GeorgiaPeachez

The Butternut Squash Project Cont.

Two squash down, two to go.

Squash No. 2 went into the crockpot this morning and came out as delicious Butternut Squash Soup.

This recipe came from my fabulous new cookbook, "Make it Fast, Cook it Slow" by Stephanie O'Dea.

If you didn't get to follow along on Stephanie's blog , it's OK.  She is still cooking in her crockpot and still blogging about it.  Oh yeah, and she just had a baby!

Stephanie's blog project was to cook with a crockpot every day for an entire year.  Her blog has to be one of my top five reads. 

The cookbook is a must have.

Stephanie's Butternut Squash Soup was a cinch and it's quite fabulous tasting.

The Butternut Squash Project

MommaPeachez had a bountiful harvest of butternut squash this year.

Four of these Tennessee grown squash made it home with me, thanks mom.

Butternut squash can be intimidating.  They have a rock hard exterior that can easily deflect even a sharp kitchen knife.  They are big and heavy.  What to do with four of them??

I've challenged myself to find some new recipes and to use up every single one of them before, say, my youngest daughter graduates college.  That should give me plenty of time.  Or I could cook them up this winter. yeah.

My trick to managing these behemoth squash is the microwave.

Cook the whole squash in the microwave on high for about 5 minutes.  This will soften it up enough to make it easy to split open.  Cut the squash right down the middle, scoop out the seeds and put it back in the microwave for 12-15 minutes on high.  There you go, cooked squash.

Squash #1 went down today.  I adapted (substituted squash for sweet potatoes) this recipe for Sweet Potato Pound Cake that was in my paper this week.  This recipe comes from a new cookbook by Melissa Gray and is titled All Cakes Considered.  Melissa is a producer for "All Things Considered" on NPR and she tested all her recipes on the  "All Things Considered" staff.

I love pound cake and this one is delicious. yum.

No Turkeys Here

What? No turkey pictures!!  Got that right. 

We did eat our share of turkey in this house however, and it was good.  Smoked turkey from the local BBQ joint. yum.

We had two soldiers from Ft. Eustis come to share the feast with us today.

I want to thank them for their service to our country and I want to thank their families for allowing these fine young men to come to Virginia to do their service.

Here are some pictures of the guys for their families to enjoy.

Both of our soldiers are far, far from home. 

Beau Browne is from the island of Maui, one of the Hawaiian Islands.

Patrick Shaw is from Portland, Oregon.

I think the guys enjoyed the lunch that I prepared, and I KNOW they enjoyed the pecan pie.  Three pieces each worth of enjoyment!

The recipe is my grandmother, Montine Hammond's recipe.  My grandparents had pecan trees in their backyard in Hapeville, GA and I have fond memories of picking up pecans and cracking them to eat every time we went to their house.

I'm going to share her recipe here, in case our soldier's mom's want to try it next time they come home.  My southern tradition to pass along to them.

Montine Hammond's Pecan Pie

3/4 cup sugar,  1 cup light corn syrup,  3 eggs slightly beaten,  4 tbl. melted butter,  1 tbl. vanilla,  1 cup pecans chopped

Line pie plate with pastry.  Boil sugar & syrup together for about 2 minutes.  Pour this mixture slowly over the slightly beaten eggs, stirring vigorously.  Add butter, vanilla and pecans.  Pour into unbaked pastry line pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes.