Squash Experiment

Christy and I finally got around to experimenting with squash.  We came up with some pretty great ways to use your excess.  This all started about a month ago when the squash started coming on.  we planted 115 hills of squash, each plant can have 4-6 squash on at a time and they will continue to produce until the first freeze; needless to say, we were going to have quite a few extra squash. I was trying to come up with   would make a really good dip/spread.  It does. 
We started by cutting the squash into chunks and putting it in a food processor.  This was a particularly large yellow squash so we took the skin off first.  

Processed yellow squash

 Then we squeezed most of the moisture out of it.

 Now, on to the green squash.  This was a much smaller squash and the skin was still really tender so we decided to leave the skin on.

We saved the juice from the squash and were surprised at how sweet it was.  We thought this would be excellent in a soup or stew...then we realized if we add a little tonic or soda water and some vodka/rum/gin and throw some orange slices on the rim it would make a hell of a summer cocktail.  It may not sound very appetizing, squash juice and vodka; but if you gave it a name like squash-a-colada...

 

 We tried a few different spice combinations, but all of the tests got salt.  The yellow squash had a distinct pumpkin flavor and the green was more earthy and raw tasting.  We played with the consistency by adding some olive oil or greek yogurt.

Christy and I will also be further expiermenting with cooked squash.  We are going to try frying, grilling and roasting it and then making it into a dip/salsa...stay tuned
After the squash experiment was cleaned up, Grant and I worked on making more of that famous hot sauce.  We are all getting dangerously low and it is time for a refill.  The process is a little different this time around because instead of using dried peppers we used fresh. 

That is going to make a lot of hot sauce...

We cut all the tops off and threw them in the food processor, added the right ratio of salt and will let it ferment until next week when we add the vinegar.  experiment