Mom/Traveler

So the baby and I spent the weekend in the big city. (I say 'big city' like I didn't live there myself for five years.) My bff's were having their baby shower, and I also hung out with family and had a fabulous brunch at The Rusty Pelican.  The downside was that strep throat was going around and the day after we left my Mom came down with it. I have been watching baby and myself like a hawk, obsessively taking temperatures, and so far, so good. All in all it was a good trip, it was great to see everyone and fun to be back in the city. I love where we live, up in the mountains, but there are definitely some things I miss about living in the city, primarily family and friends, also the great restaurants.
When I got home Sunday afternoon I found that my husband, when he went to pick up the CSA box Sunday morning was unable to resist the beautiful squash blossoms. This is the second week we've come away from the Farmer's Market with these lovely and fragile flowers, and each time we've tried a different stuffing.
Our first time around we did a sauteed mushroom filling consisting of finely chopped mushrooms with garlic, thyme, basil and white wine. Basically a French duxelles. Those were surprisingly delicious, though I admit at first I thought the mushrooms would be too strongly flavored for the squash blossoms.
Our second attempt used a recipe from Jamie Oliver and consisted of ricotta cheese (I used homemade), lemon zest, one small chili pepper minced, lemon zest, mint and Parmesan.
Both times the stuffed blossoms were dipped in a tempura style batter: flour, egg whites, baking powder,  and cold water before being fried. Both were great, but the mushroom stuffing was the best.

Mushroom stuffed Squash Blossoms