Have you ever gone on a squash adventure? No? Neither have I until this past weekend when I went to Nino Salvaggio International Marketplace in St. Clair Shores, MI looking for something interesting to try this week for Tried It Out Tuesday. We ended up taking home four different types of squash. In this post I will be discussing the dumpling squash and the buttercup squash that we tried.
I have written about this place before and I love going here on a fun little foodie adventure when I have a small wad of cash to blow. Some girls spend their dollars getting hair & nails done or buying trendy new clothes. Not me, not this girl right here! My family enjoys being adventurous eaters so when we have a little extra cash we like to treat ourselves to something delicious and tasty.
There is a whole world of squash out there in the universe just waiting to be discovered by you!
When you eat with an open mind you allow yourself the chance to experience new foods, new flavors. I went to Nino’s with no clear plan. I just wanted to go in there and walk out with something that I have never tried and experienced.
A little bit about Nino Salvaggio’s
Nino Salvaggio’s is a great local place that is chockful of interesting fruits and vegetables right at your fingertips. They currently have 3 locations with another added location in the works. I live closest to the smaller, St Clair Shores location, and believe it or not I have been going to this little store my whole entire life. On weekends I remember my mom taking us out to fruit markets to stock up on produce. We would go to Randazzo’s on Gratiot in Roseville and we would go to Nino’s in St Clair Shores. Honestly, I absolutely hated going to these stores when I was growing up. I thought it was boring and I would get a bit antsy and impatient and want to leave.
Look at me now! I am all grown up and going shopping for food is always the highlight of my days and I look forward to it. I just can’t seem to get enough of it.
Nino’s is bustling with people on the weekend and for good reason! They have the most beautiful displays of fresh produce that I have ever witnessed. They are super picky about what gets put out on the display for purchase, and they only put out the best of the best.
I will be writing frequently about my shopping experiences there. Other than Eastern Market, this is my go-to place for interesting eats. If you live in the area of Nino Salvaggio’s I highly recommend taking a little trip there to see what you can stock up on. There is always something new and interesting there to feed the senses.
My little haul of unusual squash
I am a huge fan of summertime in Michigan. I pretty love and cherish most things about summer here, minus the god-awful humidity. I do enjoy a good barbeque feast on the weekends and I do love the food during the summer BUT my favorite foods are all autumn related. I love a good, filling bowl of soup on a cold day. I love a thick & hearty stew. I enjoy eating pumpkin flavored desserts. Just last year I recently discovered that I am also a huge fan of squash. The first squash I fell in love with last year was the butternut squash. I pureed it and made some paleo soup with it and topped it with a coconut milk drizzle. And then next up I ventured into trying out acorn squash. I remember serving it as a side dish with a maple syrup drizzle on it.
So this year I was up for the challenge of taking home some new-to-me squash. Nino Salvaggio’s had a grand display of squash, pumpkins, and gourds out in the front of the store. I grabbed a shopping cart and starting asking Google a bunch of questions on my phone about these squash I was about to purchase. I filled up my cart with four varieties: dumpling squash, buttercup squash, sweet potato squash, and an orange hubbard squash. I had a general idea on what I was going to do with them. Maple syrup always goes well with roasted squash so I got myself a bottle of pure Michigan maple syrup.
I did not even step foot into the store and I already had my mind made up on what I was going to take home… SQUASH and lots of it!
My daughter, Chloe, was scoping out the heirloom pumpkins and observing them in amazement. She fell in love with a tall white pumpkin that you can see in the photo below.
I also had to rummage through the basket of decorative gourds and bring home a few of them. We enjoyed looking at how unique each and every one of them was.
