Squash and Buttered Roots

It is that time of year! Winter Squash season!

Ellie is well known for the deliciousness of her steamed squash.

This is probably related to the fact that she does not believe in skimping on the butter or the brown sugar.

First step is to cut the squashes in half and scoop out the seeds (Daddy helped with this. Since the squash have been curing for several months, the rinds are hard and the flesh is very well matured).

Daddy also likes to carve out the butternut squash a little to make the cavity more evenly distributed through the body of the squash.

Once the seeds are scooped out, they go in a 9×13 or appropriately sized pyrex dish.

Then the fun part! Add the butter!!!!!

And brown sugar!

Then about 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the pan, and tent it with aluminum foil.

You can do the same thing with a deeper pan like a turkey roaster that has a lid, but if the pan is metal it’s a good idea to put the squashes on a rack of some sort. Otherwise, sometimes the rinds burn to the bottom of the pan.

We did not get around to baking it on Monday, but that is no worries. We simply put them in the fridge for Tuesday.

Then, before we headed to the farm for chores, we started them in the oven at 225 degrees. They are a very forgiving vegetable. They can be over steamed, but 3-4 hours at 225 will do them just fine.

At the farm Ellie found a salamander, which she named “Salamandastron.”

The new piggies are settling in well.

The old piggies are getting a bit rambunctious. The wind apparently blew the tarp off one of the shade mobiles, so they grabbed it and pulled it into the other shade mobile to use as part of their nest.

Winnie likes piggies.

They’re so tasty too!

Gertrude (left) and her brother Bacon (left).

While there we dug some more veggies for supper.

Beet roots.

These are always popular just steamed or fried in butter.

We also dug some carrots, daikons, purple radishes and turnips.

And a giant parsnip.

This is one of the common misconceptions about winter gardening. Most of the plants do not grow very much in the winter, but this does not mean that they are a waste of space. It means that if you choose the right varieties and plant them in time for them to reach maturity by the time you drop below ten hours of sunlight (October 31st, in our neck of the woods) they will remain alive and sweet and tasty in the garden all winter long. In this way, the garden becomes an 1800 square foot refrigerator.

All you have to do is dig, scrub, peel, slice and fry ’em up in butter.

Back at home the squash looks ready.

Winnie says it is just right.

Eating supper while waiting for Mommy to get home. We also have a pork shoulder roast from one of our first pigs, crockpotted with salt, pepper and garlic in white wine.

I could get used to this.