Potlucks!

We were fortunate once again to attend a potluck with other folks who have food restrictions and allergies. This was another wonderful event to attend where we tried many new dishes and got to share our own creations. This first dish that we made is a combination of winter squashes (Hubbard and Chinese I think) baked in a margarine and maple syrup glaze topped with toasted almond pieces. It's almost sweet enough to be a desert, but it balances nicely with other bold flavors that were beside it at the dinner, such as garlic and paprika potatoes and very garlicky green beans!

Our next dish was a spaghetti squash that was baked whole and then scooped out into a frying pan. We added butter (or margarine) while lightly sauteing and then added Herbs d'Provence. These herbs are probably my favorite blend of flavors for a quick dish, fried potatoes with Herbs d'Provence being #1 in my book.

Anyway, as we sauteed the squash in herbs and butter, I added about a tablespoon of hemp seeds. Just another quick heating through and it was done! A delicious, hearty and healthy savory squash dish in about 10 minutes (without baking time). I guess that's been a challenge of mine this winter. I have had a hard time finding savory squash dishes... besides soups, it can be difficult to downplay the overpowering sweetness of many squash. And as I am not a huge fun of overly sweet foods, I am especially wary. But it seems that my other half has very different ideas.

He has been making variations of squash custards for a couple of months now. Don't get me wrong, I have a sweet tooth, I just don't eat a lot of sweets at once. So all these squash custards he happily eats himself. Even though they are really tasty.

So, another potluck we greatly enjoyed and were able to share more unique recipes with friends who are adventurous eaters due to their diet needs. It's so enjoyable to sit around and toss ideas back and forth about food.

Another tip about squash, we often will bake two or three squash in one fell swoop  if we already have the oven on. So its an easy way to cook ahead. Cook the squash whole with several fork pokes in the skin. Place a dish or cookie sheet under the squash if you want to catch any drips. Bake for about an hour or until you can poke it and it feels tender under the skin. We then let them cool completely on the counter, and it we have time we'll split and seed them, if not, we just let them hang out until we're ready to use them. We're fortunate to have a back porch that stays very cold during this weather, so we use that as a makeshift fridge. We'll store these cooked squash there for no more than a few days before we use them up. It makes life a little more efficient.

That's all for now!