How To Cook Candied Acorn Squash

Acorn squash prepared and baked may be the easiest side dish ever created. Not only is this dish a traditional Native American food, it is a fine blend of sweet and hearty, the kind of comfort food rarely found in fast food corporate restaurants.

First! Find some acorn squash! For this you may set a large steel jaw trap, wait for a large Black Oak tree to come stumbling along, then when the moment is right, PAZOWWWW! Pull back on the reigns! PLOP come rolling bushels of acorn squash! If that fantasy dreamland episode doesn't pan out for you try going to the Piggly Wiggly or your neighborhood grocer and asking for some fresh acorn squash. Then buy 'em!

Once you've trapped the game and dragged your vegetative bounty home, wash them off and get ready for the slaughter! Slice them in half! Then in quarters! Then, if your torturous meanderings haven't yet been met, cut 'em in eights! Eighths I tells ya! Then throw all those bits into a casserole dish in the oven preheated to 350F for 40-50 minutes uncovered leanin' on 50 minutes if you want my inclination.

If you haven't already, you can cut away all the squash seeds from the meat. We mix them with a half a tablespoon of canola oil and season salt then bake for 7-9 minutes. A delicious treat while you wait for the rest of the squash.

In the meantime warm a half a cup of butter, a half a cup of brown sugar, and a heaping tablespoon of locally harvested honey ( or wherever you might obtain it from) and mix it in a microwave for a good minute or two. After the squash has been cookin' for fifty minutes or so spread the buttery mixture over the top, then cook again uncovered, for another ten to fifteen minutes.

There! The squash are done! To be served with just about any meal, they are versatile buggers! Almost always they should be served with a bit of wine, or at least grape juice doncha know! Enjoy your squash, it is the fruit of the Three Sisters! One of the original Amerindian delicacies. Enjoy!