Pea Soup and Pumpkin(Squash) Bread

This Sunday was a bitterly cold day. Last week we cooked up one of our giant butternut squash that had gotten frozen in the garage. We took some to church potluck, but there were still a lot left. How about a pumpkin bread? So we found a recipe for pumpkin corn bread. All out of corn meal. Hop in the car for some corn meal.

The Corn bread turned out to be pretty good. A bit dry. But tasty. Now sweet - more savoury if any thing. Unfortunately, one recipe only used a cup of squash.

Then we(she) also used some peas that were in the freezer- labeled "Peas for Pea Soup." I guess there was no choice but to make pea soup.
So we had pea soup with squash bread for supper.

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Mini Butternut

Here are some of the fruit we bought at the roadside fruit stand just before entering Fig Tree Road. We had seen at another stand some butternuts squash. But they were very small-tiny in fact.
I felt like stopping and saying, "How come your squash is so small? My friend from Panama says everything grows so much bigger there, I thought your squash would be huge here, too."
So when we were in a grocery store, we saw some of the small squash, thought we need some vegetables to eat anyway.
Cooked it today, taste was okay, but the squash was so small it didn't have any seeds inside. I guess size isn't everything.


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Squash Load II

Last November we posted about our bountiful squash crop. This year we outdid ourselves. Since we were going to be away, we thought we should pick the squash just in case we got a frosty night.
I don't know if it was the rainy summer or if it was the virgin soil of the new garden area, or maybe we just planted more seeds this year.

But look at the crop- I think we harvest 4 times as much this year.

A Load of Squash

This is the 4th year that we have gotten a) a lot of butternut squash, b) a prize winning whopper that is at least 15 pounds.

It all started in 2003 when we inadvertently grew some butternut squash. Some seeds from a squash we had bought ended up in a flower bed and started to grow. Rather than pull it out we left it to grow. Even though some of the later squash got nipped by frost, we had some great squash that fall.

So in 2004, we thought "hey, let's grow some squash." Since we had good luck with squash from the grocery store, we decided to do the same. If we had bought a package of seed, all we would have got was some seed. This way we got to eat the seed package.
We bought a squash early in the spring. We saved a few seeds and deliberately planted a few plants. The seeds were so vigorous, their roots started to sprout with just a few hours of soaking. Some of the squash grew very large. A few were 18 inches or longer and very thick. So we saved th e seed from those big ones.
In 2005 and 2006, those seeds again produced a bumper crop of fruit. Squash soup became one of our favourite fall foods.
This year again, we planted those same original saved seeds from 2004. How long will those seed remain viable?

Just to be safe this year we are planning to save the seeds from the big 16 pounder.

The seniors at my mom's apartment are having a squash soup luncheon today - the squash supplied by us. They have had squash soup luncheons for at least 2 years each fall.

We have found that one of the easiest ways to prepare butternut is to simply slice them into 1/2 inch sections, put them into a large container, pour a little oil on them, mix up the slices. Then throw them on the barbecue. You can add a little cinnamon or cloves, but just oil is just great. One of the easiest and tastiest ways to enjoy squash.