Do vegetarians eat animal crackers?

Holy Heck! I have a new project! Making my own vanilla extract! I go through so much of it that when I came across this little gem of an idea, I just HAD to get on board!!

Home-made Vanilla Extract -> joythebaker.com
(click the link, I already bookmarked the post about vanilla for you!)

If you ever find yourself wanting to check out a puts-my-blog-to-shame site, check out some of her other posts! She's incredible!

Now, on with the show

Someone at church recently gave my hubby some fresh yellow squash from their garden. It sat around in our refrigerator for quite some time, just trying to decide how it wanted to be cooked. Well, inspiration came to me one day in the form of home-made squash ravioli. It sounded delicious, and I had some pasta dough left over from my recent homemade spaghetti venture. So I tried. And failed. The two halves of the ravioli "shell" wouldn't stick together unless I used so little filling that it just made no sense to even make them. So I scrapped the ravioli idea, but I still had a pan full of this squash-carrot-garlic creation. I had failed, but refused to be defeated. I added a little melted butter, a splash of cream, and turned it into an INCREDIBLE pasta topping. ( I realize that this is my second recipe in a row to include pasta, but hey! I'm Italian, after all!)

No-Name Squash Pasta Sauce

1 medium to large yellow or Butternut squash, cleaned and sliced cross-wise)
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced paper-thin (this is best done with a razor blade, but BE CAREFUL!)
1 carrot
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp butter or margarine
2 Tbsp cream or the milk of your choice (the less fat in the milk, the less creamy the sauce)
1/3 cup of grated cheese of your choice (optional)

Place the squash slices into a medium sauce-pan of water, bring to a rolling boil
Meanwhile, in a nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium heat, turning to coat entire cooking surface. Add garlic slices, saute lightly until just beginning to turn light brown. Finely grate entire carrot into skillet, and continue cooking for approx. 2 minutes, until carrot begins to soften.
Once squash has been at a full rolling boil for 4 minutes, remove from heat, drain in a colander, and return to pan. Using a potato masher, mash squash just until it no longer looks like uniform slices. The idea is to leave the rings of squash rind mostly intact while mashing the middles together. Add brown sugar, salt, and pepper; use masher to blend until just combined. Add entire contents of skillet, plus cream (or milk) and cheese (if you're using any.) Use a wooden spoon to gently stir all ingredients together. Serve still warm over the pasta of your choice, or serve as is for an interesting side dish.
Serves 4

Note- You can make this recipe vegan (or just healthier!) by swapping olive oil for the butter, and using 1/2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp cool water in place of the milk (or using plain soy milk.) Neither of these trades will affect the final look, flavor, or texture of the dish. Perhaps I should have just written the recipe that way...but I love butter!

*I wish that I had made extra of this, because my mouth is watering as I'm typing the recipe. :-)

Tonight we are having a friend over for some TV watchin', beer drinkin' fun. I am going to make a homemade pizza. I will let you know how it turns out!

-Happy Cooking!-