A Little History

At the top of one of our pastures, just along the edge of the woods, sits an old piece of farm equipment.

 You could almost miss it walking by; it's almost sunk completely down into the earth.

I'm always pleased to see it, like an old friend, on occasions where I walk by.  I can't help but wonder about the farmer that used to perch on that metal seat, steering his horses.  What did he plant?  And where?  If only rusty farm equipment could talk!

Cushaw Squash Bread Recipe

Cushaw squash makes an excellent pumpkin style bread.  My boys adore it.  And since Cort recently came up with an intolerance to pumpkin, it is a good alternative. 

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 cups pureed cushaw squash
3 cups flour
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350*.  Mix together sugar and oil.  Add eggs and squash and mix well.  Add dry ingredients, mix.  Pour into greased and floured bread pans.  Bake 80 minutes or until tester comes out clean.  Cool slightly before turning out.

Don't have a cushaw squash handy?  Try substituting pumpkin.

Why You Should Have an Emergency Car Kit

One of the things I worked on this summer was putting together an emergency car kit.  You may remember that time we got stranded on a mountain with no cell phone reception this past spring.  There have been other incidents too.  Like the time I had to drive home from Northern Virginia in a snowstorm (a drive that would normally take 4 hours and ended up taking 8) only to have to have a neighbor come pick me up by four wheeler to get me over the mountain.  And of course there have been times where the kids have needed spare clothes (from getting carsick or from jumping in a creek somewhere).  To be honest, I should've put together an emergency kit ages ago.

My car has a handy dandy secret compartment that can store all sorts of things.  I've filled it up with supplies. 

I have changes of clothes, rain ponchos, emergency blankets, flashlights with extra batteries, basic tools, paper towels and towels, water purifiers, snacks (look for shelf stable snacks like meal replacement survival bars and Vienna sausages that are well packaged - you don't want mice getting into your car - I have been there and done that, too).  I have firestarter and contact lenses and a spare pair of glasses.  I also keep a collapsible backpack in case we have to hike somewhere and carry supplies.  And then I have a lot of medical supplies.  Last summer Paul had a huge wipeout on his mountain bike.  He was bleeding all over the place and didn't have a single bandaid or bandage in his car.  So guess what he got for our wedding anniversary?  His own emergency car kit - next time he'll be able to bandage himself up (although I hope there isn't a next time, for his sake!).

When you put this together, consider the needs of your family.  If you're active, like us, you'll want things like sunscreen and bug spray and moleskin for blisters.  These are practical items you may use regularly (just remember to replace them for next time).  I also keep a six pack of bottled water.  I know that you aren't supposed to keep bottled water in a car because of BPA concerns, but in a situation where your car broke down and it was 90 degrees and you had to hike down a mountain, that bottled water will be very useful. 

Readers, do you keep some emergency supplies in your car? 

Spiced Pumpkin Hummus

I love to make my own hummus.  It's a healthy snack, and I have fun creating different flavors. The boys enjoy it, and it is lunchbox friendly. It also makes wonderful wraps!  Recently I whipped up a batch of spiced pumpkin hummus.  This came from a recipe in Cooking Light magazine.

Ingredients:
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 tbsp. tahini
2 1/2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/8 tsp. salt
1 15 oz. can cannellini or other white beans (I used chickpeas), rinsed and drained
2 garlic cloves

Place ingredients in food processor, process until smooth.  Serve with crackers, chips, or baby carrots.

Next time I want to try this using some blue hubbard squash!  Readers, do you have a favorite brand or flavor of hummus?

Growing Cushaw Squash

Last Spring I was listening to an organic gardening podcast and heard that the cushaw squash makes wonderful pumpkin pies, and, even better, is resistant to squash bugs.  You all know all about my squash bug woes by now.  I immediately ordered some seeds.  I planted just one.  Turns out, that was enough.  True to form, the 5 million squash bugs in my garden left it alone.

Here is one of my five cushaw squashes:

 

 

The cushaw squash wasn't as difficult to prep as the blue hubbard or a pumpkin would be.  It is much softer skinned.  I chopped it into big pieces and roasted it at 375 for 40 minutes.  Then I scooped out the flesh and any seeds I didn't get the first go round. 

 



From this one squash, I made a soup in the crockpot (we all concluded that butternut makes a better soup - the cushaw squash had a slightly tart taste in soup format).  I also made a couple of loaves of 'pumpkin' bread (recipe coming soon) and a really delicious pumpkin/apple hybrid pie, using apples from our tree.

The podcast I listened to said that all gardens in Appalachia used to grow cushaw, but for some reason people aren't growing them anymore, except as an ornamental gourd.  Which is a shame, as they have a wonderful flavor for sweets.  Readers, have you ever had a cushaw squash? 

What did Bo Find?

One day I heard Bo barking on the porch.  He is a bird dog through and through. The only time he isn't obsessing about birds, he's obsessing about ways to get on the school bus. But he doesn't usually bark on the porch.

I looked out the kitchen window.  It took me a second to see why he was barking.  I was so surprised!

She or he has a band.  So I guess this pigeon's homing instinct got a little derailed.  Eventually, it safely moved on to bigger and better places. 

Foraging for Paw Paws

My only association with paw paws before now was the song about the paw paw patch my mom sang to me when I was little.  I didn't know what they looked like, or how they tasted.

But Paul and I have always been kind of interested in foraging, and lately we stepped up our game by watching some videos and reading some books on the subject (I may do a post on these resources in the future - some of them were excellent). 

Around our land, we have foraged things like wineberries, walnuts, acorns, persimmons, and morel mushrooms.  I have plans to try a few things with dandelion roots this fall, when they are prime for digging.

But Paul found out about a place where they have paw paws.  These are Virginia's largest native fruit.  You pick them once they fall off and start turning brown.  They taste kind of similar to a papaya. 

I was a little wary, since resources online said that some people are allergic.  So we each just tried a small amount.  Turns out no one had any issues.  And all of us liked the paw paws, except for Cort. 

Paul saved a bunch of the seeds to try to plant some on our property, down by the stream.  Apparently they like those sorts of areas, but can be a little hard to get the seeds started.  We will see - maybe we'll have some growing in the future.