squash maja blanca

an early morning trip to the market made me remember of my plan to cook what's left of the huge squash sitting in our fridge. i have long planned of making maja blanca, since it has always been a favorite dessert with my hubby. you might say hesh.."sisiw lang yan!"..but then i guess the art of cooking at home makes it more delicious and surely a treat for my kids too. so i bought freshly grated coconut because i didn't want to settle with powdered instant gata. boiled water to use for the gata, i used a cloth to squeeze out the milk, just as we did years ago when i was a kid where we would always help Mama prepare kakanin for Nov. 1..

boiled the squash and mashed them..

then mixed them together, added 3/4 cup of cornstarch diluted in water to prevent lumps, added a dash of salt

used 1 can of condensed milk in place of sugar and evaporated milk..

mixed them thoroughly and passed it thru a sieve to give it a smooth texture, note that this takes a long time if you want your mixture to be smooth and free of lumps and fibers from the squash.

then the mixture is placed in low heat to cook, continue stirring to prevent from sticking until it boils..it becomes cooked when it has a "shiny" texture to it...

             pour into pans to cool...shredded cheese may be placed instead of toasted coconut...

squash spaghetti sauce

Troy is 3!! yup and as a treat for him we made spaghetti for dinner which is a must for my chinese heritage which says noodles bring long life so for every birthday in the family, a noodle dish must be present. In this case i opted for spaghetti (again!)..
The sauce we made was vegetable enriched, in this case we added squash. My dad brought home a half of a big squash and i remember Troy enjoyed them a lot boiled or added to pinakbet. Made good use of it which i boiled, mashed and stirred into the sauce. Chopped some garlic, sauteed in a bit of oil then added in some tuna (from the can), next came the squash, seasoned with salt, pepper and dried basil. Let it simmer then add 2 packs of spaghetti sauce. Stir then sprinkle  some grated cheese.. serve over pasta..enjoy!