Squash.

 


Most anyone that knows me, knows that I am a huge fan of winter squash…and, if you didn’t, well, there you go.

I love squash.

I love everything about it, from the cucumber like smell when you cut it open, to the beautifully colored flesh and the decorative bumps, knots and stripes.. And, don’t even get me started on those seeds.

Damn, I love those seeds.

You might have guessed then, that I love to carve Pumpkins as well?
You guessed right. I am not a huge Halloween fan…but, I will always carve a pumpkin…and usually buy a bag of candy…

In my younger years, when I used to carve out the pieces of pumpkin that made the hollowed out eyes, nose, and mouth.. I would salt them and then eat them.
Yes, I would eat them raw.

Then, of course, I would roast the seeds.

In College, one of my staple meals, when I wasn’t eating what I dubbed, ‘sh*t in a burrito’ (which was basically black beans, tomatoes, cheese, and rice in a tortilla)…most likely, you could find me eating squash. Not raw, this time, but roasted with a pat of butter, a little salt and a lot of brown sugar. Usually, it was Butternut or Acorn. But, I did live on the edge at times and branch out for a Delicata.

Not all of my cooking ventures with Squash have been so delightful. Carrie, just last week as we carved pumpkins, reminded me of the time when I had this glorious idea of making squash soup, baked in a pumpkin. The scary part wasn’t necessarily the hollowing out and baking of a pumpkin, with soup inside, it was the fact that, when I found that I didn’t have the horseradish the recipe called for, I decided to use equal parts of Wasabi instead..

hmm, It is in the horseradish family, right?

If nothing else, the soup cleared our sinuses, and poor Carrie was such a sport, telling me as she practically gagged and beads of sweat formed on her upper lip, that the soup really wasn’t TOO bad. (what a good friend!)

..As we venture into the thick of Winter Squash season, be on the lookout for more Squash related posts…I plan to turn it into everything from bread, to pie to…you guessed it….gelato…