Zucchini Bread
Mix first six ingredients together. Sift dry ingredients together in another bowl. Combine with zucchini mixture and mix well. Add nuts. Mix. Pour into two greased loaf pans. Bake at 350° F for 1 hour. Turn out onto wire racks to cool. Makes 2 loaves.
Baked Stuffed Zucchini
Wash zucchini and trim ends. Simmer in boiling, salted water until just tender -- about 10 minutes. Cut in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and stringy center. Scoop out squash and combine the flesh with bread crumbs, egg, salt, pepper and cheese. Drain zucchini shells upside down on paper towel.
Saute onion, garlic and ground meat and combine with bread mixture. Fill zucchini shells with mixture and top with extra cheese. Bake in greased baking pan in 350° F oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until brown. Serves 8.
Summer Squash Medley
This is best made with garden-fresh vegetables, but in the winter you can use stored ones.
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in heavy skillet until fragrant. Add vegetables and cook until tender. Add stuffing mix or bread crumbs and mix well. Sprinkle grated cheese on top, cover and heat until cheese melts. Or slide dish under broiler until cheese melts and bubbles. Serves 6 to 8.
Squash and Apple Casserole
Wash squash, cut in half lengthwise, remove seeds, peel, and cut into small chunks. Stir sugar or syrup, margarine, flour, salt and nutmeg and nuts together.
Arrange squash in an ungreased rectangular baking dish. Place apple slices on top. Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples. Cover with foil. Bake in 350° F oven for 50 minutes or until squash is tender. Serves 4.
Variation: Bake acorn squash halves at 350° F for 35 minutes. Fill centers with apples, top with sugar mixture and nuts. Cover with foil and bake about 25 minutes more until squash is tender. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.
Winter Squash Soup
This recipe is courtesy of The Bakery Lane Soup Bowl in Middlebury, Vermont.
Peel, seed and dice squash. Combine with water and 1 teaspoon salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, until squash is very tender.
Meanwhile, saute onion and garlic in butter until tender. Puree squash and onions with milk and cream in blender. Add sherry, salt and pepper to taste. Heat to serving temperature. Serve garnished with toasted almonds. Makes about 10 cups.
Variation: Vary the proportions of cream and milk depending on how rich you want this soup, or use pumpkin instead of squash This soup is very good for cozy, winter suppers with hot bread and a green salad.
Pumpkin (or Squash) Pie
Preheat oven to 425° F. Combine all ingredients in large bowl and pour into unbaked pastry shell. Bake for 15 minutes and turn oven down to 350° F for 30 minutes or until set. Pie may be served warm or cold with whipped cream.
Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie
The Crust
1 1/2 pints vanilla ice cream
Put 9-inch pie pan in freezer when you remove the ice cream. Allow ice cream to stand at room temperature until slightly softened. Then spread ice cream evenly over bottom and sides of pan. Return pie pan to freezer while you prepare the filling.
The Filling
Combine first four ingredients in saucepan and cook over low heat to just below simmering point. Remove from heat, add rum or juice and chill thoroughly. Whip cream and fold into pumpkin mixture. Pour into ice cream-lined pan and freeze. Remove from freezer a few minutes before serving time. Garnish with pecan halves and more whipped cream.
Pumpkin Face Cookies
Cookie dough
Pumpkin Filling
Cream shortening and sugar; beat in eggs and molasses. Place oats in blender or food processor; cover; blend until finely chopped. Mix oats, flour, soda and salt. Stir into creamed mixture. Cover. Chill.
Combine and cook filling ingredients, stirring constantly, until bubbly; then cool.
On floured surface, roll dough 1/8-inch thick. Cut into 36 3-inch circles. Place 1 teaspoon of filling mix on 18 of the circles. Cut faces in remaining circles. Place on top of filling. Seal edges. Press on stems cut from scraps of dough. Bake on greased cookie sheets in 375° F oven 12 minutes. Makes 18 cookies.
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Save the seeds from pumpkin carving at Halloween, wash them well to remove the "goop," and soak seeds in salted water overnight (2 teaspoons salt to each cup water). Drain and pat dry.
Spread seeds on a cookie sheet and bake in 300° F oven for 25 minutes or until golden. Crack and remove shells before eating. Shelled seeds may be sprinkled with salt or garlic salt.
If you grow a type of pumpkin with shellless seeds (Lady Godiva, for example), there's no need to soak them before roasting. Try sauteing these seeds in olive oil or sprinkling with garlic salt before roasting. After roasting, cool seeds and pack in a jar for storing.
Photography by Sabin Gratz/National Gardening Association.
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