A Recipe from the Archives: Gourmet Golden Squash

Are you looking for a new recipe for your Thanksgiving feast?  How about an older one from the Archives?

Thirty years ago, the docents at the National Museum of Natural History came together to publish a cookbook (learn more in this previous blog post).  It includes many recipes for side dishes and desserts that would be perfect accompaniments to a holiday dinner.  With Thanksgiving a few days away and half of a Hubbard squash sitting in my refrigerator, I decided to try the Gourmet Golden Squash recipe submitted by Shirley Adams, a docent with the Junior Highlights group.

Gourmet Golden Squash

• 12 cups - Cubed Pared Hubbard Squash
• 1/4 cup - Butter or Margarine
• 2 cups - Dairy Sour Cream
• 1 cup - Finely Chopped Onion
• 2 teaspoon - Salt
• 1/2 cup - Milk

Place squash in saucepan with small amount of boiling salted water. Cover, cook 15 minutes or until tender. Drain squash and add remaining ingredients; mash. Mound mixture into 2-quart casserole. Bake in 400 degree oven 20-30 minutes or until heated. Serves 12.

Peeling and chopping the thick-skinned squash required a lot of effort and the recipe only required about one-quarter of a Hubbard. Butternut squash, either whole or pre-chopped, might be a good alternative to save time and minimize leftover squash. Otherwise this recipe was rather easy.

So how was it?  I brought the finished dish to the office for a taste test. The general consensus was that it was a little too tangy.  If you try this at home, I would recommend reducing the amount of sour cream and adding some black pepper or other spices.

Related Resources

• A Recipe: Elephant Hide and Ivory, The Bigger Picture blog, Smithsonian Institution Archives

Related Collections

• Accession 10-239 - National Museum of Natural History, Office of Education and Outreach, Docent Program Records, 1974-2004, Smithsonian Institution Archives