn!