
If you never have eaten a squash blossom, go down to the nearest farmers market and pick up a bag and try them out. Even better, grow a few plants in containers or in a garden to pluck them fresh off the plant. They are a wonderful addition to summer menus. I grow squash, not only for the vegetable, but for the flower. And when you pick the young squash at a certain point, you get both the veggie and the blossom, and that is the best of both worlds.

To eat them, I slice the squash in half and fry them up, put them on pizza, stuff the blossoms with goat cheese, and make latkes or fritters.  You could also cut them up into ribbons or a chiffonade and drape on top of a pasta dish. There are countless ways to enjoy the yellow trumpets that emerge from the plants all summer. Here is a great pasta dish using blossoms: Pasta with Squash Blossoms.

Also, consider this as birth control for squash. It reduces your yield tremendously when you really don’t need another 20 zucchini or yellow squash cluttering up your refrigerator. When the squash comes in, it is an avalanche!

The trick is to catch the squash when it is only a day or two old, has the blossom attached, and is still tender. Or just pluck the blossom before it becomes fertilized and starts a tiny squash.
The blossom is pretty fragile so carefully snip it off, and I like to give it a quick rinse as insects like to lay their eggs on the blossom, namely squash bugs and ants. Bees seem to get drunk on the pollen inside the flower and it is fun to watch them. Make sure the blossoms are bee free. Place the blossoms in the fridge wrapped in damp paper towels for no more than 24 hours to use in your favorite recipe.
Early morning is the best time to pick them before the heat of the day wilt them. Shake out any bees that spent the night curled at the base and collect as many as you can. I use both winter and summer squash blossoms and have taken out flowers from my fridge that still have buzzing bees in them that awaken when taken out into warm air. So, be careful about examining them carefully first.
Open the flower, and snip off the stamen in the center as this is tough.
At this point, you can stuff them with goat cheese or just batter and fry them. My post on stuffed squash blossoms is an easy recipe bound to impress everyone as an appetizer. Blossoms are sublime as a pizza topping. My favorite treatment though is Squash Latkes/Fritters.






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