We love butternut squash soup. I make some with apples and ginger, and some with curry. An addition of some cream cheese makes it extra special creamy. Before serving a splash of extra dry sherry is nice.
Butternut squash can be cured and successfully stored for up to 6 months in a cool dark place like a basement. We don't have a basement and the barn would be too cold, so canning is my only real choice.
The store had a great deal at 25 cents per pound on winter squash. Not sure exactly how much to buy, I bought way too much. Oh well.
Usually when I make soup the squash is sliced in half, seeds scooped out, and roasted in the oven. That way I can just scoop out the good stuff for the soup.
Not so when canning. Oh, hell no. It must be cut in half which is bit like cutting a giant steel ball bearing and then peeled. It was ugly.
After cutting it up in chunks it was heated in boiling water for 2 minutes, loaded into quart jars, fresh boiling water poured in, and processed for 90 minutes in a pressure canner.
Voila!
A total of 13 quarts of butternut squash (with one squash left over for soup tomorrow.)
What I learned:
- Wear gloves when peeling squash. It really sticks to your skin in a most unlovely way and is also very drying.
- Each average size squash will yield about 2 quarts. The larger ones about 2 1/2 quarts.
Second batch today:
Isn't it pretty?
No comments:
Post a Comment