SQUASH!!!!

Today is all about squash.  I've never liked squash, not even pumpkin pie, but I've decided to give it a try.  I went with 2 different recipes using 2 different types of squash.  I also decided to actually follow recipes this time since I was cooking something completely new.  While researching squash online, I came across this very informative site all about squash.

The first dish I made is a recipe I found here.  This one I actually made the night before so I just had to throw it in the oven after work.

Here's my purdy squash!

Having never cooked squash before, I wasn't 100% sure how to go about cutting it, but I found a very helpful video on about.com.  When I got to the part where I had to gut it like a pumpkin, I thought Gross!  There's no way I'm going to like this.  It even smelled like pumpkin.  Yuck!

I boiled the squash until tender like the directions said, and after draining the water decided to brave it and try a piece.  Surprisingly, it tasted more like a potato than pumpkin.  At this point I thought I may actually be able to eat this dish!  Then, with all of the ingredients in the pan, it was MASHING TIME!!!!

You can't tell from the picture how amazing it smelled at this time.  It fact, it just looks like some kind of weird mush in the picture.  I kept telling myself to wait until it was fully cooked to taste it, but it smelled so good I gave in.  And it tasted wonderful!

We're going to take a break from that dish for a while, and move on to the next.

The second, I didn't completely follow a recipe.  I came across a recipe for acorn squash stuffed with apple, cranberries and orange, but it didn't give much direction.  So I did some searching and made something that's a combination of multiple similar recipes.  The ingredients: Acorn squash, granny smith apple, orange, dried cranberries, cinnamon and agave nectar.  Some of the recipes called for pecans or walnuts, both of which were on sale last week, but nuts are crazy expensive!  Even on sale!

Chopped up the fruit, mixed in the cinnamon, filled the 2 squash halves, poured the agave nectar over them, and baked.  There were leftover fruit mixture that I, um, did NOT eat while everything was cooking....  *innocent look*

I luckily had a guest taster this week, so there weren't a ton of leftovers.  We both agreed the squash casserole tasted kind of like cheesy mashed potatoes.  I didn't measure out the squash, I just used a whole one, so the consistency was a little runnier than I would have liked.  Next time I think I'd do a little less milk.  I'd also like to experiment with ricotta cheese in place of the sour cream and some different seasonings.  The acorn squash dish was almost like a dessert.  It was sweet and completely different from the casserole.  My guest taster thought the filling would be good in a tart or something along those lines.  I was a little disappointed that the flavors didn't soak into the squash more.  But once I got down to the bottom of the squash, I could mash it up and mix it all together.

So over all dinner was delicious, and I learned that I do like squash.  :)  I was thinking about some sort of pasta primavera with squash, zucchini and peppers for this week's dinner.  However, both brie and feta are on sale this week, so we'll see!

And, of course, it wouldn't be my blog without a goofy picture: