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FOUGERE'S FAVORITES
All Buttered Up FALL SQUASH HOLDS FOND MEMORIES.
BY SARA FOUGERE · PHOTOS BY L.G. PATTERSON
M
y dad was very generous. He was a child during the Great Depression and the middle child
of eight kids. He always said that they were poor when he was young, but never went hungry. They used the land to grow crops and raise animals and they always shared. He took what he learned from those childhood experiences to eventually build one of the largest cattle and crop farms in the state. He and my mom always made sure to help those in need, and those who didn’t have the same opportunities they had. He loved to share a few acres of one of our Ray County farms with families who grew produce for markets in Kansas City. Some of my favorite memories involve rides with him, stopping by the farms and helping pick tomatoes, melons and every squash imaginable. My kids have fond memories of their Poppy taking them to those river bottoms and helping his farm friends pick pumpkins, and then bringing some of them home. I am so fortunate to be able to share some of the meals I make weekly. Included is a recipe, which uses the seasonal harvest that is delicious and has amazing flavors. However, it is one my dad would need to add a steak on the side. To him it just wasn’t a meal without beef on the plate. He's been gone 8 years. I still drive the farms in his old truck that my brothers keep running and think of how much I learned from him.
42 INSIDE COLUMBIA OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2021
