In June of this year my wonderful mother passed away.  When I look at this awesome picture of her, it is hard for me to believe that she is gone.  She was always so alive and such a presence in my life, even though I lived far away from her most of my adult life, I knew that she was always there for me.  I've written about the many things I've learned from her on posts here and here.  In reality, there is no way to express in just a couple of posts all she has meant to me and my siblings throughout our lives.

     Not only did she mean so much to her own children, but she was adored by grandchildren and great grandchildren alike.  She had  made quilts, afghans, and slippers for everyone over the years that all of us cherish.  She wasn't afraid to teach life lessons to any of her posterity, even just days before she passed away.  

     She had 26 grandchildren and if I'm counting correctly, 41 great-grandchildren.  (forgive me family if I counted wrong!)  At any rate, with almost everyone making it to the funeral, there was a lot of children in attendance.  Many of them were young and didn't have any experience with my mom except as an old woman.  They didn't know all of the wonderful things about her and the things that she experienced throughout her life. For example, they didn't know that she loved to dance and that she always made the most delicious tacos, pies and cookies.  We wanted the children to have something to keep that would teach them more about her.  Also, there needed to be something to keep them entertained throughout the funeral service.   Alicia came up with the terrific idea of making a special program booklet for the great-grandchildren that would keep them busy and somewhat quiet throughout the service and also teach them something about their marvelous great-grandmother! 

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    Last week I told you about my need to cook up some butternut squash.  Besides some familiar recipes that I already had, I had been searching the web for some new recipes to try.  One that I came across was this muffin recipe from Bon Appetit.  I decided to make that recipe that very day!  It was love at first bit. 

      When I read through the recipes, I found that I didn't have all of the exact ingredients that I needed to make the muffins.  So, I decided to make a few changes so that I didn't have to run to the store.  Here are a few things that I did:
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• First of all, I doubled the recipe because I wanted more than 12 muffins to share. 
• Next, because I was out of buttermilk, I used some coconut cream instead.  It was very thick, so I used part coconut cream and part whole milk. 
• Then, because I was  out of fresh ginger, I used dry ground ginger.  The directions on the can said that 1/2 tsp. is equal to 1 tsp. of fresh.  But, I think I could have increased the amount a bit more.  So, put in the ginger to your taste. 
• Finally,  I used dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar simply because I like it best. 

     To grate the squash, I found that the easiest thing to do was to use my ​food processor using the large grater side of the grating blade. 
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    So, you can click to Bon Appetit and use their exact recipe, or you can use my variation on the card below.  Just click the card to get a printable pdf. 

Oh! And one more thing?  I also didn't add the pecans to the recipe.  I am not a big nut eater, and I think pecans are basically forpecan pie. But, you can put them in if you want to do that, of course. 

    As you can tell, this recipe is not low fat, between the butter, the coconut cream and the whole milk.  The flavor  and unctuousness shines through when you eat a warm muffin right out of the oven.   But, the butternut squash in these are a great way to sneak a vegetable into your diet. 
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​Other delicious muffin recipes: 

• Delicious Jam Muffins
• ​Homemade English Muffins
• Honey Pear Muffins
  

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     I've been gifted quite a few butternut squash.  Luckily, this squash keeps well on the counter because I haven't had a chance to prepare it.  Plus, in 118 degree weather, no one feels like making soup or roasting vegetables.  But, now that school has started and we have had  a few thunderstorms, it is beginning to feel like Fall, in spirit, if not in temperature.  The time has come to prepare the squash! 

     There are 3 recipes that we have posted here on the blog that are a few of my go-to recipes when I have squash to prepare.  I'm sure that I will make at least one of these: 

• Instant Pot Glazed Carrots and Butternut Squash:  These are quick and easy to make in the Instant Pot and came out so great!  This was one of the first recipes I came up with for my Instant Pot and it was super successful! 
• Vegetable Ham Bisque:  This recipe works with many types of winter squash, but butternut is a favorite.  This Bisque is hearty and comforting.
• Butternut Squash Lasagna with Pumpkin Pasta Sauce:  A recipe from Lindsey must have pumpkin! This recipe is made vegan with tofu, but you can add chicken or beef instead if you aren't into tofu.  (that would be me!)

    You know, sometimes you just feel like trying something new.  So, I've been scouring the web to see if something strikes my fancy.  Here are a few that I'm interested in:

• There are about a billion Butternut Squash Risotto out there in cyber-space.  This one seems simple to prepare and doesn't call for white wine, which I never have in my house. 
• Butternut Squash Curry sounds really flavorful and I may just have to give this one a try! 
• Butternut Squash, Coconut and Ginger Muffins!  I love the idea of baking with the squash! This may be breakfast tomorrow!

     Which of these recipes do you think you would like to try?  Let me know in the comments!  I will let you know how the muffins turn out! 

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     Cherries have been on sale lately, so I thought it was time for a new cherry recipe! 
     When I was at my sister's house in California, she gave me a  cherry pitter! I found it on Amazon for you! 

     What a time saver!  It does 6 cherries at a time, so pitting the 2 cups required for this Cherry Sauce took no time at all. 

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      If you don't have a favorite waffle recipe, we shared 2 recipes with you on this post.  First make the Cherry Sauce, then whip up the waffles.  Just keep the sauce warm to ladle over the top! 
      To top the waffles off, I sprinkled powdered sugar over them.  I think whipped cream would also be delicious! Just click on the recipe to get the pdf to print off the recipe. 

Other Cherry Recipes:
While some of these recipes call for canned cherry pie filling, this sauce recipe would make a great substitute! 

• Cherry Cheese Blintzes
• Creamy Cherry Limeade
• Cherry Cheese Coffee Cake
• Pineapple Cherry Dump Cake
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