I knew when we grew these “Scallop Bush Squash” (aka, “Patty Pans”) this old recipe had to be a part of our scallop eating!

Did you ever try our Stuffed Pepper recipe??  It’s one I found years ago and actually wrote down – not printed out!  So if you know who made this recipe, please help me give credit!  I did alter it a bit because I thought it needed more sausage, but the base is amazing!  And other than the wait time it’s pretty simple.  Since it makes so much I did halve the recipe, and for four scallop squash it was still more than plenty.

The new twist is that instead of stuffing green (or other) peppers, I stuffed SQUASH!!  You could easily stuff any kind of squash or zucchini, but these scallop squashes are great for stuffing.  I was following a couple of online ways to pre-cook the squash, but I wasn’t happy with the results.  Many people harvest these gems when they’re small and roast or saute, but when you forget they’re on the vine, they are perfect candidates for stuffing!

First – interwebs said to cut off the tops and bottoms.  I cut off the bottoms but felt I wasted too much squash and the seeds were close to the bottom.  Because of this I kept the tops.  Next time, I’ll core out the tops.  Internet also said to do some sort of steam cooking thing on the stove – but that was too complicated.  So I popped those babies in the microwave.  Maybe 10-12 minutes later they were hot and soft!

Since I only cut the bottoms I cored the squash out from the bottom.  Stuffed with the amazing green pepper stuffing, put some cheese on there and finished them in the oven!  Even Colton liked it, although the squash were a little too soft, but minor detail!

So, bullet point directions:

• Make Stuffed Green Pepper recipe (or your favorite “stuffing”!).  While you’re waiting for some cooking to happen, start on the squash.
• Cut out stem section of scallop squash.  For regular squash or zucchini, you could microwave hole or cut in half.  If you are too worried about cutting too much squash, stab it with a fork or knife so steam can escape fruit (to keep exploding in the microwave.  Yes – I’ve had experience with this!).
• Put in microwave and cook until fork can easily pierce.  My microwave took maybe 12 min, but it will vary depending on microwave and fruit.  Start with 6-8 minutes and go from there.
• When squash is soft/tender, take a spoon and core out most of inside, mostly seeds if possible.
• On a sheet pan or 9×13 pan, line it with foil for easy cleanup.
• Place squash, stuff with stuffing, top with cheese and bake to melt/toast cheese.
• ENJOY!!  It can always be served with a side of extra stuffing!

My information said to cut off the bottoms and tops. After cutting off the bottoms I realized next time I will only core out the stem on the top.

After pre-cooking the squash, core out the inside and stuff with your favorite mixture! Mine comes from our stuffed pepper recipe!

Top with cheese – the more cheese the better!

Put in the oven to melt the cheese – everything is already cooked and hot

Enjoy! Serve with sides – or more stuffing. I used a knife to cut through the flesh of the squash but they are soft from cooking so may be able to use a fork.

On to the storm damage …

If you haven’t subscribed to our newsletter, followed our Facebook Page or personal pages, you won’t have heard that we lost a large part of the farm – the barn.  While it may not seem much to some, this barn was a big reason Colton was able to purchase the property.  We had been slowly working on restoring it for about two years and had plans to move my horses into it once completed.  It’s also the main feature in our logo – it along with Colton’s Farmall M.  On August 10 we had a hurricane in the Midwest (go figure, 2020!).  We were lucky in that we had minimal damage to the house and all the animals were fine, but the almost 80 year old barn scattered for a couple hundred feet.  It was shocking – and still is in some ways – to pull up the drive and see the results of the storm.

We had power lines down, roof damage to a couple out buildings, the air conditioner flipped off the pad, trees all over the yard (but miraculously missed the house), Colton’s truck was parked by the garage and the pressure of the storm – maybe even tornado – blew the window out with only the blackout film keeping it from shattering everywhere.  It bowed with the pressure.

We’ve had some hurdles along the way, but we are slowly cleaning up the disaster and figuring out where to go from here.  We have the entire barn to pick up, but have plans for some of the barn wood.  The good part about this process is we are seeing how much that barn had deteriorated over the years – some places more than we realized.  It’s sad to see these old barns go!

This is what’s left of the old barn – not much. It was blown, twisted, flipped and scattered. It’s kind of a shock to see when you’re used to seeing an old standing barn.

A big chunk of this tree came down. If you know the property, you should see half the barn to the left – but it’s completely gone.

The tin got blown off pretty good and the door blown in, but at least this building survived! It’s one of the last original buildings on the farm!

The pressure from the storm changed so much (or built up so much) that the truck window shattered and bowed outward.

Part of the old barn’s roof flew off and impaled in the machine shed. The hay trolley track went through the door of the shed.

Part of the old barn flew into the neighbor’s field. Luckily Colton’s family is good friends with him so he understood that it couldn’t be helped!

Of course, the storm brought some good – mostly in the form of critters!  While cleaning up I almost stepped on this baby hummingbird!  We tried feeding it but it didn’t survive the night.  From our research we learned they were very hard to care for, but we did find a couple rehabbers if we need help in the future.

This poor little guy/girl almost got stepped on! We did our best to save him but they are very hard to care for and we lost him during the night.

A few days later, we were on our way to get some roofing tin, driving down the highway and came across this little critter.  We got him to a vet who had to amputate a hind leg and treat him for fleas, but brought him back home to torment the rest of the critter crew.  He’s been fitting in quite well!

And for those who worry about amputating a leg – you can’t tell!  He was running and jumping and climbing within the first couple days he came home.  My vet tech friend always said they adapt – and they do in no time!  External fixtures – or ex-fixes as a lot of the vet world calls them – seem like a good option because you’re attempting to save the leg; however, the recovery time is so much longer, there is a higher risk for infection and the leg may still not be good.  So take it from “Smokey” – amputation works out just fine!  If you don’t believe it come see him!

We found this little guy on the highway – and watched two cars go over him!

Living the life of luxury! This three legged kitting is getting along just fine and enjoying his new home!

He’s turning into a little stinker of a kitten – climbing and jumping, annoying the dog and cat!

Of course things don’t slow down just because you’ve had a storm destroy half your farm!

The chickens were all fine, clucking and laying away. One weekend at the farmer’s market we sold twenty three dozen eggs!! The egg business is going well and there’s a chance we may even be able to expand at some point! We had a new-to-us shed that needed moved and still needs some remodeling to move the girls to a more permanent place with electricity before winter.

The garden was neglected for a while but was still producing. My green bean saving goal was six gallon bags – I think we almost made it to five, but it ‘s partly because of the garden neglect. The variety that produced the best – Black Valentine Bush Beans – reached the point where I forced myself to leave them to turn to black beans. The Burgundy Bush were a bit too far and I decided to let them go to turn into seeds for next year. The Red Kidney Beans and Lima Beans suddenly decided they were going to dry out (I’ve never grown Lima’s before so I think I was doing something wrong).

And out of all the peppers to be doing well it had to be the HOT ones! The Santa Fe Grande pepper … oye! I’m not a good person for hot/spicy things, so I drummed up some courage for a taste test and about burned out my mouth! But what to do with all the hot peppers!? Turn them into hot pepper jelly! The verdict is still out on the taste – we haven’t had a chance to try it yet – but a lick of the spoon still had it pretty spicy! My favorite way to eat stuff like this is to pour it over cream cheese and serve with crackers. The cheese and cracker helps cut the hotness!

Our first shot at growing kidney beans! I pulled them a little early but the pods were starting to mold, so hoping for the best.

I took the recipe from the Sure Jell box, but not sure if I did it right. We’ll see – but it still seems a bit spicy!

Like I said – we have been pretty lucky this round! The storm could have totaled the house, hurt the animals, we could be without power or a person hurt. And we still have a pretty bountiful garden going!

Again – be sure you’ve subscribed to our e-newsletter! We currently send out an “insider” email about once a month. If you’re local, come see us at the Princeton Farmer’s Market – it runs through October! We are considering doing sweatshirts with our farm logo – similar to the t-shirts you see above. If you’re interested in a t-shirt or sweatshirt, be sure to contact us! We’ll post colors and sizing info on our Facebook page when we figure out sweatshirt details.

And comments/suggestions are greatly appreciated! We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re always looking ahead and how to improve!