Summer squashes sweet and savory

Ahhh... lovely tender summer squashes. The perfect answer to, What else should I put in this pasta, this casserole, this omelette? Summer squash, of course. It is mild, versatile and copiously abundant in the summertime. But abundance can present a new challenge... Zucchini and summer squash have been known to inspire a kind of guerrilla vegetable hit and run bombing. During the height of summer neighbors are delighted by the first basket or two of squash left anonymously on the porch. But by the time that fifth basket turns up a kindly gardner may find the front gate locked. So what to do with all that squash? Simply, eat it up. And fairly quickly owing to its delicate nature. It doesn't freeze well at all and while I hear that it dehydrates beautifully in a low oven, I can't be bothered and I can't fathom where I would store all that put by squash. By the end of tomato season my shelves are full. So we'll eat it up simply, grilled or sautéed and quickly with a lovely ginger dipping sauce. Make it up by whisking together  a small, finely grated onion, one clove of minced garlic,  a tablespoon of grated ginger, the juice of one lemon, half a cup of tamari, one teaspoon of sugar, one teaspoon of white or rice wine vinegar and a tablespoon of ketchup (the ketchup only sounds gross). I can live on this stuff. A single batch will probably last a couple of meals and this sauce goes beautifully on just about every vegetable I can think of. Knock yourself out.
 But when you have made dinner and washed the dishes and find that you have barely made a dent in your weekly squash share do the following: Grate up about two squashes and squeeze out some of the water. Add that grated squash and the juice and zest of one large lemon to a thick batter made up of one cup of brown sugar beaten into a stick of butter until fluffy, two eggs, a cup of polenta, two cups of self rising flour, a tablespoon of vanilla and a half teaspoon of salt. Drop  rounded tablespoons of the mixture onto a buttered sheet pan and bake at 350 for eight to ten minutes. Now you have a large, beautiful batch of lemon-polenta squash cookies (they are a charmingly old-fashioned Italian summer snack with a beautiful name I cannot remember). I am sure that no neighbor would lock the garden gate on someone bearing a plate of these beauties.