Summer Squash

"Redbook Flavor Rules!" (Hearst Books, $24.95) serves up a lively variety of ideas for making tasty meals at a streamlined pace.Golden Sea Scallops on Vegetable "Pappardelle" is among about 250 recipes the book features, from appetizers through desserts. The book's pages also are packed with loads of smart tips, helpful hints and color photos. All the recipes come with estimates of how long they'll take and how many calories and grams of fat they contain.This recipe for scallops will take 15 minutes to prepare and about 20 minutes to cook.

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family or holiday meal, usually Sunday, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost-cutting strategy, a meatless dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick but...

A recipe for a baked summer (yellow) squash casserole wa the request of Veronica Patrick of Millersville. She wrote that she enjoyed the recipe at the Black-Eyed Pea Restaurant and wanted to duplicate it.Jane Spray of Lynch responded with a recipe which she says is like that served at the Black-Eyed Pea. She says her recipe is from the "ladies at the Glen Burnie United Methodist Church. It is delicious!"A macaroni and cheese dish that was a favorite of President Ronald Reagan was the request of Jennifer Coberth of Catonsville.

I almost dropped the phone. Alexis wanted a recipe for ratatouille.Every day, my daughter Alexis calls from college and often our conversations turn to the subject of cooking. That's not the point. It was the ratatouille part that puzzled me.Throughout her childhood it was a conundrum. This child loved vegetables, but hated ratatouille (pronounced rat-tah-too-ee). The flavors in this traditional dish from Provence, a southern region in France, sing with the flavors of a summer garden -- eggplant, summer squash, bell peppers and sun-ripened tomatoes.

I was frying flowers. That's right, flowers, blossoms of summer squash, stuffed with fontina cheese and garlic, were crackling in the frying pan.As the stuffed flowers moved around in the hot oil, I thought they looked like little footballs. Both the frying flowers and flying footballs were brown and wobbly. My imagery was probably influenced by the fact that, like many American males, I have been spending a lot of time lately either tossing a football around or watching other guys toss it.For example, just before I fried the flowers, I had spent part of the afternoon watching one of my kids play in a football game between two middle schools, a real game as the kids would say, one with uniforms and referees.

Until recently, I had not able to work up much ardor for summer squash.It was just another vegetable in the market. It was not as well known as zucchini. And with its crooked neck, and bright yellow skin, it was not good-looking. What changed my attitude toward summer squash was proximity. Many summer squash moved into our home. They filled up bowls that were supposed to hold fruit. They stretched out on kitchen counters. They sunned themselves in the back yard.This invasion of the summer squash was similar to the zucchini influx that had visited the household a few weeks earlier.

It's so pretty that its appearance alone seems reason enough to buy it.But summer squash, now in its peak season, offers other attractions as well: It's fun to cook with and good to eat.The assortment is surprising if you've never taken close notice. Just about everybody knows zucchini, that prodigious over-producer of countless gardens, but there are many other kinds: yellow crookneck, chayote, green or yellow pattypan and more.What's the difference between summer and winter squash? Winter squash, such as acorn or butternut, has a thick, hard skin and will keep a long time after it's picked if properly stored.

Procrastinators, this is your year! Nature has granted you a small measure of forgiveness. A window of opportunity, as the politicians might call it. There are no excuses now.Sure, you were too busy, or maybe it was too cold and rainy, to plant your lettuce, spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, carrots, onion and garlic sets and cabbage.And you were just about to bag the whole idea of a vegetable garden this year because you've spent every free hour standing in line to buy tickets for the cheap seats at the new ballpark.

They come in a dizzying array of colors, from cool greens to warm yellows and oranges. There are rounded ones. Fluted ones. Smooth ones. Bumpy ones.They're plentiful, versatile and economical, too.Winter squash. Their hard skin and large seeds distinguish them from their soft-skinned cousins, the summer squash.Unlike summer squash (such as zucchini), which are picked when the seeds and skin are still edible, winter squash are harvested when fully mature. In the maturation process, the seeds become woody and large.

They come in a dizzying array of colors, from cool greens to warm yellows and oranges. There are rounded ones. Fluted ones. Smooth ones. Bumpy ones.They're plentiful, versatile and economical, too.Winter squash. Their hard skin and large seeds distinguish them from their soft-skinned cousins, the summer squash.Unlike summer squash (such as zucchini), which are picked when the seeds and skin are still edible, winter squash are harvested when fully mature. In the maturation process, the seeds become woody and large.

In the city neighborhood of Charles Village, dark-brick Victorian rowhouses are embellished with leaded- and stained-glass windows and fancy wood pediments. Wrought-iron fences enclose some front gardens, while others are defined by flowers and hedges. Many of these houses feature second-story turrets; many more welcome guests on front porches with rails, columns and trim of multicolored and intricately painted details. The houses are inhabited by a diverse group of people, all keen on displaying creativity and pride of ownership.

Although some describe it as resembling a miniature flying saucer, pattypan squash is named for the tiny pattypan tins used to bake miniature English tarts and pies. Pattypan, like all summersquash varieties, is distinguished from winter squash by the stage of maturity it reaches before being harvested - not by the season of ripening. In The Compleat Squash: A Passionate G r o w e r ' s Guide to Pumpkins, Squash and Gourds, Amy Goldman describes pattypan, zucchini and other summer squash as those being ready for harvesting within one week of flowering.

Summer squash used to be the Rodney Dangerfield of the vegetable garden. It got absolutely no respect -- partly because supply often outstripped demand. Jokes abounded about leaving baskets of squash like abandoned babies on doorsteps in the dead of night. There weren't many varieties to chose from, either. Zucchini, yellow crookneck and cymling (now called pattypan) were pretty much it. But that's all changed. Now, there are dozens of varieties available that range from creamy, nubbly, star-shaped, to goose-necked, rib-backed and bulbous.

Canning Before freezers, canning was the most popular method of preserving the summer's harvest. Canning involves cooking foods to kill microorganisms, packing foods in airtight glass jars and sterilizing the jars in boiling water to prevent spoilage. Equipment: Canning jars, lids, large kettle, kitchen tongs, jar funnel, jar lifter, bubble freer Summer choices: Berries, peaches, tomatoes, green beans, okra, summer squash Drying Drying is the oldest method of preserving. Food drying extracts water from food by circulating air through it. Nothing is added.

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal, a meatless or "less meat" dish, an express meal, and an entertaining menu. SUNDAY / Family It's a good day for Grilled Asian Steak and Summer Squash. Accompany the steak with Brown Rice Salad. Mix together 3 cups cooked brown rice, 1 1/2 cups quartered cucumber slices, 1 / 4 cup sliced kalamata olives, 1 large chopped tomato, 1 small chopped onion and 1/2 cup chopped parsley.

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family meal, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost-cutting strategy, a meatless or "less meat" dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick. Sunday/Family Prepare a turkey breast using your favorite method.

"Redbook Flavor Rules!" (Hearst Books, $24.95) serves up a lively variety of ideas for making tasty meals at a streamlined pace.Golden Sea Scallops on Vegetable "Pappardelle" is among about 250 recipes the book features, from appetizers through desserts. The book's pages also are packed with loads of smart tips, helpful hints and color photos. All the recipes come with estimates of how long they'll take and how many calories and grams of fat they contain.This recipe for scallops will take 15 minutes to prepare and about 20 minutes to cook.

Each day of the week offers a menu aimed at a different aspect of meal planning. There's a family or holiday meal, usually Sunday, a kids' menu aimed at younger tastes, a heat-and-eat meal that recycles leftovers, a budget meal that employs a cost-cutting strategy, a meatless dish for people who may not be strict vegetarians but are trying to cut down on meat, an express meal that requires little or no preparation, and an entertaining menu that's quick but...

A recipe for a baked summer (yellow) squash casserole wa the request of Veronica Patrick of Millersville. She wrote that she enjoyed the recipe at the Black-Eyed Pea Restaurant and wanted to duplicate it.Jane Spray of Lynch responded with a recipe which she says is like that served at the Black-Eyed Pea. She says her recipe is from the "ladies at the Glen Burnie United Methodist Church. It is delicious!"A macaroni and cheese dish that was a favorite of President Ronald Reagan was the request of Jennifer Coberth of Catonsville.

I almost dropped the phone. Alexis wanted a recipe for ratatouille.Every day, my daughter Alexis calls from college and often our conversations turn to the subject of cooking. That's not the point. It was the ratatouille part that puzzled me.Throughout her childhood it was a conundrum. This child loved vegetables, but hated ratatouille (pronounced rat-tah-too-ee). The flavors in this traditional dish from Provence, a southern region in France, sing with the flavors of a summer garden -- eggplant, summer squash, bell peppers and sun-ripened tomatoes.