I finally cut into the last of my home-grown winter squash today. This "Rouge de'Etampes" (Cinderella Pumpkin) fruit weighed in at a good ten pounds, and beyond being beautifully decorative, is very good in soups and stews. It has a delicate flavor and doesn't overpower other foods like canned pumpkin. Winter squash need a long growing season, which is why they are grown mostly in Austria and Southern Germany, where you can see them being hardened off in the garden in the autumn sun. Squash came to Europe in the 1600s and was enthusiastically adopted. Germans especially like pumpkin seed oil and the seeds are considered to be of medicinal value.

But my squash here in my kitchen is intimidating to cut into because it is so large. In order not to waste it, we bake pieces of the squash, scoop out the flesh and freeze it. A killer breakfast is when when we brown it in a pan with an egg poached on top (and some green chiles). We also do a wonderful squash soup which we like to eat as an appetizer. After a day running around in the mountains, whether they are the Alps or not, "Kürbissuppe" takes the edge off your hunger.

Photo © J.McGavin