Squash, squash, squash

I don't like squash.

At least I thought.  But since my tastebuds seem to be reorienting themselves, and since I am being exposed through many varieties of squash through work, I thought this is the time to really test out my my likes and dislikes!

The experiment started a few weeks ago, when I invited some friends over for a squash fest.  With a butternut, spaghetti and red kuri squash at my disposal, I was ready to try out some recipes.  First up was roasting the squash, which, as you may know, is easy enough.  Then I decided to prepare the butternut and red kuri as I like my sweet potatoes: tossed with an onion, olive oil and seasoning salt, and baked in the oven!  For the spaghetti squash it was served with sautéed tomatoes, onions and feta cheese on top, and I thought it turned out really well.  Kathryn and I ate so much of it we weren't even hungry for the other dish, which was fine by me as I didn't like it!  Despite this positive review, I still don't think I'd ever buy a spaghetti squash.

Finished product, I'll work on plating, this was our
serving platter AFTER we'd started digging in!

Next up I received a Jamaican, or Caribbean Pumpkin which I'd heard was sweeter than a normal pumpkin.  With this in mind I knew it was time for...pumpkin bread!  A little bit of googling, a lot of time, and some wisdom from Alton Brown and I had myself some pretty tasty bread!

The process started off with roasting (seems to be a squash trend), and then blending into a puree.

Have you used the Cuisinart Immersion Blender?  Pretty sweet!  Thanks to my roommate Julia who brought it.

Next was the typical bread making process, which I used this recipe for, but minus the nutmeg and with only 1 cup of sugar.  

Into the oven and, well you already saw the final result.  I think I overcooked it a bit, but with a bit of butter it was quite tasty.  My roommates seemed to agree as when I came home this afternoon, starving from work and thinking about pumpkin bread on my ride home, the empty dish was in the sink.

I guess it's a good thing I have more puree in the fridge, trying to decide what to do with it next!

Review:

Spaghetti: +

Red Kuri: -

Butternut: -

Jamaican Pumpkin: + (in bread)