cukes are nice just for a few things, like salads, sandwiches, pickles, relishes, and a few middle eastern and Asian dishes.

Cucumber pie? Sorry but it doesn't even sound good. ;)

I have seen approved recipes for using winter squashes to make mock-pumpkin pies tho.

Dave

I tried the "mock apple pie filling" thing out of zucchini last year -- sorry, but, YUCK! No way to turn that into anything remotely resembling apple pie filling, it was just nasty no matter what I did to it or how I tried to doctor it up.

Dave/Digdirt, I suspect that you've had winter squash pie many times (assuming you eat it), you just don't know it.

The secret about commercially processed pumpkin pie filling is that it's ALL butternut squash, which is used almost exclusively by processors because it's smoother, richer flavored, deeper orange color, low fiber, and yields are much higher than pumpkin of any kind. I'd venture to say that most Americans under the age of 50 or so have probably NEVER had a true pumpkin pie unless they've had a homemade from-scratch one made by a gardener who grew or a chef who bought at the market a real pumpkin.

There is no legal definition of pumpkin, so it's perfectly legal to label canned squash as pumpkin pie filling or canned pumpkin.

As someone who cooks a lot, I don't find true pie pumpkins, like 'New England Sugar' or 'Winter Luxury' bad at all, but they are NOT as nice as butternut or other Cucurbita moschata cultivars in terms of eating quality. Anything larger, the jack-o-lantern and especially the big C. maxima cultivars like 'Big Max,' 'Big Moon' and 'Atlantic Giant' are pretty marginal in terms of eating quality (other than the seeds, which are excellent).

But, frankly, with "pumpkin" pie, winter squash pie, or sweet potato pie, most people, even a lot of trained chefs, probably couldn't tell the difference between them once cooked -- the spices, sugars, etc. provide the bulk of the flavoring agents, with the "pumpkin" just being the base, really. I made a pie once out of American persimmon flesh using my grandmothers old standard pumpkin pie recipe, and we couldn't really tell the difference there, either. Sweet potato pie is a tad denser, overall, but there, too, it depends a lot on how you mix it, what other ingredients are used, etc.

But cucumber pie, no, sorry, don't think that would work. Shredded apple in the raita, though, probably would, especially something really tart like 'Granny Smith.'

Dennis
SE Michigan

For 'true' pumpkin for pies, the smaller 'sugar pumpkin' is used, but as you said, comercially canned, unless its states 100% pumpkin, it can be a mix. I made some pies with buttercup squash and found them to be even more flavorful.
With apples coming, its going to be a huge batch of apple things for me. My two trees are now dropping a couple a week, so they are definatly ready to get picked. One of the most favorful and firm after cooking apples is the Macoun. These are great in pies as they hold up better to baking. I partially cook (in the microwave) before they are poured into the pie shell. This allows me to pile on lots more.

Speaking of apples (as oppossed to zuchinni apple pie and cucumber apple pie), I have a really bumper crop coming on. Any thoughts about what to do with five bazillion apples? I freeze slices for baking, make some applesauce, dry some, and make juice. But, any good suggestions for anything else to do with them would be much appreciated.

One idea I had, based upon something I saw at the grocery store -- they are using ground cherries now to adulterate ground beef, claiming it adds moisture and flavor and reduces fat and cholesterol. I'm going to try adding some finely ground apple to some ground beef and see how that works out.

Any other thoughts?

Apples in sausages. Apple butter, apple pie jam, apple pie filling. Apple pasteries that are then frozen.

Flora, apple raita is actually quite good! Slice the apples very thin, salt them and let them drain then squeeze them out before adding them to the yogurt. Alternately, if you like a chunky raita, you can chop them instead.

When I was in my early twenties, I decided to make a pumpkin pie from scratch. So I bought a pumpkin (I had no idea back then that there were different varieties for carving and cooking) and had at it. It turned out to be a strange, almost gray color, and coarsely textured, though it tasted fine. Stuck with the canned after that until I discovered that winter squashes or yams made great pies.

Apple Chutney, Apple-Buttermilk Bread can be frozen and so can apple cinnamon muffins, apple pancakes, apple compote, dried apple oatmeal stores and reconstitutes easily.

Dave

We only have about 6 cucumber plants in the garden but with high temperatures all summer long in the Salt Lake Valley cucumbers grow like crazy. Last night I went to a Pie and Beer party and was asked to bring a pie. I couldn't find a recipe so I started from scratch. The results were really good. Here's how it works;

Buy a frozen pie crust and while it's still frozen layer it with 1/4" of cream cheese (I used cream cheese with jalapenos but that's up to you). I smoothed the cream cheese with the back of a spoon.

Put down a layer of fresh spinach, then thin sliced tomatoes and some slices of red onions. Bake for fifteen minutes.

Then add a thin layer of sharp cheddar cheese and bake for 10 minutes.

Then pile on the sliced cucumbers (skins on), sprinkle in a little feta cheese and red onions and chill.

This was a hit at the party combining the richness of a pie with the lightness of a salad. I think we'll be doing a lot of this, the cucumbers are taking over.

Brian

I just made a cucumber pie. I was fairly skeptical to start with but it actually came out good. I started with a recipe I found on the web and changed it a bit.

Apple cider or hard cider.