From soup to pie, squash makes cold-weather entertaining easy
ARLINGTON -- Tish Bullock approaches winter squash with the same enthusiasm she brings to canning beets, relish, peppers, and cranberries and to preparing 20 French-Acadian meat pies for the holidays.
Every fall, she and her husband, Bob, take a leisurely Sunday drive to Bolton Spring Farm and Bolton Orchards in Bolton, where they load up on winter squash -- really load up. This year, they bought over 95 pounds.
The amount is difficult for most people to comprehend. To put it in context, this much squash makes well over 50 pies or 30 gallons of soup.
The real fun begins when the couple gets home. After all, there's a reason that almost all the blue Hubbard squash you buy is sold in pieces. This year, the couple's blue Hubbard weighed more than the farm's 30-pound capacity scale. The challenge is opening the enormous blue-skinned vegetable. This is the first order of business.
Bob slings the huge blue over his shoulder. He and Tish have done this enough times so they have a system in place -- namely a concrete slab set conveniently in the middle of the lawn. Bob hoists the squash high over his head and aims it for the slab. The squash hits the cement and cracks into dozens of pieces. Both get a big kick out of this. Having done it for over 30 years, Bob is something of a pro. "I used to use my mother's 90-year-old cleaver to break it into smaller pieces," he says, "When that broke, I couldn't find one that worked as well. That's when I started smashing it on concrete."
Peeling winter squash is another challenge. The cooks cover the table with newspapers and paring knives. Quickly, the kitchen is littered with the skin, pith, and seeds of squash. "Squash city," says Tish. The Bullocks spend the next two hours removing the tough, thick skin of the blue hubbard. Then they boil the flesh, mash it, and freeze it in 2-cup containers. This, they hope, will last until June. Afterward, they tackle the bushel filled with other varieties: delicata, acorn, and buttercup.
A few years ago, a neighbor happened to stop by as they were working with the squash. The process mesmerized him. Tish laughs when she remembers his response. She says, "He couldn't leave. He said, 'This is crazy! I just have to stay and watch!' " The neighbor settled down at the large kitchen table -- a spot that over the years has welcomed many unexpected guests.
The Bullocks each come from large families: Tish has nine siblings, Bob has 11. They have four children and three grandchildren, most of whom live in the area. "Bob and I have over 60 nieces and nephews," Tish says. "You never know who's going to show up for lunch." In their 40 years of marriage, Bob can hardly remember a day that has gone by without someone stopping in for a cup of coffee and a bite to eat.
These are no ordinary snacks. Tish creates magic out of squash, taking full advantage of its versatility. Her squash casserole is bursting with garlic and fresh thyme. The soup is smooth and buttery. The gingerbread spices in her squash pie make you feel as if it's holiday food.
She works hard to get the best ingredients around. She buys Chip-in Farm eggs in Bedford , Shaw Farm cream at Wilson Farms in Lexington, pork and beef at Crosby's Market in Concord, specialty cuts at Butcher Boy Marketplace in North Andover. The crust on her squash pie owes its perfection to the all-purpose flour from Prince Edward Island, where she was born and raised.
Each summer, the Bullocks visit PEI and return with a car laden with flour, jam, salt cod, bar clams, beets, and pickles. Bob says, "You just knock on the doors of the farmers and the people who do the canning and tell them who sent you. That's how you get the best stuff." 