Hello!

And happy November! Did that early snow catch you with your long johns down? Gees, we have had all four seasons last week – early winter, mid winter, late winter, and next winter. And God only knows what’s in store for us next week!

At any rate – it’s November – it’s still fall – and we are still going to talk about some fall stuff today. So here it goes! Delicata – Red Kuri – Amber Cup – Lakota – Sweet Dumpling – Sweet Mama – Waltham – Burgess – Table King – Table Queen – Table Ace – Table Gold!!!

And just who are these characters? Winter squash. And winter squash is really popular around this time of the year. Besides the ever-popular pumpkins, you have the popular winter squash that come in different shapes and colors and sizes and flavors.

There is the popular acorn squash.
• Shaped sort of like an acorn
• Usually dark green skin with deep ridges
• Orange yellow flesh inside
Some acorny names are: Tay Belle, Table Ace, Table King, Table Queen, Mesa Queen, Autumn Delight, Cream of the Crop (white acorn). Then there are the multi-coloreds: Carnival, Harlequin and Festival. There’s even a yellow acorn called Table Gold.

Another fantastic winter squash – Butter Cup:
• Usually dark green skin with light green stripes
• Round shaped with a flat top
• Usually with a cup popping out of the bottom
    o (There are a few new butter cup inventions that are bottom cup-less!)
• Butter cup flesh is thick and dry, and orange

When you first harvest Butter Cup, it’s very dry, but it gets sweeter and moister after a few weeks. Some Butter Cup names: Burgess, Autumn Cup, (orange outside) Amber Cup, Delica, Sweet Mama, Super Delight, Black Forest.

Still another fantastic winter squash is Butter Nut:
• Shaped like a long bell or pear
• Light tan or buff skin
• Deep orange flesh
• Mild sweet flavor

Some Butter Nut names: Better Boy, Bugle, Waltham, Puritan, Avalon, Neck Pumpkin.

Hubbard is still another big favorite and I do mean BIG – really BIG! The hubbard skin color varies from deep green to pale green to gray-blue to orange. The outer rind is tough and can be warted. Hubbard is usually really large 20, 30, 40 pounds! You may need a chainsaw to cut this puppy. Sounds like something you would not want to meet up with in a dark alley! But the Hubbard flesh is very thick, very orange, very dry, very sweet, and very good!

Keep in mind, there are some smaller, more manageable, more user-friendly hubbards out there that some practical people have invented.; These include: Blue Ballet, Blue Magic, Orange Magic, Blue Hubbard, Baby Blue Hubbard, and the multi-colored Lakota. And there is one called Red Kuri that is a teardrop shaped baby red hubbard.

Spaghetti Squash is oval shaped. Its smooth skin can be cream colored, pale yellow, or deep orange. When cooked, its flesh forms spaghetti-like strands with a mild flavor. It’s simply perfect with your favorite spaghetti sauce or sautéed with herbs and seasonings, and sprinkled with grated Romano or Parmesan cheese.

Some spaghetti squash names are Hasta LaPasta, Plain Pasta, Stripetti, and Tivoli. And then there is a the single serving sized Small Wonder with shorter, thinner strands, more like a mini angel hair pasta.

And then there are the other cutesy, small winter squash specialty varieties such as stripped Delicata, Sugar Loaf, Zeppelin, Seminole, Celebration, and the simply super sweet and gorgeous Sweet Dumpling.

That’s most, but not all, of the different kinds of winter squash available for your extra added enjoyment and consumption.

Winter squash:

• all designed to store well for those long winter months ahead

• all designed for many recipes for those long winter months ahead

• all usually designed to take all spring, summer, and fall to grow to maturity for those long winter months ahead

• all usually designed to take up all of your garden space growing to maturity for those long winter months ahead!!

But take heart! New varieties of these old varieties have been developed:

• to take up less garden space

• to take less time to mature

• to taste even better

So give them a shot for the next growing season! But do enjoy eating them this season and in those long winter months ahead!!!

Hey – Remember – Eat Smart New York!

And – Bye – Talk to you soon!
D