Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Freezing Butternut Squash

It's been a day filled with raindrops, but who would guess?    Glancing out my kitchen window the bright Mums are lookin' good!  Last fall we cut them back and mulched them...hoping they would make a comeback. 

It's October and some of my family's fave autumn veggies had been purchased and I was prepping them for our large freezer.  Butternut Squash!  Yum!  A tradition that started with my family during my childhood was preparing the delicious orange colored squash to place in our freezer to defrost/reheat to enjoy all year- whenever we wanted.  Well, until the year's supply evaporated.  That happens quickly!  We grew our Squash in one of our large gardens.   

Yes, Butternut Squash chunks can be purchased in a grocery store's frozen food department, but the purchased box/package may contain a combo of various winter squash - not really tasty unless Brown Sugar is added.  We enjoy the local veggie and we do not need to add any additional brown sugar.

This past weekend a large box of Butternut Squash was purchased at Meadowbrook Farm in East Longmeadow, MA.  After cutting off the skin of the veggie and steaming the chunks, it is mashed and then the yummy veggie is packed into 1- Quart Ziploc Freezer Bags.  Label and freeze.

Last year I posted the complete instructions:  Prepping Butternut Squash to Freeze

Butternut Squash Chunks
(File Photo)
It's worth the small amount of time and effort to prep and freeze this delicious vegetable.  The day before Thanksgiving Day, 2 packages are placed in my fridge to defrost.  They are reheated and find their place on our dinner table. 

An added plus is that I substitute the Butternut Squash for Pumpkin in recipes that call for Pumpkin.  Do you use this substitution?   

Yummy!
Enjoy!
   

     

4 comments:

Carol @ Always Thyme to Cook said...

Your mums are beautiful! Good idea about freezing, I need to get to the market!

Pam said...

Great about freezing the squash. I've never substituted it for pumpkin but my MIL did all the time and we didn't know until years later. Your mums are very pretty!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I would love to have some in the freezer for wintertime dishes. We love soup best but I'm sure it works well in many recipes. I had a local sweet potato with my chicken tonight...oh it was good!

JG said...

Carol- The hardy Mums are still lookin' good after our frost. Butternut is easy to freeze.

Pam- Definitely a fave fall veggie for us, like your MIL. :)

Lavender Dreamer- I've never tasted sweet potato pie. Must be similar to the Pumpkin & Butternut-New England faves.

~Judy