Fun Monday ~ Cookin' in the Kitchen

 now...thanks to a few early-Fun-Monday-checker-inners, my post for Lisa's theme--

"I want to see your favorite recipe, be it either because your grandmother wrote it, it's the easiest thing you can slap together that everyone likes, it makes you feel healthy, it's cheap, etc. You don't have to make it (although you could if you want) but let us see the index card, cookbook, printed paper from the web, and why it's a favorite in your house. If you have a lot, just pick one, I know I'll have to!"

--shall be for the BEST SQUASH CASSEROLE known to man and beast!  I expected one of my chocolate choices to "win"; but to be honest?  Sometimes I load up on this and pass up dessert--no matter what dessert may be!

The first time I met the Super Woman who would eventually become my mother-in-law, she included this dish with Sunday lunch.  Oh!My!Word!--although I spooned just a smidgen on my plate to be polite and suck up to my boyfriend's mother (up until that point, lawsy me, I wouldn't have touched squash, for goodness sakes!), I had to go back for seconds...and then thirds.  Squash became my New Favorite Vegetable, and to this day, it still is (with Silver Queen corn in hot pursuit). 

Was it a compliment she said to me, "I'm so glad you EAT...so many girls your age pick like a bird..."?   Yes, coming from my MIL, it most certainly WAS a compliment, but I kinda felt like a heifer after that...I was in college...on the "meal plan"... home-cooked food was not only rarity, it was delicacy.

This is a simple, easy side dish for which friends of mine always request the recipe after I serve it...let me know how you like it if you try it :).

First, the essentials--the ingredients. 

The only thing I forgot to include in the "before" photograph is about three tablespoons of butter--HOW COULD I FORGET THE BUTTER?!  I'll be posting "during" and "after" shots after I actually cook this in a little while; for now I wanted to get the recipe up since many of us surf early in the day. 

Oh....I included a shot of the recipe book that holds all my hand-written recipes (including the one for Supreme Squash Casserole and the first cookbook I bought myself--the "Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook"--it's hardly "new" anymore, but it has been a faithful companion for over two decades.  Apparently I started cooking in my tween years ;).

Supreme Squash Casserole

About 6 yellow crook-necked squash, scrubbed and sliced
1 Vidalia Onion, diced (any onion will do, but I'm partial to the sweet ones)
1 egg
1+ cups grated SHARP cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt & pepper to taste (whatever that means)
3 Tbl. butter
1/2 Sleeve of Ritz Crackers, smashed to obliteron

Pre-heat oven to 400°.

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Place sliced squash and diced onion in pot. Almost cover squash with water, add salt and pepper, and bring to a boil on stove.  Then, cover with a lid and simmer for about 20 minutes (until tender), stirring occasionally. 

Drain squash.

Mix together egg and milk.  Put 1/2 the squash in a greased casserole dish.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over this layer and pour 1/2 of the egg/milk mixture over it.  Add remaining squash, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and pour remainder of egg/milk mixture over it (if you pour the entire egg/milk mixture over the top layer, it doesn't seep well enough into the squash and you get an eggy soufflé thing poufing out the top, which may sound good, but trust me...it isn't :/).  Did I really just use the word "remain" or some derivative of it three times in one sentence?  What a wordsmith....!

Cover top of casserole with smashed Ritz Crackers and dot generously with butter.  The more buttah the bettah if you ask me!

Cook at 400° for 30-40 minutes, uncovered, until bubbly and browned (I have cooked this at a lower temperature when other things have been in the oven...)

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1)  I'm off to a meeting, but then I'll put this dish together and post pictures a bit later on.
2)  Please visit Lisa for the rest of the Fun Monday players (and if you'd like to add your name to the list, it's NEVER too late to do so!).
3)  I'll post links to the recipes I've posted before later on today (thanks to those of you who asked).
4)  Because I LURVE all the dishes mentioned in the previous post, for each recipe that was requested via comments, I'll be posting those in coming days weeks month soon (I'll try to let you know :) ).
5)  PLEASE CHECK BACK TOMORROW--I have the privilege of hosting Fun Monday next week and it'll take me that long to come up with a theme. :)

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More picchas and cookin' chit chat:

Squash cooks down a good bit; this time I used about 8 cups of squash, but it cooked down to much less than that.  Look at the before and after:

This is a fun little kitchen gadget--I call it my "Smash-crackers-into-obliteron-er"-- although it actually grinds them into their de-constructed crumbly state. 
   

I suppose you could simply put the crackers in a zip-loc bag and smash 'em with your fist, but where's the fun in that? 

I'm done...the recipe is done...I don't think it's ever taken me so long to complete a post or to stop and start as many times as I have for this one...off to finally visit some other Fun Monday posts! 

Comments

[kaytabug]

YUM YUM! I will definitely be trying this out!! I may be the only one eating it but it sounds too good not to try! Looking fwd to the pictures and the other recipes!! Thanks for sharing!!

[Dawn]

I will definitely be trying this one. Thanks for sharing your MIL's recipe.

[e-Mom]

Hmmm... squash is not my favorite veggie. But your version just might make it palatable. I was served squash with a simple dusting cinnamon the other day (an accompaniment to turkey). It was delish! So, maybe I can learn to love this crazy autumn tuber. :~)

[Karina]

I'm not a fan of squash, but who knows, I may try this one day and become a convert as you did!

And because I know I will forget to do it tomorrow, sign me up for Fun Monday next week...sight unseen! Aren't I brave?

[Robinella]

I love squash and zuchinni. That casserole sounds familiar and I'm pretty sure I love it. I also love my Mom's stewed squash - it's the same as step one of your recipe without adding water. So yummy.

Put me down for Fun Monday, please. I'll come back to see your finished product and the assignment.

[Anglophile Football Fanatic]

I'm not a big squash fan, either, but if you put cheese on anything, it tastes better. I might even be able to get this down my carnivore hubby.

[Karmyn R]

How convienant. I have some crookneck squash sitting in my garden waiting to be picked RIGHT NOW!!! (and I need a new way to cook 'em)

[Karmyn R]

oops - convenient.

[mjd]

Yay, you posted the squash recipe, and the recipe uses my favorite kind of squash. Imagine a grand potluck of the Fun Monday bloggers bringing these delicious dishes. If I get to the grocery this week, maybe I will be trying some of these recipes. Your Supreme Squash Casserole will be among my top choices. Have you been to my place for some pie?

[min]

Yum squash! This is already my favorite recipe and I haven't even tasted it yet. (Yeah, I know...min'll eat anything).

[tracey]

Ok, I'm sure it's good, but I just cannot eat squash. I try and I try but it icks me out...

[jill]

did i ask to be added yet, if not, can you please? also, can you write a little ditty about commenting on people's blogs to leave an email address in your instructions, (pretty please?) i received so many wonderful comments but they didnt include their email address so i couldnt reply to thier comment to my fun monday posts.. sigh! thanks!

[Robin (the pensieve one)]

Katabug...if you like it, you'll be able to eat the whole blasted thing!

Dawn, lemme know...

Emom, cinnamon on squash???? That just sounds WRONG!

Karina, you ARE brave...I should totally take advantage of you ;)!

[Robin (the pensieve one)]

Robinella, yeah, I saute squash in butter with sliced onion, too. You're signed up (I just gotta decide on a theme...).

Anglo, sharp cheddar makes a difference...

Karmyn, I SOOOooo admire you and your gardening prowess...lemme know if you try it.

Molly, I hope you DO try it :). I have tons of FM pages uploaded, just waiting for me to read and comment....

Min, on your next road trip, stop by middle Tennessee and I'll cook it for ya ;).

Tracey, chil', WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU??? ;)

Jill, gotcha!

[Willowtree]

Interesting. Easy yet tasty.

[Robinella]

Our 17th is on the 13th. When is yours? And in case I forget, Happy Anniversary.

[Susan]

This sounds delicious! I obviously missed the "you don't have to make it" part of the instructions. Oh well, a girl's gotta eat!
And I have Absolutely No Idea how I found you. Someone linked to someone who linked to you. Or something like that. I'm glad I did, and will check back about next week's mission!

[Pamela]

I love summer squash... so I'm sure this one could find a place on my table.

[Pamela]

ps
I put cinnamon on winter squash

[Swampy]

I love this recipe and I love saying Vidalia Onion...

Will be back to to 'ketchup'...theHM is waiting in the hot tub.

[Wendy]

If I get a minute to do this, it's DEFINITELY going to be the cheesecake recipe of my mom's ... the print is nearly worn off the card! lol

[Wendy]

I like to put squash on my table cuz it looks so dang cute. And harvesty. New word. I just made it up. My favorite recipe, if I find time to post it, is my Mom's cheesecake recipe. SO dang yummy and creamy and EASY!!! What does it have? Four ingredients? Maybe five? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm ..... Mine never comes out quite as nice as hers does, though.

[Melanie]

This looks delicious!! I will certainly have to try it.

I've been taking a little look around your blog and I love it here. I will be back!!

[Robin (the pensieve one)]

WT, you didn't even read the post, did you?

Susan, Fun Monday puts the "fun" in Monday...glad you plan on playing along next week!

Pamela, I wonder what this would taste like with winter squash...you know, I don't know that I've tasted the winter version...hmmmm....

Wendy, I LOVE made-up words...IMHO, they're just as real as real words.

Huh?

Melanie, why thank you! I have no idea what brought you here, but I'm glad you found my little pensieve :).

[chrisb]

I've seen a lot of squash in the shops recently and I've been wondering about recipes so I have no excuse now you've given me a nudge with this tempting casserole :)

[Debs in her melon patch]

This looks so good! I am pretty sure I can handle this! :D

[Lisa]

So, I DID vote for the desserts, but this looks good, too!

[Purpleworms aka Nutso]

Looks great! And cinnamon on squash - yum (but its best on the winter variety, I think!) That can't be my sister who says squash icks her out. She eats lots of squash! Wth!?
and finally ...WT doesn't have to read the posts - he intuits them - not necessarily correctly but he doesn't mind! (grin)

[Christine]

I LOVE squash, but I've never had it in a casserole before with Ritz and cheese.

It looks really good! I'm going to have to make this one.

I was late getting my Fun Monday up, so today I'm visiting everyone.

Have a good one!

[Katie (kitten)]

I made a mistake on my recipe. I did a correction on my blog. Enjoyed yours also.