Were you popular in high school? I wasn’t. One of my most prominent memories is of a “friend” shouting at me in the cafeteria. She said, “Do you know what your problem is? You don’t know how to have fun. F-U-N, fun!” It’s sort of painful to admit, 40 years later, but she was right.

We all need to feel a sense of belonging. It’s hard wired for survival. But the craving for popularity is a two-edged sword. It can lead us astray just as easily as it can guide us to be good family or community members. In the past, the wish to fit in has led me to consume far too many questionable substances. We often make poor choices when we are overly attached to the approval of others. At 56, I have begun to figure out how to have fun and how to feel I belong without compromising my integrity or health.

When I started Deb’sPots, it was my intention to “follow my heart.” I wanted to share my love of food and cooking, pottery, photography and writing with family and friends. But once I got started, I found I wanted a wider audience. Enter: Social media. I’m mostly enjoying the community aspect of the interwebs, especially Instagram. There are lots of talented people posting amazing photographs. There’s great food, and beautiful pottery. I’ve made wonderful connections, you can read about some of them here, here, and here. It’s interesting, fun, and satisfying. But…

I’m finding I can get caught up seeking numbers. If I publish a vegan, gluten free, paleo, low carb, low fat recipe I can use more hashtags. I can post on more food porn sites. My blog stats reflect more hits. If I post a picture of ribs, I risk losing followers…

So, this is my manifesto. I am going to strive to be true to myself. It is my intention to let go of caring whether I get more Gawks on Foodgawker with a cake recipe than one for broccoli. If Tastespotting rejects every single picture (as they have recently), I’m not going to let it ruin my day. I have learned how to have F-U-N fun. I don’t need to be the internet equivalent of prom queen!

And in keeping with my manifesto, I am going to give you another zucchini recipe even though I gave you one last week, and one last fall. If you want to stop following my blog, I’ll just have to eat Zucchini Fries all by myself. Which would be a shame, because these fries ROCK!!! They are so good, I might become a Zucchini Rock Star!

Zucchini Fries

Serve these with Sriracha Lime Sauce. They are also good with Goddess of Green, Hummole, Peanut Sauce, Tzatziki, Tahini Sauce with Herbs or Simple Tomato Sauce. If you don’t feel like making a sauce, lemon or lime wedges are a perfect accompaniment.

Serves 4

This is equally good if you cut the zucchini into coins instead of long wedges. And yellow summer squash works as well.

Make it vegan: substitute coconut milk for the buttermilk and omit the parm.

2 medium/large zucchini, cut into 8 wedges each
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbs. all purpose flour
1 cup panko
½ cup grated parm
cooking oil spray (I use coconut)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°.
Mix the flour, salt and pepper, into the buttermilk in a wide, flat container big enough to hold all the zucchini.

Mix the panko and parm on a plate.

Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment. Spray liberally with the cooking spray.

Dunk all the zucchini pieces in the buttermilk mixture. Roll them around so they get fully coated. Then, working with one at a time, dredge them in the cheese crumbs. Pat the crumbs on so they stick, then place the coated pieces on the parchment lined sheet. Now spray all the coated pieces with the cooking spray. This will help them brown.

Pop the pan into the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the fries are crisp and toasty. Serve immediately.

Note: The prep hands are mine. The tasting hands are Brian’s. Isn’t he a great hand model?

Other note: Thank you to Mary for the Yum Button. If you don’t know Yummly, check it out and use the Yum Button below.