Cooking | FabGrandma

Sometimes Facebook Has A Life Of It’s Own: The Ill Fated Squash Casserole Recipe

October 26, 2011 By Fab Grandma

When I woke up this morning, there was a whole thread going on that threatened my reputation! I mean, really! My own daughter was on there accusing me publicly of giving her a recipe 20 years ago and leaving out a crucial ingredient, destining her to squash casserole failure forever. How could she say that? I mean, I would NEVER EVER do that! (snicker!) (and this may or may not have happened back when she went off to college. Here is the cast of characters, then the facebook thread:

Cast of Characters

Becca Parson It may have taken me 20 years, Karen Stroud Eidson, but I am ON TO YOU!!!

Becky Eidson Singer What?! Tell me!!!

Becca Parson Two words…. Squash. Casserole.

Becca Parson This trickery shall NOT STAND!!

Becca Parson She knows what she did!

Linda Stroud Sewell it’s the cheese isn’t it

Becca Parson No, there’s no cheese in hers.

Linda Stroud Sewell oh sorry, that’s my recipe so is hers no crackers?

Becca Parson It’s a very basic ingredient, one that changes the flavor only a little, but it’s super important.

Becca Parson I feel so betrayed!

Becca Parson Butter.

Becca Parson It’s not in the recipe and she always smiles and laughs when I say she left something out, but I KNEW she did!

Linda Stroud Sewell oh yes, I can’t have that anymore….LOVE butter, but it doesn’t love me

Becca Parson I have been making it according to her recipe for YEARS and it never tasted right. Tonight, I had a memory of watching her stir the squash and I was so surprised because it was so simple. I added a little butter and it finally tasted right.

Linda Stroud Sewell I haven’t made one in a long time. Mama doesn’t like mine because I put a little cheese in it, but my family likes it and that’s all that matters

Becca Parson I just wanted it to taste like it did when I was a kid. I always wanted seconds or thirds of squash casserole, but it was always disappointing when I have made it for myself. But now I will make it…ALL. THE. TIME!

Becky Eidson Singer Lol! I made it last year for Christmas… I don’t remember if I used butter???? It was good though… I will definitely make a note of this! Thanks for sharing Becca!

Emily Rascoe Ok, now I need you to message me the whole recipe please! I am in need of a squash casserole fix.

Cheryl Harding I’m with Emily – even sounds good for breakfast this morning,lol!!! That was rotten of her and I notice she has been quiet throughout this whole thread. Probably laughing so hard she can’t type!!

Karen Stroud Eidson ahemphf Cheryl Harding–she has been quiet because she has been sleeping.

Karen Stroud Eidson I will have to see proof of this alleged miscarriage of justice here. Do you have a scan of the recipe where I allegedly led you astray in the makence of squash casserole?

Karen Stroud Eidson I have always used butter in my squash casserole, and club crackers. Now that I can not eat wheat, I still use butter, but I used crushed up gluten free pretzels instead of the crackers.

Karen Stroud Eidson oh, and Linda Stroud Sewell, Mama is right–there is no such thing as cheese in squash casserole. What a horrible thing to do.

Karen Stroud Eidson Oh, Becca Parson, how could you accuse me of being so cruel?

Sarah Parson Always gotta use butter Thats whats Grannies recipe says in her book

Karen Stroud Eidson Thank you Sarah Parson, at last, some loyalty

Cheryl Harding I love you Karen – you and your family are so fun!!!

Sarah Parson ‎Karen Stroud Eidson Ive seen Seth and yourself make it on front of me so its easy for me to say lol..Plus I have grannies recipe book lol

Sarah Parson Plus I wouldnt eat it if it had cheese in it. Dont like cheese

Becca Parson it says butter on the top, but nowhere does it say anything about butter in the squash. I have followed that recipe religiously for YEARS thinking that one day it would taste right and it never did. You trickster!

Sarah Parson mine says use the other 1/2 of butter in the squash. You got the old recipe book of grannies the written one?

Karen Stroud Eidson I have to see that recipe Becca. I wouldn’t have done that to you on porpoise! Snicker…

Gaelyn Olmsted OK, I’ve eaten Karen’s squash casserole and would Really like the whole recipe.

Becca Parson I’ll scan it for you. It says nothing about butter except on the top.

Linda Stroud Sewell WELL, Karen Stroud Eidson…. all I have to say is don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. It’s not so horrible….to each his own!

Becca Parson Sarah, I have the recipe my MOTHER wrote for me.

Karen Stroud Eidson I have tried it–I don’t like it. .o cheeses squashes for me.

Karen Stroud Eidson That should be “no” cheesey squashes for me.

Becca Parson I’m not a fan of cheesy casseroles usually, either. Depends on what it is, though.

Linda Stroud Sewell well then y’alll probably don’t like Mac & Cheese or Broccoli Casserole either…I put cheese in both of those as well. Actually, I don’t make ANY of these casseroles anymore because they have WAY too many calories in them for me to eat.

Becca Parson I like mac and cheese, but that has cheese in the name. But no, I don’t much care for broccoli casserole either. Just a personal preference though. Has nothing to do with your cooking at all. I don’t like green bean casseroles, either. Pretty much no matter who makes it. I’ll eat it to be polite, but don’t really care for it.

Karen Stroud Eidson Well duh mac & cheese gotta have cheese or it wouldn’t be mac & cheese now would it?

Linda Stroud Sewell ewwwww yuk, DISLIKE Green bean casserole too

Linda Stroud Sewell and no offense taken….you haven’t eaten my cooking in a long time…..heck, I don’t even cook like that anymore

Karen Stroud Eidson I’m going to post the recipe on my blog, both the orignal version and the gluten free version. And I WILL include ALL the ingredients!

The recipe that started all this was one that I got about 40 or so years ago from my mother. My children loved it. They loved it so much, in fact, because I used to tell them it was pie and they couldn’t have any of it until they ate their dinner. They would clean their little plates so they could have that delicious squash pie. When they grew older, and knew it wasn’t pie, they still loved it. Whenever I am around them now, and cooking for them, it one of the things they always ask me to make for them. And I can not imagine that I would give the recipe to anyone and purposefully leave out an ingredient. So, here is the famous (or infamous) squash casserole recipe:

Squash Casserole, The Full Unadulterated Recipe:

5-6 medium yellow squash, scraped and diced

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

3 or 4 slices bread, crumbled

3 egg

Salt & pepper to taste

Club crackers, 1 sleeve, crushed

1 stick of butter

Put the squash and onion in a sauce pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for about 25 minutes, until the squash is soft. Add salt and pepper to taste and 1/2 of the stick of butter. Pour into greased or sprayed baking dish. Cover with cracker crumbs & dot with the remaining 1/2 stick of butter. Bake at 425° for 20-25 minutes or until set and browned on top.

To make this casserole gluten free, prepare just as above, but use your favorite gluten free bread instead of regular bread. I use Udi’s, but any brand will work. Replace the Club cracker crumbs with crushed gluten free pretzels. I use Glutino Gluten Free Pretzels. Put them in a zip lock bag, and pound on them with a wooden rolling pin. You’ll need about 1 cup of pretzel crumbs for the top of a 9″ X 13″ casserole dish.

Filed Under: Cooking, Family, Fun Stuff, Recipes

How To Cook A Pumpkin

September 22, 2011 By Fab Grandma 7 Comments

One thing I really love about fall is that there are little pumpkins for sale at the grocery store and at farms all over the place. While the big, huge pumpkins are good for making Jack-0-lanterns, they are not that good for eating in my opinion. The little sugar pumpkins, however, are really good. And ever since I bought my first one in Pennsylvania and cooked it, I will never go back to canned pumpkin. There is no comparison.

The fresh veggies I got yesterday

Yesterday we went down to Kanab, and went to the produce garden there on Hwy 89. He had lots of good stuff ripe and ready for harvest. I was so excited to see that his pumpkins were ready to pick.

I spent today cooking the pumpkin. To cook it, first you have to get it ready. I took it outside on the picnic table, and cut it in half, then cut each half in half.

Cut the pumpkin in four pieces.

Using a knife, cut the stringy part with the seeds in it out of the middle of each piece of pumpkin.

Use a spoon to scrape the rest of the stringy part out.

Then, use a spoon to scrape out the rest of the stringy part. After all the “guts” have been scraped out, spray each piece of pumpkin with olive oil.

Spray each piece with olive oil

Place the pieces cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Put an oven proof bowl with water in it underneath. Cover the whole the pumpkin and pan with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and bake at 400 degrees for one hour.

I have a VERY small oven, so I checked to see if these pieces would fit before covering with foil.

(I live in an RV, so my oven is very small. I checked to see it the pumpkin pieces would fit before covering with foil.

When the pumpkin is done, take it out of the oven, remove the foil and the bowl of water, and let it cool until you can touch it without burning your fingers.

Let the cooked pumpkin cool off.

When the pumpkin is cooled off, use a spoon to scrape the pulp off of the pumpkin rind. It will be very easy to remove the rind.

It is easy to remove the peel after the pumpkin is cooked.

The finished product: This little pumpkin yielded about 12 cups of pumpkin “meat” to use in recipes:

This is good enough to eat just like this!

Tomorrow, we’ll make a pie and some muffins using the fresh cooked pumpkin!

Filed Under: Cooking, Recipes

Fried Cabbage

December 27, 2009 By Fab Grandma 8 Comments

Think you don’t like cabbage? I didn’t like it much when I was growing up, and I don’t like it now in most restaurants. It always seems to be soggy and tasteless if I order it when I eat out somewhere. But, I like cabbage when I cook it at home. This dish is flavorful, inexpensive, and gluten free (though not calorie free).

Fried Cabbage

3-4 slices of bacon OR 3-4 tablespoons bacon grease OR 3-4 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 medium head of cabbage, chopped

salt to taste

4 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped.

2 cups water

Fry the bacon until crisp, set aside. Pour the bacon grease out of the pan, then measure 3-4 tablespoons of it back into it. Add the chopped cabbage, potatoes and onion. Toss them all around in the pan several times until they are coated with the bacon grease. Add the water, bring to a boil, then cover the pan with a lid. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer until all the water has evaporated, about 30 minutes.

I watch it closely near the end of cooking to make sure it doesn’t stick and burn. If you have fried some bacon, crumble it on top before serving.

This may not be the most healthy cabbage you have ever eaten, but it sure will be good!

Filed Under: Cooking, Gluten Free, Recipes

In The Mail Today

August 14, 2009 By Fab Grandma 4 Comments

I’m sure you remember the sad, sad story of my Big White Bowl. I was really missing it, because I didn’t have another bowl big enough for mixing things like that gluten free brownie mix. I bought the mix about three weeks ago–it has been sitting there in the cupboard since then.

This morning, I received a package in the mail from my sister. I have to say, I am so happy first that she thought of me, and second that she sent me this bowl. I live in a very remote area, and have been to all the stores and thrift shops in town and there was just no bowl to buy, anywhere. Now I can make those brownies, probably tomorrow. Thank you, my seester!

Filed Under: Cooking, Life on the road

Goodbye To A Dear Friend

June 27, 2009 By Fab Grandma 11 Comments

There has been so much in the news these last few days about the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson. While the loss of those two celebrities may be big news, the demise of my long time friend, The Big White Bowl, will have a huge impact on my daily life.

Mine is a loss only a cook will understand. The Big White Bowl has been a part of my life for a very long time. I can’t remember exactly when it came into my life, but I think it was Christmas, 1972. My first husband had a charming way of giving me small electric appliances as gifts. And while I really liked that Kenmore Stand Mixer, it was The Big White Bowl that came with it that stole my heart.

The Big White Bowl was made of glass. It was the perfect size and shape for mixing just about anything. The Big White Bowl and I made a good team, and prepared countless meals for my family together over the years. There have been hundreds of meatloaves, pancakes, corn breads, biscuits, cakes, salads, and others too numerous to mention mixed in that bowl. Sadly, I could only find one picture of it in my vast photo collection.

The Big White Bowl moved many times, and has traveled all over the country with me . During the period of my life when I was divorced and moved 15 times in 5 years, The Big White Bowl helped comfort me and my children with many batches of Chocolate Chip Cookies. It was always lovingly wrapped and cushioned during each move, to protect it from harm. The Big White Bowl lived most of its life in Georgia, but has also lived in Florida, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and spent its last days at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

When I came home from work last night, FabGrandpa announced the death of The Big White Bowl. He stood there hanging his head in shame, while he told me that he broke The Big White Bowl while he was washing the dishes. While I cried over the tragic loss, FabGrandpa went on to say it was an accident, and that we would try to find another one to replace The Big White Bowl.

I’m sorry, FabGrandpa, we may find another bowl, but none could ever take the place of The Big White Bowl.

Filed Under: Cooking, Fabgrandpa, Life on the road

Restocked and Ready To Go

February 28, 2009 By Fab Grandma 6 Comments

We made it out of Wal-Mart alive and with at least some money left in the bank. Whew! It was a marathon of shopping, but we got it all done. I felt a little bit like we were on that game show, Supermarket Sweep, only not quite that fast. FabGrandpa had his list and I had mine, and we took off in different directions. Two carts full. And we had been to Frye’s first. Grand total, to steal a phrase from one of my favorite bloggers, Oh Mah Holy Hell! $416.33!!!

But, for all that dough, we do have lots of potential meals. The cupboard is no longer bare. The fridge and the freezer, and the little fridge, all full. We can have some cooking fun now!

One of the reasons the total was so high this time was that we were out of every gluten free thing. I got some gluten free baking mix, gluten free cornbread mix, gluten free spaghetti, and gluten free noodles. And of course, we got some little treats again, too. MMMM, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. Those garlic stuffed olives FabGrandpa loves. Stuff to make this. OOO, and stuff to make shrimp and sausage gumbo. Oh, and I found some spring roll wrappers, a new item I have been wanting to try. Don’t know yet exactly what I am going to do with them. Yes. I am a fool for food.

So after all that shopping, what did we eat for dinner tonight? Tuna salad with crackers. You didn’t expect me to cook after all that did you? I had to put all that shit away, you know.

My goal for the next five weeks, or until I have to go shopping again, is to blog my dinner recipe every day. Here are some of the things I am going to make this month:

Mexican Seafood Soup
Chicken Salad with Guacamole
Stuffed Cabbage
Stuffed Peppers
Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo
Italian Mushroom Stew
Eggplant Parmesean
Fried Chicken Livers (so some days are better than others)

So some days are better than others.

And just in case you want it:

Tuna Salad

2 small cans tuna, drained
1/2 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 boiled eggs, chopped
1/3 cup mayonaise

Mix all together well. Served over romaine lettuce with cherry tomatos and crackers.

Filed Under: Cooking