Is That a Sweet Potato? Nope, it's a Butternut Squash!

Do you ever clip recipes?  I get several magazines, and sometimes if a recipe looks really good, then I will tear out the page and keep it.  Well, on Sunday, I was going through some of my cookbooks and a crumpled page from Southern Living had fallen back behind the books. 

I pulled it out and looked at the recipes, wondering which one had made me tear the page out.  Well, every recipe sounded fantastic, and I can't remember why I saved this page, but one recipe jumped out at me: Baked Winter Squash.  I've been trying to tackle new foods lately, and Butternut Squash was something that I had not tried.  Plus, it just sounded really easy to make-- but also warm and comforting.  So on my grocery trip, I picked up a Butternut Squash.

When I cut into the squash (which was not an easy task-- the skin is thick!) the first thing that I noticed was the color!  Hello orange!  This scared me a little.  It reminded me of sweet potatoes, which really aren't one of my favorite foods.  I don't know why.  The only time I liked them was when I was pregnant.  But I decided to forge ahead and see what happened. 

I put one tablespoon of butter in the empty "hole" after I scooped the seeds out, and then I added about a teaspoon of pancake syrup to each "hole."  I also seasoned it with salt and pepper all over.  I put about 1/4-1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the dish and baked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes covered, 10 uncovered.  As it was baking, the house smelled heavenly. 

I tasted part that had soaked up all the syrup and butter and also part that was not near the cavity or hole.  Both tasted great, but the buttery, syrupy part of course tasted great.  Not too sweet-- just enough.  I would definitely make this again.  It had a different flavor from zucchini and yellow squash-- and the texture was more like mashed potatoes.  Definitely a great comfort food for fall!  I paired it up with a Morningstar Farms Veggie Burger with lettuce and tomatoes, and a little cup of some leftover Grown-Up Chicken Noodle Soup.

By the way, that's an odd-shaped bowl there.  Know why?  It's actually a tea bowl that I made, and the reason it is shaped that way is so that you can hold it in one hand.  There's actually a thumb-rest on the bottom right corner of the photo.  So it's comfortable to hold in your right hand.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend with family and a fun event: the Pumpkintown Festival and Fall for Greenville!  There should be lots of tasty goodies at both events!  Sadie is really looking forward to seeing her Leenie and Poppy!  (And hopefully getting her face painted!)

Happy Friday-Eve!!!