Day Two Hundred and Fifty Six - Home Grown Gourd

Dear all,

The storms rage on and after surviving another day out in the squalls, I decided to crack open the wonderful Gourd that Bob and Mary Lou had given us when we had visited them in Simcoe.

A gourd, for those who are unsure of the term, refers to any of the many trailing or climbing plants related to the pumpkin, squash or cucumber bearing fruits with a hard rind. For those interested in the nutritional value of the gourd:

Gourd is:

• Low in Saturated Fat, and Cholesterol
• High in Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Riboflavin, Zinc, Thiamin, Iron, Magnesium and Manganese. Note that Wax Gourd is high in Sodium.

The nutritional value of gourd makes it suitable for:

• Maintaining optimum health
• Weight loss

Avoid including gourd in your diet if you're interested in:

• Weight gain

They are truly a majestic fruit. The Gourd given to us by Bob and Mary Lou was as thick as my right leg and large enough to warrant its own kitchen cupboard. With arctic wings whistling through the house, it was high time to crack open the veg!

Darren suggested a recipe that appealed due to its sublime simplicity and involved nothing more than a blob of butter and some brown sugar. I cut off three slabs of the epic veg and wrapped them all individually in foil.

The cutting of the gourd was much harder than it looks and the 'think rind' was certainly a force to reckon with. I eventually had three thick slabs of gourd ready in the respective foil blankets; I added a generous knob of butter, sprinkled in a large dose of sugar and popped them in the oven for about 2 1/2 hours.

The gourd[i - plural?] bubbled away and I fork-tested throughout. The resulting dish was a succulent, sweet yet healthy snack that was perfect for warming the cockles after a rigorous day working in 4 ft of snow.

Thank you Bob and Mary Lou for the Gourd! We still have plenty left so many more gourd-related experiments in the near future, hurray!