Squash Blossom Salad

Have you ever eaten squash blossoms?  They are delicious, with a very mild squash flavor.  They are a little crunchy, particularly at the end where the squash would form (if it was a female blossom and had been left on the plant) and as you get closer to the flower petals they have a smooth texture like lettuce.  Yesterday one of the things I mentioned was having a dinner salad with our red lettuce...but Johny surprised me with a handful of squash blossoms as well as the lettuce...topped with a drizzle of tangerine dark balsamic vinegar and blood orange olive oil, it was absolutely delightful!

This is a female squash bloom, and if you looked at the end of the base of the flower you will see a small bulb that will eventually become the fruit (if fertilized).

 ...and the male.

Only female fruits, and it must first be fertilized by the male bloom which usually is done by bees (you can hand pollinate, but I'll let nature do it's job).  The good thing about that is a long as you leave enough male blossoms on the plant for fertilization purposes, you can pick male blossoms for dining any time (there are typically more male blossoms than female). In addition to eating them raw, they can be stuffed and fried or baked, or used in dishes just like a leafy vegetable would be. 

Speaking of blossoms, my watermelon is blooming...yahoo!  I've never seen a watermelon blossom before!  And yes, there are male and female watermelon blossoms as well.

And isn't this vase of hydrangeas pretty?  I have been weed eating the yard, and my hydrangea have blooms that were too close to the ground to weed eat easily, so I decided to make a pretty centerpiece for the table...I like it!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise