Adulting is hard.

Adulting with kids must be exhausting.

My parents still drive me crazy from time to time, but they did alright considering babies don’t come with manuals. After dinner last night, we (the boyfriend, roommates, and I) started talking about some of the little harmless but annoying things we got away with as kids. Staying up past bedtime, waking our parents up far too early on weekends, avoiding naps to wreak havoc instead…

Basically kids don’t like sleep (for you or for themselves) and yet they seem to have an unlimited supply of energy.

Not having any kids of my own, they kind of seem like little manic balls of terror.

I was once a little terror, and yet my parents never really lost patience with me. I don’t know how they did it even when we were fairly manageable. When I was about five or six I would diligently wait for my dad to come home from work. Once I tripped over the front steps as I eagerly ran out to greet him. I cut open my eyebrow, leaving a scar. (I was not the most coordinated child.)

I still remember the giant Aesop’s Fables book he read to us each night. It was a cream colored hardback with a forest green binding and a silver embossed title. I would get so excited when he pulled that book off the shelf because one- I was too tiny to reach it myself, and two- it meant it was time for bedtime stories!

My brother and I would bug him to spend time with us and my dad was always happy to oblige through reading- half the time my brother and I would listen and the other half we would argue loudly with each other, talk nonsense, and barrage my dad with questions.

Now that I think about it, in contrast to our excitement, he must have been so tired after coming home from work. While studying for the bar exam my mom would have to shoo us out of the room so he could study in peace after work, but he would still make time for us. I couldn’t possibly have understood then, and I don’t fully get it now, but I certainly have appreciation for it. I’m truly grateful for the all the little things my parents put up with, and I’m even more grateful for the memories they made with us growing up.

So, zucchini fritters! I made a batch for dinner, and that is what led to that train of thought. Like I said, adulting is hard so I try to keep things simple when I can. I picked this recipe for zucchini fritters because aside from grating the zucchini and cheese, all you have to do is mix everything together and fry the little cakes. They also looked delicious in all the pictures I saw (though I did change the recipe).

Zucchini Fritters

• 2 zucchinis
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup of  almond meal
• 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp chopped chives
• 1 and 1/2 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp of cracked black pepper
• grapeseed oil

This recipe yields about 10 fritters. I would probably double everything next time because between just two people they were finished super quickly!

First cut the ends off the zucchini, then grate and place in a sieve over a bowl. add about a tablespoon of salt, to help draw out the water. The less water the zucchini has, the crispier the fritters will be.

Let it sit for about 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, squeeze out as much water as you can from your zucchini blob. You’ll be surprised how much green juice is in there.

After that, add about a half tablespoon of salt, and place in a bowl.

Add the cheese, almond meal, flour, egg, and chives to the bowl. Crack some black pepper into the mix.

Mix until just combined.

Heat grapeseed oil in a skillet pan on medium/high heat.

Prepare a plate with a paper towel on it.

Once the oil is hot, add spoonfuls of the zucchini mixture to the pan 3-4 at a time, pressing on the tops of the cakes so they are flat and round.

Once the bottoms are golden brown, flip. Each size should take only about 2-3 minutes.

Place on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Once the batch is done, serve immediately. I served mine with a tangy tzatziki sauce!

Enjoy!