Butternut Squash Pancakes

Butternut Squash Pancakes
before adding maple syrup!
(File Photo)

 
👉 **Note to self for this weekend... make a batch of Butternut Squash Pancakes!!  

Now, there is 1 Cup of cooked/ mashed Butternut Squash in our fridge.  Today, a few more of these squash were prepped for our freezer and I saved out that 1 Cup.  I have plans!  Oh, I always have plans, but sometimes plans can quickly change.  However, this weekend Butternut Squash Pancakes will be enjoyed one morning at breakfast and the extra pancakes will be placed in our freezer.  

While enjoying the first bite of this pancake that is topped with maple syrup, the flavors of Cinnamon, of Nutmeg and of Ginger are quickly tasted.  The pancakes are also very light.  Did I mention that they are so good??

A few years ago I posted my recipe, so I am sharing the link.  For my recipe click here. 

The extra pancakes freeze very well, so we will be enjoying them on other mornings.  It will be great to take out the package labeled Butternut Squash Pancakes from the freezer and microwave them.  What a delicious breakfast!

Make a batch, also!  You will be very happy you did!

Enjoy!
Yummy!     

Freezing Butternut Squash

Freezing Butternut Squash
(File Photo)

Autumn brings many beautiful shades of red, yellow, orange and rust colored leaves.  Whenever we look out our windows, drive down our streets doing errands or take a walk in the neighborhood, it's a great treat to see all of these colors.  These days when we return home there is a bushel of orange colored Butternut Squash waiting in our garage.  Waiting? Yes, waiting to be prepped and then placed in our freezer.  

It has been a tradition for me (learned from my mom while I was growing up) that prepared/ mashed Butternut Squash freezes very well.  Growing up my family always had 2 large gardens and one of the gardens always had many Butternut Squash plants that produced a great harvest.  Prepping that veggie and freezing the mashed orange colored squash was part of the plan for food in the colder months.  No longer do I have any gardens, but my hubby and I purchase a bushel of this delicious veggie from a local farm.  

The process to prep it to freeze is simple.  The squash is rinsed under cold running water and dried.  Then, it is peeled, cut into chunks and steamed.  After mashing the drained squash it is placed in freezer bags, labeled/ dated and into they freezer they go.

Ready to be placed in our freezer!
(File Photo)

I have written posts with my complete directions for Freezing Butternut Squash in the past, so I am linking one here.   

You may not want to purchase a bushel of squash like we do.  However, do purchase a few of them to prep and freeze while they are available at road side stands and in the grocery stores, now.  Not only is this a delicious veggie at dinnertime, but I substitute it for pumpkin when baking.  I don't purchase canned pumpkin, but I use Butternut Squash in recipes.

It is so good!
Enjoy!
Yummy!           

Saving Marigold Seeds

Big Orange Marigolds

O.K., now that we have saved the Zinnia seeds it was time to also harvest the Marigold seeds!  In the Spring we purchased Marigold plants that would have BIG yellow and orange blossoms.  We had visions of beautiful brightly colored blossoms in our gardens.  Well, all did not work out exactly as we had wished for.  Our drought brought a reduction in outdoor watering in my town.  Still our flowers managed to do o.k.  The new mulch helped a lot! Unfortunately, the rabbits enjoyed dining on the yellow Marigolds! The yellow flowers and the green plants! The orange colored flowers- they did not bother with.  It sure was strange to see large plants with bright orange flowers next to very small green plants.  Transplanting 2 of the small plants into pots was a good solution to seeing yellow blossoms this summer!  They are doing very well.  Those plants were definitely survivors, so I decided to save some of their seeds.  

Once again, the process of saving Marigold seeds is easy:

The colorful flowers are snipped from the stems and placed in a cut down Kleenex box to dry out.  After they are dry, the dried seeds will be separated from the stems.  The Marigold seed is slender and black.  It is attached to the dried out brown petal.

Saved Marigold Seeds
(File Photo)

The dried seeds will be placed in business sized white envelopes that are labeled/ sealed.  I saved seeds from both types of plants- the plants with orange flowers and the plants with yellow flowers, so they were saved in separate containers. 

**Note:  In your garden as the flowers dry out on a green plant, you can also save these dried flowers. Just pull the dried petals off and save the seeds.  This skips the process of drying out the blossoms yourself!  

Happy Gardening!
Enjoy!