Food

A Garden Gift

Retirement Reflections

My friend, and WOYP cohost, gifted me this beautiful kobacha squash that she grew in her garden (she wrote about her garden kobachas here and here).

At first I thought that I would use it as an autumn decoration. It was far too pretty to slice open.

Then that nagging voice in my brain grew louder and louder. Would Deb gift me anything else from her garden if I messed this up?

I quickly rustled up a few other ingredients.

Trying to keep the squash as ‘pretty’ as possible, I sliced it in half and roasted it in the oven.

I then sauted some onion, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes, white rice, spices and veggie ground round (the options here are endless).

I stuffed the sauted veggies into the shells, melted some parmessan cheese on top and served with a drizzle of tahini sauce. Absolutely divine!

Although you can eat the skin, Richard and I used ours as bowls…which had absolutely nothing left inside at the end of our meal. A true sign of a wonderful dish! Recipe below.

If you’d like to try stuffed squash, there are numerous recipes to fit all tastes. A few different options can be found here, here and here.

On a completely different, but still food related note, thank you for your kind words on my last post about Richard’s new found love of cooking. Since that post, he has made the following dishes. It’s hard to get used to reading/relaxing/goofing off while Richard is hard at work — but he insists he does not want help — so goofing off it is!

Ground Turkey-Veggie Stirfry
Bean Chilli
Veggies and Tofu on Rice

Have you made anything special from a garden gift?
Does your spouse/partner/housemate cook?
What’s been on your plate lately?

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Published by Retirement Reflections

Prior to retirement, I lived and worked in Beijing China for fourteen years (Middle School Principal/Deputy Director at The Western Academy of Beijing). Leaving international life behind, my husband and I retired to Vancouver Island in June 2015. To document both this transition and our new adventures, ‘Retirement Reflections’ was born. I hope that you enjoy reading these reflections, and will be willing to share your own.

70 thoughts on “A Garden Gift”

    1. Thanks, Robbie. The gift really did seem way too beautiful to chop into pieces for traditional squash dishes. This dish was a great alternative and tasted fantastic. I read ahead in the comments and noted that Deb said because of this post, she might just gift me a couple more squashes next year. Score!

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  2. So beautifully presented, Donna. I definitely approve of the parmesan. During the years Jackie was still working and I had retired I did all the shopping and cooking. In fact a couple of her meals, e.g. the Jalfrezi, are adaptations of mine. I trust you have seen why I am happy for her to do it now.

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  3. What a great use of that wonderful gift. I made stuffed butternut squash for my Christmas meal last year which was very similar. (Turkey for everyone else) Your husband’s meals look amazing! My husband can make beans on toast and heat up a frozen pizza. Tell Richard, well done! xo

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    1. I actually really like beans on toast and frozen pizza. A while back, there was a famous singer (I forget who) who was asked to contribue to a charity cookbook. He said that he would love to but that truly could only make beans on toast. The publishers were happy with that and published his very simple beans on toast version. Your husband is in great company. Besides, beans on toast can be an excellent sources of complex carbohydrates, as well as protein, B vitamins, magnesium, zinc and copper. Win-win all around!

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  6. This looks fantastic! I’ll have to look for a Klobuchar. Yes, husband cooks/ed but he tends to baptize the the kitchen from floor to ceiling and manages to use every pot. Somehow I get regulated as galley slave for clean up. 🙄

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    1. Hi, Antoinette – I had to say this but Richard does the dishes when I cook (this has been our traditional history). He now also does the dishes when he cooks (even when I offer). I could become paronoid that he thinks I am not a good kitchen cleaner — but life is way too short for that kind of paranoia. 😀

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  7. I’m sure Deb was confident, as we are, about your ability to turn a veggie into a masterpiece. Wow! I don’t think I could have waited. I would have eaten right out of the skillet. Well done, Donna. You and Richard need to have your own cooking show!

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    1. Hi, Jill – Thank you for your constant kind words. You are always so uplifting for others. Oh, and about that cooking show. With Richard and I as the cooks it would likely only have one viewer. But we’d still appreciate that viewer (you) greatly! ❤

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  8. Donna, when Deb featured the squash on her blog a while back, my mind went to “centerpiece for a Fall table”. It does look too pretty to eat. I’m glad you came up with a tasty way to serve it and still preserve the ‘look.’ I’m sure Deb will approve.

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  12. Do Kambucha squash turn blue?? Great recipe. Sadly, my other half doesn’t like squash, one of the few things he doesn’t eat. I will forgive him as he cooks at least half the time. He’s very adventurous and now makes pasta, gnocchi, and is a deft hand at smoking meats. All in all, I will keep him and just eat all the squash myself.

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    1. Hi, Bernie – I don’t believe that regular kobucha squash turn blue. However, Blue Hokkaido (or Blue Kuri), is an open pollinated Japanese Kabocha type of squash that has a flattened globe shape and a blue-grey color.
      Your last sentence sounds like an excellent plan. 😀

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    1. Thanks, Anabel – Veggie Ground Round is a soy-based crumble that can replace cooked ground meat in favourite recipes. There are numerous different types in our grocery stores or it can be easily homemade (for a much healthier version). You likely know this by a different name.

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  16. Hmm your gifted squash looks delicious cooked up – a great way to use squash. Richards’s cooking looks delicious- he should be setting up his own cooking blog/book!

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  19. Fabulous Donna, I love the idea of using the skin as a bowl and the fact that nothing was left is a testament to how delicious it was! And well done to Richard on his cooking prowess, and enjoy the goofing off time 🙂

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  20. Your food always looks so appealing. You know what they say about fall & zucchini season – don’t slow down or someone will throw zucchini in the back seat. So, with the zucchini I had this year, I preserved pineapple zucchini. There are recipes online (I used this recipe: https://www.healthycanning.com/zucchini-pineapple). Pineapple carrot muffins are a kitchen staple here so that’s what prompted me to make this & I grated the zucchini vs cubing it. SUCCESS. I also had a good crop of spaghetti squash & a new way of presenting it – serving it in a row with other roasted vegetables, i.e. carrots, beets, brussel sprouts. A rainbow feast for the eyes. I’m preparing carrot rice soup this evening & will use some leftover spaghetti squash. Recipes are only a suggestion.

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    1. Hi, Mona – That is so funny about not slowing down during zucchini season. I will definitely be stealing that quote.
      Pineapple Zucchini preserves and Pineapple Carrot Muffins both sound delicious. I am not a canner but I frequently make muffins so I will give that combination a try!
      I totally agree that recipes are merely a suggestion — as are traffic lights in Beijing! 😀

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  21. Looks delicious Donna and exactly the recipe we enjoy. Thanks for sharing and Deb must really have a green thumb. I tried something similar with eggplant which was also a winner. I’m sharing the food we tasted on our recent European holiday. Thanks for hosting #WOYP and for the recipe. xx

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    1. Hi, Sue – Deb (Widow Badass) definitely has a green thumb. She did amazing things with her garden this year. I was delighted to be the recipient of some of her garden bounty.
      I also love eggplant and love your suggestion of making something similiar with it.
      Thank you for sharing your European holiday with us. It looked incredible from start to finish.

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    1. Hi, Janis – I totally blame my mother (for me not being able to ‘goof off’ when someone else is cooking or cleaning). That was a definitely ‘no no’ when I was growing up. It was an ‘all hands on deck’ household.
      But I am working hard at developing this skill later in life. Wish me luck! ❤

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  23. Thanks Donna, delicious post. What a huge and beautiful kobacha squash.
    Glad to hear your husband had taken up cooking with such flair! It’s such a creative task.

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  24. Kabocha squash is melt in your mouth goodness! I have a challenge finding them here in north central Texas. However, this fall I was lucky and found a bunch of organic ones in an area grocery store. I almost bought out the store of these yummy squash. Cheers to hubby!

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    1. I understand what you mean completely. Deb said that she had a difficult time finding them out here so thought that they might not grow well on Central Vancouver Island. Turns out that they grew (and grew and grew) in her garden brilliantly. She plans to plant even more next year!

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  25. I love squash, and that is the most beautiful one I’ve seen. The recipe sounds delightful. When you said Deb, I thought you meant Deb from Deb’s world, not the Badass. I was trying to work out the mental logistics of that exchange of squash. 🙂 I should have clicked on the links first. 🙂 Great share!

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    1. Oh, that would have been a wonderful feat for Deb from Tumburumba, Australia to send a squash to me on Vancouver Island, Canada. She did recently make a ‘President Deb’s Lemon Butter’ that I drooled over when I read about it. Alas, she said that I lived too far away to send some to me – but she did offer to eat some herself for me. I think that also would have happened to an Australian squash! 😀

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  28. I was admiring Deb’s bevy of beauties from her garden, so I can well understand your reluctance to cut your kabocha up. I am a great squash admirer, especially of pumpkin varieties, and I would sooner hug them but the household loves pumpkin soup, and I, pumpkin custard and pie, so eventually they get eaten!

    I am glad you took the plunge and made this lovely centerpiece main. My favourite image from your informative series is the emptied skins – looks like it was a very satisfying meal!

    Richard makes hearty colourful meals – I like the look of them very much! Even better that you have time for yourself while he is enjoying kitchen therapy.

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  29. Hi Donna, What a beautiful gift from Deb and you made it look even more beautiful with the healthy ingredients. Richard’s meals look delicious and healthy, too. You’re both models of staying fit and eating well. Thank you for sharing your recipe.

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  31. Donna, Eons ago, when Helen and I were dating, she wanted to try a new meal out on me involving squash. It is similar to the recipe you posted, but she called it “Paramecium Squash” instead of Parmesan. Thinking I was eating microorganisms, I shuddered but tried to look excited. I was relieved when it came out delicious, and we still laugh about her name for the dish. P.S. I’m also laughing about Antoinette’s husband baptizing the kitchen. I can relate. Have a great weekend. Joe

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