Don't Eat Crap

Last Sunday the ND Bloggers were invited out to Papa’s Pumpkin Patch in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Papas Pumpkin Patch brings smiles to everyone who visits. Children of all ages flock to the zip lines, corn crib, and pumpkin launcher. Parents bring the entire family dressed in coordinating colors to take full advantage of the amazing photo opportunities Papas has set up. To see a full list of their activities click here.

I enjoy the zip line – maybe too much! But one of my favorite things is the assortment of squash’s that papas offers each year. Not only can you purchase pumpkins of all shapes and sizes (and colors!), gourds, corn, and pumpkin cookies but they offer a variety of 10 squashes.

After walking around with Beth and Katey we headed towards the squash. I love that they have a little description and how to cook it signs on the squashes. I picked up one of these Turban squashes.

Here are Hubbard squashes. This is my favorite because it most resembles mashed potatoes when you cook it. It’s not very sweet.

These are Delicata squash. I picked one of these up, just because I’ve never seen one before. Look at my self portrait!

So tonight for supper I knew I wanted to make the Hubbard but I knew I wouldn’t want to wait an hour for it to roast in the oven so I decided to experiment with the slow cooker. So I carefully cut it up into four pieces and fixed it in the crock pot after putting in my liner of course. Then I added 2 cups of water to the bottom for it to steam. I set it on high for 4 hours.

Here it is after I took it out to cool down. Once cooled I used a knife to cut the inside out. I dumped that all in a bowl and threw away the skin.

This isn’t a good photo but it shows me mashing it up. I added salt and pepper.

Here it is! Dished up and ready to eat with a little Brummel & Brown butter and lots of salt and pepper. I don’t like any squashes sweet – I like them to replace potatoes.

Tonight we had salmon from Sam’s Club (it’s awesome!), swiss chard, baked green beans, Hubbard squash, and left over Multi-Grain bread from Schwans. The salmon is great because it comes in single portioned packs so we can make 2 at a time. Ohh I am stuffed. I may have went back for more bread – oh well.

If you looking for somewhere to take your family, Papas is a great place. They even have birthday parties and corporate events. Be sure to check out all their info at papaspumpkinpatch.com.

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