Gluten Free Buttercup Squash Coffee Cake

Gluten Free Buttercup Squash Coffee Cake

I recently discovered the buttercup squash in our local grocery store. After baking it, I declared it to be my all time favorite squash. 

The buttercup squash has a richer, fuller flavor than any other squash I've eaten. The texture is very smooth and made a great coffee cake.

Needless to say, the buttercup squash will be grown in our garden this coming garden season.

Buttercup Squash Coffee Cake:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup coconut sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed, cooked buttercup squash
• 1 tsp gluten free pure vanilla
• 2 cups all purpose gluten free flour; I used Bob Red Mills
• 2 tsp  baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Himalayan  salt
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp  ground nutmeg

• 1/2 - 1 cup unsweetened applesauce; used my own canned apple sauce 

*for layering on top of the coffee cake not added to the mixture

Streusel topping for Buttercup Squash Coffee Cake:

• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup quick cooking oats; I used Bob Red Mills
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts; I used pecans
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp. cold butter

Instructions to make the Buttercup Squash Coffee Cake:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
   
2. Liberally grease a 9 inch spring form pan.
3. I truly don't believe in wasting dishes, so this is a one bowl easy recipe. I also reduced the sugar content by using coconut sugar instead of plain white stuff. In my opinion it is sweet enough and the glaze from original recipe is unnecessary.
4. Pour 1/2 the batter in the pan. Top it with the applesauce and 1/2 the streusel topping.
5. Spoon on, and smooth out, the remaining batter and top it with the remaining streusel topping.
6. Place it in the oven on the lower rack and bake for 55 minutes.
7. Cool slightly and remove the side of the springform pan. Slice it up and enjoy.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip: Fluffy and Delicious

 Growing pumpkins in our as close to organic garden as you can find, I have used them in many ways from pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin black bean burgers and now pumpkin cheesecake dip which is fluffy and delicious.

First seeing the recipe for pumpkin cheesecake dip on facebook, I instantly clicked on the link for the recipe. I scanned it and saved the page. While I was at work, Mozilla shut down and I lost my page.

I started searching pumpkin dip and realized there were many versions; however, I ended up combining two recipes to incorporate the ingredients I remembered. Now while my fresh cooked pumpkin is not as thick as the canned stuff, I will continue to use it as I know where these pumpkins come from and how near organic they actually are.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip

Ingredients for Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip: Fluffy and Delicious

 

·       1 8-oz package cream cheese; softened

·       2 cups of powdered sugar

·       1 tsp Orange Juice

·       2 cups of fresh pumpkin or 1 15-oz can of pumpkin

·       1 tbsp ground cinnamon

·       1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

·       1 8-oz container of whipped topping; thawed

Instructions to make Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip: Fluffy and Delicious

 

1. In a medium bowl or blender, combine the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and orange juice until smooth.
2. Gradually mix in the pumpkin whether you use fresh cooked or canned.
3. Add the cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice and blend until smooth.
4.  Fold in the thawed whipped topping.
5.  Chill the pumpkin cheesecake dip until serving with apples, crackers or cookies.

Alternate recipe for Pumpkin Fluff Dip Recipe:

• 1-15 ounce can of pumpkin
• 1-16 ounce whipped topping;thawed
• 3-small boxes of vanilla pudding
• 1-3 tsp of pumpkin spice; spice to personal taste

Tomato-Tobacco Mosaic Virus Disease

garden fresh tomatoes

2 years ago, our daughter was new to planting her own garden. She had helped while living at home with us; however, now that she is a momma with a home of their own the garden duties are a bit different. My husband, her father, was telling her about the Tomato-Tobacco Mosaic Virus Disease; well, I had helped and planted many plants along side of him, however, this was all new to me too. Our grandson has worked as an organic gardener for many years. He worked at a Bed and Breakfast, on an island off the Georgia coast, providing not only their food but for others. He also traveled to South Africa for 6 months; teaching them how to plant and harvest food for themselves.

When I asked Andy Schwartz about the Tomato-Tobacco Mosaic Virus Disease, this is what he said, “Yeah it is very real and I have seen people mishandling plants at nurseries often. Smoking, especially if you roll your own, and gardening do not mix. I do not think about this virus too much because I do not smoke but when volunteers are present I make sure that people are aware. Wearing gloves is good practice. I’d say that buying plants from hardware stores and similar places is the most common way of getting plants infected. People are shopping for plants just after smoking and they handle a couple six packs or pick up something and put it back. I’d say it is not something to be overly concerned about just something to be aware of particularly if you are a smoker.”

diseased tomato leaf

The University of Minnesota Extension website explains it this way, “The most common method of transferring the virus from plant to plant is on contaminated hands and tools. Workers who transplant seedlings should refrain from smoking during transplanting and wash their hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water. Tools used in transplanting can be placed in boiling water for 5 minutes and then washed with a strong soap or detergent solution. Dipping tools in household bleach is not effective for virus decontamination. Any seedlings that appear to have mosaic symptoms or are stunted and distorted should be removed and destroyed. After removing diseased plants, never handle healthy plants without washing hands and decontaminating tools used to remove diseased plants.”

If you are using your precious time to plant and grow your own tomatoes, doesn’t it make sense to do it properly? Play it safe; follow the rules for a happy harvest of fresh garden tomatoes.

The picture of the diseased tomato leaf caused by the tobacco mosaic virus is provided by University of Minnesota Extension website.