Now we know exactly what CSA members feel like when they’re bombarded with a whole lot of one thing. The question “What do you want for dinner tonight?” didn’t require much thought when we remembered we have a bag of squash in the fridge.

Because we had so much crookneck squash from the previous week, we decided to make a dish that called for it almost exclusively. Instead of browsing through recipes again, we turned to a family favorite: scalloped potatoes. We figured we could substitute the potatoes with the squash, and also make use of our farm fresh rosemary (which the recipe called for anyway).

We anticipated that the firmness and deep flavor of the squash would stand up well when the dish was finished baking. But we were concerned that the hard skin wouldn’t cook thoroughly, so we steamed the squash briefly in the microwave before assembling the dish. At the table, the squash performed exceptionally well. It held its shape and contributed great flavor. To tell you the truth, the final product was very similar to the original recipe! The only difference was that the squash variation was much lighter than its potato counterpart.

Although the flavor was wonderful, there were some issues with the dish’s consistency. The recipe was handed down from family and not recorded in any manner, so we were left guessing proportions and amounts. Well, you know what that means: Something just has to go wrong! And it did.

Read the rest of this entry »