Theo and the giant squash

Another photo of Theo and I; this one is probably about a month old.

The Green Grocer is a wonderful organic/natural grocery up in Portsmouth where I buy a lot of the fruits & veggies I use to make Theo's baby food. I could get some of what we buy there for less at a chain grocery, but for many specialty items their selection is better. In the case of food, I'm willing to pay more to shop at a locally owned business that provides stellar service and sells locally sourced products whenever they can. Not to mention that all their fresh items and bulk grains are far better looking and tasting than what I get prepackaged from local stores.

On that particular visit, Aly pointed out the MONSTER (almost 12 pounds) butternut squash in their produce bins. Like any small retailer, they're at the mercy of what's available from farmers and distributors. We had a laugh about this gourd that practically outweighed the baby, but I don't think she actually expected me to buy it.

But after thinking for a moment, I realized that I usually process almost 10 pounds of carrots or apples or squash for Theo's baby food -- this wasn't much more and might actually be more convenient than buying two smaller squash. Plus, how many of their other customers could use that much squash without watching half of it go bad? They might already be pondering eating the cost (pun intended) of that monster; so what better way to support a business I like than to relieve them of some hard-to-move inventory I'll actually use?

So when I told them I'd take it, the word passed quickly among the staff. Someone is buying THE SQUASH. John suggested a picture for their newsletter, which is the shot I linked at the top of the page. Theo was a bit tired that day, so the only goofy smile was provided by yours truly.

A couple days later, THE SQUASH became a gallon ziploc bag of frozen squash puree cubes, with enough left over to make a pasta sauce for the adults to enjoy.

Here's one of the pictures I took once we got it home but before it faced the oven and the immersion blender.