Passing the Spatula (and a recipe for Chocolate Wave Zucchini Bread)

There was no marching band and parade to mark the occasion. No article in the local newspaper or a 30 second spot on the evening news. But if it was up to me there would have been because this past Thursday marked a very momentous event for me- my high school freshman daughter Abby's first cooking experience in her "Food and Nutrition" class.  Like a family of doctors who celebrate the day their youngest heads off to medical school to follow in their footsteps, I was very excited about Abby taking "Food and Nutrition." Of course, way back in the day, we didn't call it Food and Nutrition class. It was Home Ec, plain and simple. And I dreaded it with all the fear I associate with going to the dentist. That's right. This foodie almost flunked Home Ec. I despised my teacher, burned nearly every recipe we made and thought that cooking was for people who had nothing better to do. How funny that some 30-odd years later I get to relive it all over again through Abby. Thankfully, her experiences with me in the kitchen, limited as they have been, have prepared her much better than I ever was for culinary boot camp.
She came home Friday proudly carrying her half a loaf of Chocolate Wave Zucchini Bread that they had prepared on Thursday and regaled me with tales from the kitchen. Since she is the only freshman on her cooking team she got to experience what every chef does starting out - kitchen cleanup and handing other people utensils and ingredients. But she got to wear a black chef's coat (I recall with horror the flower-print apron I was forced to wear in Home Ec) and thought that was pretty neat.
I'm looking forward to her further adventures in the kitchen as the year progresses.
I'm going to relay the Zucchini bread recipe exactly as Abby received it, just because it's so darned cute in the way it sets out all the steps.
Ingredients
Bowl #1 (Wet Ingredients)
1/3 cup of shortening
1 1/3 cups of white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini
1/3 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
Bowl #2 (Dry Ingredients)
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put parchment paper in one 9x5 loaf pan.
1. In a large bowel, cream shortening and sugar together until smooth. THEN mix in eggs, add zucchini, water and vanilla.
2. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice together.
3. Mix the 2 bowls of ingredients together into one bowl. 
4. Divide batter in half (put 1/2 of batter in one bowl and other 1/2 in another bowl.) Add cocoa powder and chocolate chips to one of the halves. Pour plain batter into bottom of the loaf pan. Pour chocolate batter on top of plain batter. Using a table knife, swirl chocolate into white batter.
5.  Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool 10 minutes and remove from pan. Store in refrigerator.