Time for Squash

By this time of the year, usually the only thing left in gardens around here is winter squash! I love all the different varieties--they are so bright and colorful.

I have several winter squash recipes, but my family's all-time favorite is Butternut Squash Bake. It makes a sweet, custardy casserole, and the raisins add even more sweetness, so that it's almost like a dessert, but oh so good for you!

I made this recipe once for our Norwegian relatives, and encountered an interesting problem in trying to explain winter squash. Apparently their growing season isn't long enough for winter squash to be a common vegetable. I finally had to describe it as being similar to a pumpkin, which I guess is close enough!

And now for the recipe:

Butternut Squash Bake

2 C cooked mashed butternut squash (or acorn or buttercup)

1 C sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/3 C orange juice

1/2 C raisins

1/3 C dry milk

1/2 t salt

1/4 C melted butter

Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Pour into a greased, deep 1-2 quart casserole dish. Bake at 350 until set, about one hour.

Enjoy yet another taste of autumn!

Fall Delights

If it gets any prettier than these past few days in Pennsylvania, I don't know where it would be, but I'm sure we all think, wherever we are, that our autumn color is the best. We took a drive after church on Sunday to enjoy the colors. Just a short one, we thought, but ended up spending three hours! Around every bend in the road, we found something new to appreciate.

We happened upon a pumpkin festival at a little rural fire hall...pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins. They were serving lunch, so we had homemade bean soup and homemade barbecued ham sandwiches. So good! The fire companies in our area, all volunteer, do such a great job, and it takes constant fundraisers like this one to keep them going.

And speaking of pumpkins, here are a few of our grandkids enjoying a trip to the pumpkin patch. Georgia seems to have picked one as big as she is!

One of the things I enjoy most about fall is baking all my favorite apple treats. The orchards around here seem to have had a great year in spite of some worries early on about a late frost. So every week a new bag of apples appears on my kitchen counter, beckoning me to make something. After plenty of batches of apple sauce, this week I did my favorite Apple Walnut Cake recipe, and I thought you might like to try it.

Apple Walnut Cake

4 cups chopped apples 1/2 cup of oil 2 t each baking soda and cinnamon

2 cups sugar 2 t vanilla 1 t salt

2 eggs 2 cups flour 1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine apples with sugar and set aside. Beat eggs in oil and add vanilla. Mix flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Add flour mixture and apple mixture to the oil. Stir in walnuts, making sure the batter is evenly moist. Pour into a 13 x 9 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

This is a lovely, dense cake that is very good topped with whipped cream or ice cream. It continues to get more moist as it sits.

I hope you'll take the time to enjoy the beauties of autumn, refreshing your spirit before another winter comes.

Blessings,

Marta