Mrs. Cookie's Squash Casserole

    The summer before I went to college I was the nanny for our neighbor's three grandchildren. When I say "neighbor" please do not picture suburbia. We lived in the boonies and our one and only neighbor's house was about half a mile from ours. We would ride our four-wheeler on the shut-down railroad tracks back and forth between our houses. Are you modifying the picture in your head? Good. We lived in what I like to call the "co-n-tree."

     Back to our neighbor's grandchildren: they have three of the most precious, beautiful, and smart grandchildren on the planet. They all started reading by age four. They take violin, piano, voice, chinese, karate, and gymnastics just to name a few. When I was their nanny their ages were 3, 4, and 5. My job as their nanny was to prepare their meals; teach them reading, writing and simple math; entertain them during play time (OK, OK. I had fun, too); and make sure they stayed out of trouble. Their grandmother Mrs. Cookie, whom they called "ya-ya," was always around-- in the garden, feeding the horses, donkey, and the dogs, washing clothes, and cooking something delicious. I say I prepared the kids meals-- and that was true most of the time-- but a lot of the time Mrs. Cookie would make a casserole, muffins, or have left overs I could easily heat up for the kids. My favorite thing she made was squash casserole. I would fix the kids their plates and then walk over to the casserole dish, serve myself enough for two grown men, pour a glass of sweet tea and let the world fade away. Her squash casserole is comfort food in it's truest form: butter, cheese, mayonnaise, pecans and the perfect crunchy, salty topping of Ritz crackers. 

     This past Sunday I cooked up BBQ country ribs and the squash casserole I love oh so much. When we sat down at the table to eat Adam and I held hands, like we always do, and he blessed the food. He said, "Dear Lord, thank you for these country ribs and my country wife." I cracked up in the middle of the prayer. Adam likes to eat healthy just because he is a very health conscious person (and I am thankful for that, most of the time), but Lord knows my baby likes him some turnip greens with bacon, lima beans and Conecuh sausage, fried deer steak, fried catfish and hush puppies, and a butter biscuit. And I thank the Lord for that. "Thank you Lord for my health-nut husband, that likes my country cooking!"

     If you have someone in your life that likes good ol' down home cooking, do something special for them and cook up this squash casserole. Here is how I made it:

Begin by sauteing diced onions and green bell pepper in butter. 

Next cut up the squash, and toss it in the skillet with the onions and bell pepper.

Sprinkle in salt and pepper. I am one of those people that salt and pepper their food before they even taste it, because face it: salt and pepper makes things taste better. The more you use, the better things taste. Or at least that is mine and my dad's philosophy. Disclaimer: Probably not a good philosophy to live by considering a high sodium diet can increase your blood pressure. But, my dad and I are as healthy as two horses. Just take a look at the picture of me and him at the bottom of this blog-- we ran a half marathon together this past winter. I'd say we're doing just fine. So don't be afraid to tilt that salt box honey. You go on and tilt it, tilt it good.

Cook the squash for 10-15 minutes, or until it is fork tender.

In a separate bowl...

crack two eggs.

Next add in mayonnaise and pecans.

Then a little sugar.

Can I say one thing? (of course I can, it's my blog) We southern people are very particular about what we will and will not put sugar in. And it changes from family to family. In my family it is NOT OK to put sugar in cole slaw, corn bread, or turnip greens. People argue about whether sugar in cole slaw, cornbread, or turnip greens is truly southern or not-- but I'll say this: My daddy grew up in southern Alabama, had nine brothers and sisters, they had an outhouse, dirt floors, his daddy made moonshine, and they sold turpentine. I don't think it gets more southern than that and his momma, my Nanny Mary, would NEVER put sugar in her coleslaw, cornbread, or turnip greens. I call Bible on that one.

Back to the recipe:

Add a good handful of cheese to the bowl

and stir to combine.

Add in the tender squash, and mix well.

Pour the mixture into a greased 8X8 casserole dish.

Crush a roll of Ritz crackers and sprinkle them over the top.

And finally, melt some butter and drizzle over the crackers. Place the casserole in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes.

Out will emerge this beauty!

Look at the perfect golden crust. I will just about eat anything that is mixed with mayonnaise and cheese topped with crackers and butter. Seriously. But this is not just anything. This is perfection.

This was a good Sunday lunch. And so easy!

That went in my mouth. And it was good.

Mrs. Cookie was sweet enough to tell me what is in her squash casserole, and I want to pass it on to you!

For the full recipe with measurements check out my recipe on TastyKitchen.com by clicking here:

Squash Casserole Recipe

If you have tasted this recipe before or cook it up now be sure to rate it on TastyKitchen.com. That would mean a lot to me!

If you are not from the deep south you might not know how secretive the women are about their recipes. I know sisters that won't tell each other what ingredients they use for certain recipes. It's that serious. Although, not everyone is like that. And if you ask me, the ones that share are the greatest cooks anyway. I have some sweet women, that are amazing cooks, in my life that let me in their kitchen, wrote down their recipes for me, and showed me step-by-step how to do things. Thank you Nanny! Momma! Mrs. Ruth! Aunt Mable! Mrs. Cookie! Thanks for teaching me how to cook and for sharing your amazing recipes. I love y'all!