Our garage almost always stays above freezing, but the long axis faces E-W so there is solar gain, and the leeward side is the only side not insulated. So our garage is where our squashes are. And thanx for the link, the women are wondering when I'm going to start using the butternuts...

Dan

Some other suggestions re squash -

Scrub the skin and just leave it on, or peal it - the skin doesn't taste like much of anything.

Roughly chunk the entire squash, then cut it in 1/4 inch slices and stir fry - you want it to start browning and then it's cooked thoroughly - flavor with anything citrusy - including tamarind paste.

Same thing and serve with Thai peanut sauce.

It's good chunked into bite sized pieces and boiled up in chicken soup.

There is one recipe that is a bit complicated and you need a cast iron pan. Melt about half a cube of butter in a 10- 12 " cast iron frying pan, melt it, then take it off the heat. Grate the squash into the pan, then pat it down. Salt, and maybe some citrus juice. Then you put it back on the stove top until you see stream rising, then take the whole thing and put it in the oven and bake it for an hour at 350, then let it cool a bit, flip it over, and there is this crusty squash dish.

I like squash.

david52 said "you need a cast iron pan". Iron pans really are the best cookware. You just need to get them seasoned. For most things I'll never use a teflon pan again.

I like squash too, but I'm too lazy to do anything fancy! I just cut them in half, fill them with brown sugar with a little honey and butter, and stick them in the oven and bake them!

Your method of grating them in a frying pan sounds really good, David! And it's simple--like me! Might actually try that sometime! Do you grate the squash coarsely or finely? Do you peel it first? Don't have a CLUE where my cast iron frying pans are, but they're here SOMEWHERE!

I absolutely REFUSE to buy any "non-stick" pots or pans anymore! The only thing they're good for is making money for the companies that sell them--when you need to keep buying more! I STILL have my good stainless steel with copper core pans that I bought right after I got out of high school---in 1961! And in the last couple years I've found a couple REALLY good (not coated) frying pans that I love! No more teflon or Baker's Secret or any of that stuff! But it's HARD to find anything without it anymore!

Digit, you should consider using Anasazi beans in place of the kidney beans! You'd need to soak and cook them, but they are SO sweet and tender! Bet you'd love them!

My total harvest of winter squash was three TINY acorn squash, which are in the garage with the remaining tomatoes right now. The one might last a while, but the two smallest ones are gonna need to be eaten soon!

Skybird

Ah, cast iron, I love it. But I've so much nerve damage now I can't safely handle a skillet full of food. So (don't hit me) we're in with the lightweight, non-stick stuff.

Skybird - the easiest way to do that dish is with a butternut squash, which peel effort per squash yield is pretty high. I just run it through the Cuisenart thing that shreds stuff -

The linked recipe may be a step up from the pedestrian red beans.

Mollie Katzen, who wrote the Moosewood Cookbook, uses dried cherries.

As she says, for an acorn squash the stuffing is a "smallish amount" but I see no reason that the recipe couldn't be doubled and used as a "largish amount" for a larger squash.

digitS'

Here is a link that might be useful: Acorn Squash Stuffed With Apple-Almond-Cherry Basmati Pilaf

WE just bought ourselves a new ScanPan skillet for xmas-birthdays: titanium-infused ceramic, lifetime warranty. I still have my cast iron skillet but the BH hates it so when my mom moves out here we'll keep it with her. Food Channel this weekend had lots of recipes with butternut, and I think I got the OK to grow acorns! Yuh-um!

Dan