The end of the butternut squash saga

Remember my bumper crop of butternut squash?  I learned many new ways to use squash this year:  soup, pies, cakes, and breads.  I have quite a bit of pureed squash in my freezer for later use.  
There were still at least a couple dozen squashes in a little red wagon in Cliff's unheated (but insulated) shop, and every once in awhile I'd bring one in to microwave with a little brown sugar, as a side dish for dinner.  
Yesterday, Cliff said, "I want you to go out to the shop and look at your squashes; they look funny." 

Funny wasn't the word I would have used.
I salvaged three that weren't too moldy, one of which is in the oven right now alongside the spicy-chicken-and-rice I'm fixing for dinner.  The rest, as you can see, are laying in the garden where Cliff put them.  They won't rest there in peace, though:  I'll be moving them soon so I don't have butternut squash coming up from seed all over the place.   
We had a nice weekend in spite of the cold weather.  My daughter's two girls spent Saturday night.  We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast Sunday and a nice big noon meal.  The son-in-law ate with us too, once he got some errands run.
I'm still in the "hang-in-there-till-spring" mode with not much to blog about, but life is good.  

What's cooking in my kitchen

Remember about a month ago when I put my leftover turkey in bags and put them in the freezer?

Today I'm making a double batch of Jambalaya, using four cups of that turkey, a quart of my home-canned tomatoes, diced chopped sweet peppers frozen last summer, and home-made chicken broth. I notice I only have one more freezer bag of broth (1 1/2 cups); I start to panic when I get that low on broth. So many of our healthy, low-fat recipes call for it. So I'm pulling a package of chicken leg quarters out of the freezer in order to replenish my supply.

Don't worry, I'll be removing that bay leaf.

To go with it, I found the cutest little butternut squash -

Just the right amount for a side dish for two people. I'll put a tiny bit of brown sugar in the hollowed-out place and microwave it for six or seven minutes.

Want a low-fat, good-for-you, one-dish meal for the new year? Try my Better-Homes-and-Garden version of Chicken (or turkey) Jambalaya.

CHICKEN JAMBALAYA

1/3 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green sweet pepper

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 14 ½ ounce can of chopped tomatoes

1 ½ cups chicken broth

2/3 cup long grain rice

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (I add chopped garlic with the onions, peppers and celery and skip this ingredient)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 to ½ bottled hot pepper sauce, or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (I prefer cayenne)

1 bay leaf

2 cups cubed, cooked chicken

1. In a large skillet cook celery, onion and sweet pepper in oil till vegetables are tender but not brown.

2. Stir in undrained tomatoes, chicken broth, uncooked rice, basil, garlic powder, pepper, hot pepper sauce, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or till rice is tender. Stir in chicken or turkey; heat through. Discard bay leaf. Makes 4 servings.

354 calories, 12 grams total fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 68 mg chol., 610 sodium, 32 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 27 grams protein. 15% vitamin A, 37% vitamin C, 22% iron.

The last of the garden

Some of the butternut squashes are starting to spoil; others are wrinkling up, although so far this hasn't seemed to hurt them. I brought the worst-looking ones in from Cliff's shop; little by little I'm microwave-cooking them (after cutting off any spoiled portions) and saving the cooked insides for pies, cakes and muffins.

It takes about twelve minutes in the microwave to cook one squash.

This is the end of the potatoes from last summer's garden.

I made this crustless squash pie using the pumpkin pie recipe that's on the can of Libby's pumpkin. When making a pumpkin or squash pie without a crust, I add about a half-cup of flour to the ingredients to give it some body.

Of course, the potatoes and squash aren't really the end of my summer garden, since I still have lots of canned tomatoes, relish, and pickles.

The end of the butternut squash harvest

Two little red wagons and two boxes full. Oh yes, and ten that are still stored in the house.

Squash, anyone? It's hard to find somebody who likes butternut squash, which really puzzles me.

Cliff went to the dentist today and let them check his mouth. They agree with my assessment: the rash is gone.

He suggested this morning that since I could see the spots were gone, maybe he didn’t need to go to the dentist. I reminded him that I’m the one who told him for two months that he was having heartburn, when he was actually having angina.

Talk to the butternut squash pro

I cooked butternut squash soup until, honestly, I'm sick of it. It's possible to get too much of a good thing.

I haven't gotten tired of butternut squash oven fries or microwaved squash with a little brown sugar in the hollow where the seeds used to be.

I made a pretty darned good butternut squash pie today, using the pumpkin pie recipe on the Libby's pumpkin label. And that's when it hit me: Stop googling for butternut squash recipes and find all the pumpkin recipes you can, because butternut squash substitutes for pumpkin just fine.

I may yet get rid of the one hundred-and-one squashes taking over my garage.

I've been strumming my guitar this evening, toughening up the ends of my fingers. I think my granddaughter, Monica, and I need to schedule at least one jam session together per week. Because I remember when I was learning to chord, two things helped me learn: a simple chord book, and hillbilly friends who let my strum along in the background, telling me where to find the next chord when I couldn't find it on my own.

Yeah, that's the ticket. Monica, you can keep the capo I loaned you; I'm getting myself a new one. After all, your great-aunt Rena works at Musician's friend; I'll bet she can get me a good buy on another Kyser capo. And there won't be any shipping cost, because she can just bring it home from work!

Oh yeah, notice the new poll on the right, at the top. If you have an opinion, please leave it.

About that butternut squash

I've been asked if butternut squash will keep all winter. I'm not sure just how long it keeps, but I know I had a couple laying on my kitchen counter for six to eight weeks one winter, with no problems. I also remember having one or two of them go soft and rot, so we shall see how well mine last.

The way I most often prepare winter squash is very simple: I cut it in half lengthwise, remove the seeds, put the halves in a dish with the cut side down, and cook in the microwave or oven until about half done. Then I turn the halves over, put a little brown sugar and butter in the hollow where the seeds were, cover, and finish cooking. Now, some of my butternut squashes are too big to fit in my microwave, and I'll likely end up putting them in the regular oven, cooking one half at a time, because the two of us couldn't polish off a big one by ourselves.

Somewhere I have a weight-watcher recipe where you do the same things I just mentioned, except you mix some chopped apple, a little chopped celery, and a tablespoon full of walnuts with brown sugar and add some cinnamon. Cliff especially likes squash prepared this way.

I see no reason why a person couldn't make squash pie, substituting squash for the pumpkin in a pumpkin pie recipe. In fact, I found a recipe HERE.

Winter squash is high in vitamin A; one cup contains about three times the vitamin A you need in your diet in one day. It's super low-calorie, so even with a small amount of brown sugar and butter you might add, it won't ruin anybody's diet. Nutritional value found HERE.

This could be a horror movie

The butternut squash that took over the world!

I planted two or three hills, three seeds to a hill. Obviously, this is my first experience with butternut squash.

Not only have the vines taken over my garden, but the harvested squashes are taking over my closet. And there are many more coming.