A spaghetti squash of a different color...

Hi again:)
I have an oddball in my patch. This is one of the "normal" ones. It's pretty much white, with a very faint green pattern, that you can see if you really look at it.

And this is the unconventional one. It's the only vine (or three or four, I can't remember, and they're going every which way) doing this. It looks suspiciously like the punkin that it is twining around with, but I know that's not an issue this year.
Any thoughts? This is what I get for wanting to grow out crosses next year, and yes, this is grown from commercial seed.
Margo

This message was edited Jun 21, 2007 7:42 AM

Catmad: What do you do with Spaghetti Squash?

I only found a a couple of recipes. One is making it up kind of like layering lasagna in the shell, using the squash in place of lasagna noodles. The other I fixed up a vegetable mix with carrots, peas, onions, tomatoes and stirred in the strings of squash, then topped with shredded cheese and baked it. The original recipe called for broccoli and snow peas, but didn't have either on hand.

Also, how do you store/preserve spaghetti squash? And how long will it keep? This is my first time growing it. I've got 3 in the fridge now and another 12 or so small (not for long) on the vine.

Robin

Looks like cocozelle, or marrow. How big is it?

Sojourner

I have one of those on my spaghetti squash vine vine the rest are normal, weird.

Sojourner wrote;"Looks like cocozelle, or marrow. How big is it?

It's about 10-11 inches end to end. It is now turning yellow, but darker than the ones on the other vines, almost orange, still with the pattern. I'm not sure when it is ready for harvest, and will look into that, today. I don't know if it should be refrigerated or not. I _think_ they should be cured before storing.

I always go to Recipezaar when I'm stuck. You just put in what you have to use, and it brings you lots of recipes. Sometimes they are almost the same, but with 2000+ spaghetti squash recipes to choose from you should find something to your taste:).

This is one recipe I'll try as soon as I have one ready;

Bacon Spaghetti Squash

2 1/2 lbs spaghetti squash
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
olive oil
3 slices cooked bacon, crumbled

Cut the squash in half and carefully remove the seeds.
You might want to use a kitchen scissors to cut around the edge because you don't want to dig into the squash itself (which is easy to do).
Turn upside down in a baking pan.
Bake at 375-degrees until the inside is somewhat soft (about 45 minutes for this sized squash).
Let cool until the squash can be handled and then carefully remove the inside of the squash.
They will come out in threads that look and act much like cooked spaghetti (thus, the name).
There will be a much larger volume of strands than you think!
Cook several pieces of bacon very crisp and chop into bacon bits.
In a skillet, heat some olive oil and/or butter.
Add the spaghetti squash threads.
Toss with spices as desired and the bacon bits.
Heat through and serve.

HTH,
Margo

Thanks, catmad...hadn't found that website, but will try it. This recipe sounds good! I did find out how to store them for extended periods. Robin

If it's that big already, then it's probably NOT a marrow. A marrow would be more narrow (LOL!, accidental rhyme!) by the time it got that long.

It must be just a weirdly colored spaghetti squash, I can't think what else it might be.

Sojourner

Here's mine it is the same color as yours, just one

Here is the normal one

Yup, they're twins:). I've been looking around, and there's a variety called "Hasta la Pasta" which seems to have this kind of coloring. It's said to be high in beta carotene, so may be this is a good thing. Now of course, it's going to taste wonderful, and there is no way it will come true from seed. Oh well, maybe next shot I'll just bag a blossom on every plant....
Anyone plant winter squash this late? I may try it, these seem to be ripening so quickly that maybe I have a chance at a second crop, and besides, I have some new varieties I'm dying to try.
Margo

Hi, Catmad

I tried a variation on your spahetti squash recipe and it was pretty good. I used just a tablespoon or so of the bacon grease instead of olive oil, and sauted chopped onion in it, then added the squash, crumbled bacon and garlic powder. I haven't checked out recipezaar yet, but will today.

I am going to go ahead and plant a bunch of different seeds over the next few days. Figure after the strange weather patterns so far, it's worth the chance.

Robin

Hi Robin,
I'm with ya on the bacon grease :) How could anything NOT taste good with that combination of stuff? I've been browning my patty pans in bacon grease/olive oil, and throwing parmesan on top to melt after I turn off the heat, mmmm mmmm good :)
Margo


This message was edited Jul 6, 2007 7:01 AM

Took me years to figure out why hash browns and home fries at restaurants never taste right.

They don't use bacon grease!

Sojourner

Today I picked a buttery-yellow colored spaghetti squash with a geen bottom today off the same plant as the regular ones. So what was the verdict on the green one? How/why does this happen?

Robin

I had spaghetti squash come up in my garden last year, volunteer from one I had thrown in my compost heap. Some of them were huge and green, some normal. I thought they must have crossed with something. I made just a simple marinara sauce with my home-grown tomatoes and baked or boiled the squash, put the sauce over it. So good!

Here are some of mine from last year (sorry for the picture of a picture).

Daistuff,
How did you know when to harvest? Mine looked like that, but have now got a lot of yellow to them, and I think they should be taked out and cured. Would you share what you did? I'd hate to lose them to rot because I'm vegetabley challenged....
Also, mine was from purchased seed, but I intend to save seed from these, as I KNOW they've crossed with the other stuff in the "patch". I like surprises, at least this kind.

Margo

I hate to say I had no idea what to do, I kept leaving the green ones on thinking they would turn yellow or something, until they were huge and I knew something was wrong. A couple of times the squash was really hard to cut for cooking, and when I cooked it it just sort of dried out and we couldn't eat it. I can't remember now if I ever even was able to eat one of the green ones.

Finally I started just setting them up on my baker's rack and let them look cute, and then put them back in the compost heap when winter came. Was bummed that I don't seem to have gotten any volunteers this year; it was kind of fun not knowing what the heck would be on those vines!

Grin. That's about where I stand. I guess I'll just have to go for it.
Thanks,
Margo

Folks all winter squash can be left until the vines die. Some of them can be eaten as summer squash, but other than the butternut types are not too tasty. If you are in a hurry you can pick them when the skin is hard and stem is hard and dry. Winter squash are used in the full maturity stage, They are best layed in a garage, barn or equivalent for a couple of weeks to allow them to lose some more water content and thus sweeten up. Just don't lay them directly on concrete.

Thank you!! The vines have died, and one of my two pumpkins is rotten, but I'll go get the rest today. Hopefully the rest will be okay. They'll go on my porch to rest before trying to store them. I actually still have a pumpkin there from last year, so maybe they'll be alright.

Thanks as always,

Margo

So if a squash is really hard, does that mean you picked it too early or too late? I guess it sounds like you can never really pick them too late, unless they rot, so I must have picked mine too early. Thanks for the information!

Catmad: Can you help me????? What the heck is this??? I have Japanese cucumbers planted here, then this shows up!?? I thought maybe a honeydew melon? The leaves are the same as the cucs. Is there a gianormous cuc I don't know about? Wonder if I could pickle it!?! Do they even make jars that big!

Could it be a pumpkin?

Not Catmad, but it appears to be a melon in Honeydew class. Can't see the stem but melons have thin flexible stems, Pumpkins will have thick fleshy stems. Vine and and appearance does not look pumpkin. There are giant cukes (Yellow Submarine is one) but they all have the long cucumber shape.

Many, many thanks for the pictures of spaghetti squash growing on the vines and for the harvesting advice.
Ed

WHEN DO I PICK SPAGHETTI SQUASH? I had one of those green-striped ones, and my husband was dancing around because he thought it was a young watermelon (really did look like the stripe on watermelon) ...but now it has turned mostly yellow with stripe...The rest are light buff and solid-colored. I don't want to pick at wrong time. HELP?

Is it possible to freeze Spaghetti squash after seeds removed and removed from shell?

Just reading this even though it is old, and am also wondering if Spaghetti Squash can be frozen.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Wow, this is an old thread and I forgot all about it. Maybe now that it's bumped up, someone will have an answer.

Howdy, All. And wow, this thread goes back a mile or so, eh?

Spagetti squash stores for such a long period of time I haven't frozen any; if you keep it cool-ish it should last a good 3 to 4 months.

However, if you want to freeze it you'll need to cook it first. Cut it in half or fourths, remove seeds, bake an hour or so, then cut it out in large chunks. Freeze it in freezer bags or plastic containers like you would pumpkin or other winter squashes. (I'd recommend freezer bags so you can suck the air out of them; or if you have one of those machine thingies that makes it own bags and pulls out the air that would be good.)

Shoe (who spent a nice day setting out Purple Hulls and Romano-type bean plants today, looking forward to another harvest before fall/winter set in!)

Shoe, thanks so much for the info. I forgot that spaghetti squash is actually a winter squash, as we've always ate it shortly after harvesting in mid to late summer.

I'm putting in more beans too. The first round did terrible.

Yup, it's been a while. I actually ate the mutant squash (which tasted like all the others) the following April, so it lasted a good while unpreserved.
Didn't grow any this year, and most of this seasons spring planting succumbed to something while I was away (did they pine for me and die of broken heartedness?), so I replanted yesterday.

The only cool place I would have to store my squash would be my basement area, and it only gets down to 65 degrees in the winter time. Will that work, or will it be to warm?

I'm in SC, so not exactly a cool environment :). This squash was actually in the back of a hoosier cabinet in my front hall. It seems to stay below 86 in the summer, and above 64 in the winter (usually, last year was different). The squash was put there some time in August, I think, after "curing" on the porch for a couple of weeks. It was _lost_ for most of the winter, and found again in April.

Ahhhh... what a good thread. Thanks to whoever bumped it to current.

Didn't realize that after picking we should let it 'set' for a couple of weeks to get sweeter. I picked mine and ate it immediately...can't honestly say I noticed anything different....however I used it as regular spaghetti noodles with some Italian sausage and other veges so it was covered in sauce.

I'm planting another crop for my fall garden....we really, really like spaghetti squash.

I didn't know about "curing" either until recently when I was searching for butternut squash info. I read that the starches in squash turn to sugar after setting a few weeks. I had two laying on there sides in on the kitchen counter right after picking and they were actually "weeping" a sticky white syrup from the cut stem.

Is it possible to bake Acorn Squash whole with the seeds in, because I can't cut it with a knife.

This link has info on cooking it different ways. Says you can pierce the skin in several places and then bake.
http://www.iqio.org/how-to-cook-acorn-squash

Just picked a Spaghetti Squash today from our garden and it is so yummy.

Used chopped basil, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, olive oil, and the scooped out squash. Put all of this in a skillet and cooked.

Wow...this is so very good.