Meatless Monday: Squash Tales

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. It seems appropriate to use this post-holiday post to regale you with tales about what became of the magnificent hubbard squash we bought a couple of weekends ago! 

You may recall that our great squash weighed in at 20.79 lbs. — about the size of a small to medium turkey. My wish was to carve it into two reasonably equal pieces for roasting in the oven. Its size and thick skin caused me some angst for a few days.  

James Beard had written about hubbards chopped to pieces with hatchets in barns. A friend told me of a grandmother who had used a hammer and chisel. 

I turned to YouTube where I found a video of a man putting his hubbard into a garbage bag and dropping it onto the pavement from a second story window. I could never do that to my beauty.

This was not a problem I could tackle on my own. Here is my patient and adroit husband’s solution. 

• He gently hammered a newly sharpened cleaver along the hubbard’s lengthwise halfway point, in small taps, until he had gone around the squash’s circumference.
• Voilá! The squash neatly fell apart into two pieces.
• We then removed the seeds and lightly greased the interior with olive oil.
• With a little work we made the pieces fit upside down on two baking sheets.
• We roasted them in a 350° oven. About 1 -1/2 hours later, the squash was tender and ready to be scooped from its shell, which, by the way, was as thick as shoe leather.

We scooped out lots of squash — some 5 qts. The hubbard’s taste was as I had remembered, sweeter than acorn, not as strongly “squashy” as butternut, and less stringy than either. It was the perfect taste and consistency for the pies and casseroles I had in mind.

What became of our great squash? We ate some unadorned, fresh from the oven, and put a quart of the same in the freezer.

We transformed the remainder into two large and several small squash casseroles and two of James Beard’s fine pies — alas, all history now.

One of the two, 9 x 13" casseroles

One of the two “damned fine” pies (in the words of James Beard)

Maybe I’ll have to buy two hubbards next year… 

For more on the hubbard squash, check out my earlier post on the subject. And if you are curious about squash casserole, check out my recipe and use whatever winter squash you have on hand, about 2 cups for a single batch. 

Happy Monday! Thanks for reading.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Menu Ideas

Thanksgiving Day is almost here. 

In honor of the occasion I have compiled a list of links for some posts from the past which I hope may inspire and entertain you, and perhaps provide a welcome last-minute recipe.

First are links to a variety of Thanksgiving dishes that are vegetarian friendly:

• Acorn Squash Casserole 
• Butternut Squash with Wilted Spinach and Blue Cheese 
• Celeriac 
• Golden Beets 
• Kale Stew
• Kohlrabi
• Pumpkin Cornbread
• Vegan Gravy

Second are these on food history relevant to the day.

• Celebrating the Cranberry 
• The Challenges of an Indigenous Feast 
• The History of Pumpkin Pie 

Happy Monday! Happy Thanksgiving. And thanks for reading.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: T-Day Tips

Thanksgiving Day is a few days away, and I have a feeling that some of you are still working out your menu details and pulling together your shopping lists.

Here are a couple of links to help you come up with the tastiest, healthiest, and best for the planet menu possible.

• First, take the Slow Food USA quiz. Do it between now and Monday, and you will be entered to win a turkey “raised with care” from Whole Foods. And, if you are like me, you will learn a thing or two.
• Second, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Holiday Kitchen page. 
• Third, once you have your ingredients on-hand, you will want to prepare them safely. I found this page through a link at the FDA. The Holiday Food Safety Success Kit has videos, tips, activities, ideas — all the tools you need to ensure a healthy meal for you and your guests.
• Finally, once your meal is done, you will want to take care with your leftovers. This USDA page outlines everything  you need to know on that subject.

Remember that even if you are not cooking for this holiday, these tips make sense for every meal.

Happy planning. Happy feasting. 

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

American Recycles Day

I’m coming in just under the wire with this post. Earlier today a press release from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) arrived in my Inbox. 

The topic? A reminder that today, November 15, is the 15th annual America Recycles Day. America Recycles Day is supported by a number of corporate sponsors. Whatever your opinion on corporate sponsorships, you'll have to agree that the idea of dedicating a day to raising awareness of the importance of recycling is a good one.

President Obama issued a proclamation and asked the nation to take “bold action to preserve our natural resources, strengthen our economy, and protect the bountiful landscapes we have been blessed with.”

The EPA renewed its commitment to helping Americans reduce wasted food by working with grocers, universities, stadiums and other venues through its Sustainable Materials Management Food Recovery Challenge. 

Check out the EPA site for hints on the many ways consumers can Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Of particular use during this season of holiday feasting are the tips on reducing food waste at home.

Coincidentally, today I finally found a good home for the darkroom equipment we were storing in the attic. I was happy to learn that art students at ECA are still being schooled in the old ways.

Happy America Recycles Day!

Meatless Monday: Cook It Once, Eat It All Winter

Yesterday my husband and I took a trip to the country in search of a memory from Thanksgivings long past. My heart sank when we arrived at Bishop’s Orchards and found a mere semblance of what I was seeking — in a case rather than on display, cut in half, and wrapped in plastic. When the young man in the produce section beheld my crestfallen face, he asked if he could help, and then eagerly offered to get me a whole one from the back. I think he grabbed the biggest one he could find, placed it in my arms and then asked me what I was going to do with it. Behold my holy grail — a magnificent hubbard squash! 

There were many curious onlookers as I carried my find to the checkout aisle. Checkout posed a problem; the great squash had to be positioned just so to register on the scale — 20.79 lbs.!

The hubbard (classified as a Cucurbita maxima) is a thick-skinned winter squash with origins in South America. It was a common sight in fall markets through the ’50s and ’60s, became more of a novelty item for the next few decades, and now seems to be making a  comeback. The Library of Congress states that the hubbard squash was introduced to American gardens by James J. H. Gregory of Marblehead, MA in 1857. Marblehead was a prominent port city in those days; my guess is that Mr. Gregory’s hubbards arrived on a ship. Mr. Gregory became an authority on squash, publishing Squashes: How to Grow Them in 1893.

The hubbard has a thick skin; when stored in a cool place it will maintain an excellent flavor and texture throughout the winter. James Beard wrote in his Theory and Practice of Good Cooking (1977): “We used to store the huge Hubbards in the barn, chop them into pieces with a hatchet, then seed them and bake them in the shell with butter or bacon fat. Or, we might stem them, scrape out the pulp, and whip it up with butter and a little nutmeg or cinnamon… Puréed cooked squash makes a delicious soufflé and, like pumpkin, a damned good pie.” In the small pamphlet What to Cook and How to Cook It published in 1924 by the Springvale National Bank in Springvale, Maine, Mrs. W.R.Jubb wrote, “Cut a large hubbard squash into halves and bake in a hot oven till the pulp is soft enough to remove with a spoon. Scrape it out; mix with a large cup of bread crumbs and plenty of salt and pepper, add a small cup of cream, heap the shell lightly, dot with butter, and brown; serve in the half shell.” Hmmm… I’m not sure my sister would welcome such a prominent contribution to her Thanksgiving Day table. Where would the turkey go?

Here’s my plan for this beauty. I intend to hew it in half somehow [without a hatchet but with my husband’s help], remove the seeds, and then roast it face down on metal trays in a 350° oven until it is tender. Next I will scoop out the cooked squash and turn some of into squash casserole [Click here for a photo and the link to the Meatless Monday site where my original recipe was featured.] and some more into a couple of “damned good” pies. The rest will go into plastic ziplock bags for the freezer, sized appropriately for future soups and casseroles. Any squash lover can tell you that the bulk of the prep time in any squash recipe is cooking the squash. I should have a good jump-start on my winter cooking when I’m through.

And a healthy start as well [assuming I keep all my fingers intact during the hacking]. Check out the nutritional information on hubbard squash here. Like other winter squash, the hubbard is extraordinarily rich in Vitamin A.

If you have the space in your garden and plenty of sunshine, perhaps you’d like to try growing a Blue  Hubbard. You can find seeds and customer testimonials here. The fruit matures in 110 days and weighs 15-40 pounds. There are 20-35 heirloom seeds in a packet. That’s a lot of squash!

Happy Monday! Come back next Monday for some Thanksgiving suggestions. Thanks for reading.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: Remembering Trees Lost in the Storms

Sandy and her “sucker punch” sister storm Athena took a big toll on the trees of the northeast. The New York Botanical Garden’s old growth forest was hit very hard. 

New Haven's Lincoln Oak

Sandy’s mighty winds felled many of the region’s tallest trees — in woods, city parks, along streets, and in backyards. Suddenly we realized just how tall they were! Sandy weakened others which then toppled under the weight of Athena’s heavy, wet snow. Some of the lost trees, such as the Lincoln Oak on the New Haven Green, had national significance. Others had been planted by families to mark life events such as a wedding or the birth of a child. We will miss them all. Although we can’t replace them, we can take a moment to grieve and then pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and plant new trees where the old ones once stood.

Should you find yourself in the replanting mode, please consider your selection of a new tree carefully. Winter is coming and it’s too late to plant a new tree now. Take some time to read Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, by Douglas W. Tallamy. The book concludes with suggested native plants (including trees) for a variety of growing conditions in each region of the country. Over the cold winter days, Google these plants and try to imagine which ones might work out best on your property. If you choose correctly, you will be able to enjoy a beautiful new tree while helping to slow the rate of extinction of native wildlife.

It is so important to consider your choice carefully. For starters, check out my Saturday Short of the Day, brought to you by the National Association of Realtors. It is a short slideshow about 11 trees you do NOT want to plant in your yard. For more on native plants, check out this website. 

Have a great weekend. 

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).

Meatless Monday: Food in the News

Last week, Meatless Monday dropped off my radar. In the Northeast we were thinking about food and food foraging and food safety, but not in the usual ways. We were preparing for Hurricane Sandy — stockpiling non-perishable items, turning up our freezers, filling them with containers of water, and reading tips from the USDA about how long we could safely keep food should we lose power. 

There was one pre-storm warning which brought a smile. My husband watched a segment on the Weather Channel in which the commentator urged everyone to have plenty of non-perishable food on hand, but to avoid buying canned food in case of a power outage. Apparently she was not familiar with the old-school can openers which operate with human power.

Sandy has come and gone. We were lucky here. One week later, life in most of New Haven has pretty much returned to normal. And here I am with a Meatless Monday post and lots of topics to cover.

First…

Food Day. At Food Day - Food Action!, held on October 24 at Yale’s Peabody Museum, the New Haven Food Policy Council unveiled the New Haven Food Action Plan, a collaborative effort designed to make New Haven a city where:

• everyone eats healthy, affordable food, and no one goes hungry;
• food businesses are thriving, multiplying, and hiring local residents;
• people have the skills and knowledge they need to choose and cook healthy food; and
• collaboration is strengthened among residents, government, community organizations, and neighborhood groups to improve our food environment.

Hon. Rosa DeLauro, U.S. Representative for Connecticut’s 3rd district (and member of the House Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies), spoke on a variety of topics including the importance of SNAP (formerly known as Food Stamps) in lifting families above the poverty line, the need for a Farm Bill which supports farmers growing fruits and vegetables, what it is like to be a committee member representing a New England state, and the impact of the obesity epidemic on health care spending.

Second…

Storm Sandy took a bit of wind out of the sails of the weeklong birthday celebrations for New Haven’s Elm City Market. The market opened its doors on November 2, one year ago with 750 member/owners. Now 1674 members strong, Elm City Market was voted Best Local Grocery Store in the New Haven Advocate’s 2012 readers’ poll.

Finally… 

Tomorrow is Election Day. Besides electing candidates to public office, voters in California will be considering a number of propositions, including Proposition 37 which would require the labeling of all genetically engineered (GE) food sold in grocery stores in their state. If Proposition 37 passes, California will become the first state in the nation to require labels on GE food. You can read what Michael Pollan has to say on the issue here. Barack Obama and Rosa DeLauro have both expressed support for the consumer’s “right to know” what is in the food  he or she purchases. The rest of the country will be watching to see what happens in the West.

Happy Monday! Thanks for reading.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Scene on the Green 11.01.12

The Upper Green is demarcated with crime scene tape. A small tent has been set up yards away from where Occupy set their tents up last year. Where a pair of investigators began their work yesterday, a crew toils now. They are all carefully working to unravel the mystery. Whose bones were revealed when New Haven’s Lincoln Oak was uprooted by Sandy early Monday evening?

The current scene on the Green.

No one noticed the skeletal remains until Tuesday afternoon. People had gathered to marvel at the great tree which had fallen. An inquisitive woman thought she saw something unusual amongst the roots, and after poking around with a stick revealed what looked to be a human skull. She called the police. The New Haven Independent was the first to break the story. 

The proper authorities were contacted. The state Death Investigator arrived, and the investigation began.

Now, for a history break: This part of the Green was once New Haven’s burying ground. After thousands were buried during yellow fever epidemics in 1794 and 1795, the Green became too crowded to continue as the main cemetery. In 1796, a prominent group of citizens led by U.S. Senator James Hillhouse began to craft plans for a new cemetery away from the town center. The State of Connecticut incorporated the cemetery as The New Burying Ground in New Haven in October, 1797, and the first burial there took place the next month. The last burial on the New Haven Green took place in 1812. While the bodies were not exhumed from the Green, the stone grave markers were moved to Grove Street where many line the rear walls in alphabetical order. This brief history is summarized from information on the website of the burying ground, known today as the Grove Street Cemetery. By setting up an account, the curious can even peruse the burial registry.

Now, back to today's news: Latest reports from the Independent speak of the discoveries of bones belonging to two persons, and a hand-wrought coffin nail.

The team has grown to include a variety of experts from Yale, UConn and the various State offices. I stopped by this afternoon and watched the crew gently brushing dirt from the tree roots into a bucket, which was then carried to a table where it was sifted. Every once in a while I could hear excited murmurs about a new find.

The crew at work.

According to the Independent, the work will continue for at least a week and the bones will be analyzed to determine the sex and age of the people, as well as the cause of death.

Keep in mind that when the Lincoln Oak was planted, it was a much smaller tree, requiring a not very deep hole for its root ball. It was only as it grew that its roots would have gone deep enough into the ground to intertwine with the bones which lay beneath. In 1909, the tree’s planters were most likely not aware of what was under their feet as they traversed the Green, just like most of us today until the Lincoln Oak fell.

What next? Come back soon for the next installment. And for some background on the Lincoln centennial...