Summer Squash

Due to some unpleasant things (husband's major surgery, long hospital stay, etc. ) happening at crucial gardening moments ... as well as this Kansas drought, our garden this year is pretty much dead. :(  This is disappointing, after our nice, green Spring garden of lettuces, radishes and green onions.  We are still watering tomato plants, okra and a few pepper plants, but don't know what will happen with them.  The big question amongst Kansas gardeners in our area seems to be: "Do you have any tomatoes setting on?"  Well,,,,,,,,,we DID pick and eat two little cherry tomatoes recently.  A sign of hope? :)  We'll see; but I'm not REALLY getting those hopes up.

Fortunately for us, we do have some friends who have managed to have some garden, with their regular watering.  And, also fortunately for us, these same friends have been very generous with us and others with the fruits of that garden.  We have, therefore, been feasting on garden potatoes, onions, turnips, cucumbers, okra, zucchini and yellow summer squash (also some home made bread and rolls!).
 I have been putting many bags of this fresh produce into our freezer.

Did you know you can freeze cucumbers?  I didn't, but read it in my "old" how-and-what-to-freeze  freezer book.  So, I gave it a try and, sure enough, you can. :)  In case you'd like to know about the cucumbers: the book says to just chop them up in the blender, then freeze the chopped-up cucumber in ice-cube trays and freeze; than you can defrost a cube or two and pop them into winter salads - and the cucumber will actually still taste like cucumber. Well, I decided to try it.  I froze two trays-worth of cucumber, popped them out of the trays and put them into a freezer bag ... defrosted a couple to see, and they DID taste like fresh cucumber! Learned something new from that old freezer book after all these years.  Actually, when we lived in France, I learned to also COOK cucumbers ... saute them, sliced or chopped up, with a little onion, bacon and bacon grease (or, olive oil).  Yum!  I decided to also try freezing some peeled, cut in half,  and seeded  for cooking.  Will see how they turn out.

Now, back to the title of this post: squash.  Summer squash is one of my favorite things. I love cooking them. I love eating them. So does my husband.  They are such a versatile and easy to fix vegetable.  My absolute favorite is the yellow squash.  As I blanched slices of yellow squash to freeze I would snitch a piece here, a piece there, pop it into my mouth and, mmmmmmmmmmmm, good!  Just plain like that. That may sound strange to squash-haters, but you squash-lovers will surely understand.

Probably my favorite way to cook the squash (zucchini or yellow) is to cook a few slices of bacon, add some sliced onion and then the sliced squash and stir it all around, cooking, for just a few minutes.  Talk about "fast food" - this is it!  And good for you, too.

This basic stir-fried squash can be eaten as is, as a side-dish, or used in various other ways as a main dish. Some of my tried-and-true uses:

          Do the cooking in a skillet (I use cast-iron), then spread the mixture out over the skillet ...I then 
crack eggs, individually,  over the squash mixture (I usually do 4 eggs) - sprinkle with grated cheese (or not, we like it both ways), cover and let cook two or three minutes until the eggs are set.  I also often top the eggs with: chopped cilantro, chopped parsley, chopped green onion,finely-chopped red pepper, etc. ...use what you like.  We've had this for both breakfast and supper, with a green salad added. It's a quick, economical and delicious dish.

          Another way I use this mixture is to use it as the topping for rice, mashed potatoes, or pasta.  I've put it on top of rice, adding some salsa on top of the squash mixture and then some grated cheese, for a Mexican "flavor".  It's very good with spaghetti, too - adding some Italian-flavored pasta sauce on top, if you'd like.  Haven't tried this one yet, but have thought it would be good:  mix the squash mixture with some cooked rice and use as stuffing for bell peppers ... with (again, or without) some tomato sauce and grated cheese on top.  Sounds good to me.

The other night I stirred up a skillet-full of this mixture, with a little red bell pepper I think, and then stirred in some already-cooked barley that I had in the freezer, sliced a few okra pods into it, sprinkled on some salt and pepper and cayenne pepper flakes, some half-and-half, and some shrimp. Simmer on low for just five minutes or so, 'till the shrimp are pink and cooked.  That was supper.  Quick. Simple, And, good!  Try it.

"Backroads or Highways?"

Summer.  Vacation time.  Relaxing. Time to think of jumping in the car and taking off to ... somewhere. Car-travel is my favorite way to go because it allows you to get off the the busy interstates and actually SEE something. Fortunately for me, my husband John also loves to exit the interstates; at least, when we're not on a "we-have-to-hurry" trip.

Back-roads and out-of-the-way places are for me. Don't get me wrong.  I also like the cities with the coffee houses, the little shops, nice places to eat.  It's not an "either/or" question with me.  For some city lovers, though, it IS an "all or nothing" question; meaning all city or nothing!  I like both.  But, I REALLY like to search out those little out-of-the-way places - the unique places.  It's so nice to come upon some little town you didn't know was there until you saw it, and realize, "Hey!  This is a cute little place.  Let's stop and look around ...".

You can still find, in some small towns across America, little shops and cafes that are not part of the "usual" chains of stores and restaurants.  Something different.  Something special to that particular area. It is always exciting to me, when traveling, to come across a place that does NOT have the same old department stores, the same old book stores, the same old eating places.  You can go from one coast to the other in our country and almost think you haven't left home, because the same stores and restaurants show up that you just thought you were leaving behind for awhile!

Oh, but take those back-roads and look for those out-of-the-way places to find something different.  Instead of tensely watching the traffic on the interstates as you drive,  you can relax as you drive and actually SEE things along the way.  So much nicer.  Easier on the blood pressure.

Small towns and country places have often provided me with such interesting and unusual stories, histories of the area, some great photos - and sometimes just plain "oddities" to inspect.  Everything from that tiny and strange Elvis museum-cafe in rural Missouri to the very bizarre small hunting-lodge-cafe in the middle of a forest in Belgium.  There's usually always something worth stopping for in those out-of-the-way places ...something to see, places to eat (which are sometimes not so good, but often are). 

If you never take the back-roads - give it a try this summer. You just may be very pleasantly surprised.  With a choice ... when we don't have to hurry ... when we just want to relax and "meander" ...  then it's the back-roads for me.


"Back-Roads or Highways?"

Give me trees, grass and soil.
Narrow, winding roads -
driving without toil.

Open skies above me,
farms and small home-towns to see -
roadside cafes and locals,
travel that allows me to "be".

-Sandra Mers Clayton-