this is my second try at growing guatamalan blue squash and i couldn't be happier ! on my first try i had to harvest one squash in early august because it was dying from all the bugs. about 10" long and delicious !! for some reason we have no squash bugs this year, and insect barrier over the 2 plants until late july seemed to keep away SVB's. the biggest of 5 squash is getting corky at the stem, but it's only about 20" long. will it keep growing ? the smallest stopped growing at 8" so i just picked it. also nipped of the vine tips last week. don't want to seem greedy, but is there anything else i can do at this point to help my 4 prize squash along ? is it too late for more fertilizer ? thanks for any more info....pat

Here are two recipes for lamb curry extracted from a previous post of mine in which I gave several from the book of Annie Oates, who I knew in Palma: Here are recipes from a great cook and restaurant owner that I knew in Palma de Mallorca. She wrote her own cookbook of recipes that made her restaurant well known among the local people there. I've made many of these, including the garam masala. People would line up waiting to dine on her curries: Note: The original recipes are given in metric measures and I've tried to give the best equivalents in volume measures. If you have metric kitchen scales, use the original measurements for greater accuracy. LAMB CURRY ***************** 4.5 lbs (2 kilos) lamb - best is that trimmed from the leg and cut into (3/4 inch)(2 cm) squares 2.2 lbs (1 kilo) onion chopped 2.2 lbs (1 kilo) tomatoes chopped 2 good tablespoons garam masäla 1 cup water 1 sweet green (bell) pepper 1 teasp turmeric 1 teasp ginger - best is fresh, grated 1 teasp ground chillies vegetable oil or ghee garlic fresh herbs salt & pepper lemon small pot plain yoghourt 1) Cut the meat into pieces of the desired size, removing excess fat. 2) Fry the onions, garlic, ginger, peppers and herbs in the oil or butter. Add the turmeric and garam masäla, salt and pepper. 3) Mix well and let it simmer for a few minutes. Add the meat and keep stirring for a little longer. 4) Add tomatoes, fry for two to three minutes, put lid on saucepan and continue to simmer for about 40 minutes. If it gets too dry, add hot water. Simmer until tender, adding water when necessary. 5) Add a squeeze of lemon and finally a pot of yoghourt. Serve with boiled rice, chutneys, pickles and, if desired bananas. CURRY FOR ONE ********************** This recipe from a friend of the book author who spent several years in Arabia and often had to fend for himself. Recipe is casually vague (!) 1 large onion chopped small 1 teaspoon curry powder - or garam masäla if you have made it 1 TBS tomato puree 1 TBS vinegar required amount of beef, lamb or fish handful of raisins few potatoes salt oil 1) Fry the onion in the oil until translucent. 2) Add the curry powder, tomato puree, vinegar, meat or fish, raisins, salt and diced potatoes. 3) Cook gently for about half an hour. Serve with boiled rice and chutney. Source: 'The Bar We Found' Anne Oates - Palma de Mallorca 1972 SharonCb

RB, I am sure the recipe you made was the real thing. I called it bastardised because, as the story was told to me, an Indian or Bangladeshi chef based in Britain had a customer demand sauce with his chicken tikka (which is chicken that has been marinated and then grilled and is traditionally served without sauce), and made up a creamy sauce to serve it in, creating a dish that has traditional Indian ingredients but has been adapted to British palates. It took several years before it actually reached India, so while it is similar to traditional Indian curries it is really an Anglo-Indian dish based on the traditional chicken tikka.

Lamb shoulder is most often used for stewing, Woodie. Most recipes call for two pounds, more or less. So you should be OK. Alternatively, you can grind it, and use it that way. Here are a couple of recipes: Tagines are stews found throughout North Africa, but especially in Morroco, where a special cooking pot, also called a tagine, is used. Tagine of Lamb with Pumpkin, Veggies & Fruit 2 lb stewing lamb, roughly chopped 4 garlic cloves, chopped fine 2 sm onions, coarsely chopped salt 1 tsp cayenne 4 tbls vegetable oil 1 tbls turmeric 8-10 large tomatoes, peeled & diced 1-2 red chilies (optional) 1 tbls raisins 1 lb pumpkin, peeled & coarsely chopped (Butternut subs) 2 lb green beans, halved Juice of half a lemon Preheat oven to 350. Combine the meat, garlic, onions, salt, pepper, oil, turmeric, tomatoes and chillies in a deep baking dish. Mix well. Cover and bake about 45 minutes. Add raisins and cook another 15 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin, beans, and lemon juice, cover again, and cook an additional 1- 1 1/2 hours untio meat is tender. Serve hot with cous cous or saffron rice. Source: A Taste of Africa Throughout the Mid-east, ground lamb is make into balls and fingers and cooked like kabobs. I adapted one such approach to make lamb patties, which are served on a platform of sweet potato and topped with a yoghurt aioli. Here it is: 2 lb ground lamb 1 cup coarsely chopped parsley 2 large onions, chopped 1 tsp salt 1 tbls Baharat* oil for cooking 1 cup yogurt 3-4 plumb garlic cloves, minced 1 tbls fresh mint, chopped, plus more for garnish Sweet potatoes cut in slices about 3/8 inch thick and trimmed even.** Brown Sugar Olive oil Combine meat with the parsley, onions, salt and Baharat. Scoop up double tablespoons of the mixture and shape into patties about a half inch thick. Cook over a charcoal fire, 2-3 mintues per side. Set aside to keep warm. Alternatively, cook in a skillet with just a film of oil. Boil sweet potatoes until tender-crisp. Drain. Brush with oil, sprinkle with brown sugar, and pop under the broiler until sugar is carmalized. Combine yoghurt with the garlic and mint. To assemble, lay a sweet potato round on a plate. Center a lamb pattie on it, and top with a dollop of the aioli. Garnish with a small sprig of fresh mint. *Baharat is one of many spice mixes endemic to the Mid-east. This one comes from the Gulf States: 1/2 cup black peppercorns 1/4 cup coriander seeds 1/4 cup cassia bark (cinnamon) 1/4 cup cloves 1/3 cup cumin seeds 2 tsp cardamom seeds 4 whole nutmegs 1/2 cup ground paprika Put all ingredients except nutmegs and paprika in a blender or spice grinder. Grind to a powder. You might have to do this in batches. Grind the nutmegs. Combine the nutmeg and paprika with the other spices. Store in an airtight container. If you can't find whole nutmegs, substitute 1/4 cup powdered. **I really like consistent, uniform plating with this dish, so use a cookie cutter to make all the potato rounds the same size. This is not a crucial step by any means.