My husband, the Gardener, as I refer to him, had a pretty hefty harvest this year of butternut squash. Oh...how he toiled over these vines as they grew. Bahahaha! No, really, he didn't.

These were volunteers from our compost bin from winter. 25 volunteers mind you. TWO - FIVE. That's a lotta volunteers friends. What do you do with all that squash? Make mash of course.

So last week, I cleaned, sliced in half and placed all 25 of these babies on foil lined pans. Added a bit of water bath to the pan and baked at around 400' for almost an hour. The skins come right off pretty much and then I mashed them, keeping a few chunks in there. After it cools, I bag them and freeze them.

My Mother-in-Law, aka the worlds GREATEST pumpkin pie baker (sorry Mom, but it's true - my MIL has you beat by a mile). She makes REAL squash pies. Pumpkin or butternut squashes, etc makes no difference. She adds milk, eggs, sugar, spices and salt and holy toledo - what comes out IS a slice of heaven. A little chunky but real - real squash pie. Not from a can. REAL. Ya gotta try it! You'll never go back to the can.

And the rest of the mash - soup. Did I mention I am awesome at soup making? I believe I have...I'll say it again. I rule at the soup thing. Give me a ring - you and I can get together for some squash soup, ok?

(I'll bring back the Monday Mornings Inspiration next week - any ideas where you want to see this go? I'd love to have more people tooting their horns there!)