A New Acquaintance

the front center is my butternut squash

Yes I do have a new found acquaintance and friend, but it is not the people kind. It is a new food. I would have said a vegetable, but the link below, states that is is considered a fruit because of it's seeds.

http://www.wholeliving.com/134734/power-foods-butternut-squash

I have only eaten this squash once that I remember, and it was prepared in a way which did not appeal to me,but this past week, I found myself picking up a couple of Butternut squash in a local Amish store, more out of curiosity than anything else. They were 50 cents a piece. I have cooked one and saved the seeds for next Spring. I love to try new plants in my gardens.

Nevertheless, I cut the squash up into small pieces and boiled it, after cleaning out and saving the seeds. After I boiled it, I was unsure as to what to do with it. At the time, I was eating breakfast, so I experimented with it, by smashing it up to a mush consistency, and incorporating it into my oatmeal. It wasn't bad, but not my favorite way of using it. I had already tried it baked,as it was served up to Pop and myself, years ago,right out of the halved state in which it was baked.I think the server had baked it with butter and maybe salt.That was it. Not the most memorable meal that we have been served, especially since that was IT for the entire meal.Pop told that story for years to come.

Today, I decided to try something different with the remainder of my first butternut squash. It was already boiled, so I proceeded to  peel it and dice it up into tiny pieces. I added some real butter, a little water, salt and sugar, then heated it thoroughly. I was amazed at how good it was.  I will most likely tweak the recipe a bit more as I experiment with it, but so far I am enjoying this recipe. Most likely, I will try a bit of nutmeg or some similar spice, and maybe even a little thickening in the water/butter mixture.It kinda reminds me of parsnips, which I dearly love, but never expect to grow. I will definitely be planting and preserving several of these butternut squash next year.