Maple-Glazed Acorn Squash

Continuing on the squash theme from the last post, my other foray into squash today used acorn squash...

Maple-Glazed Acorn Squash (2-4 servings)
1 medium acorn squash (~ 1.5 lbs.)
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 T. butter or margarine (melted)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Place squash cut side down in a large baking dish and bake for 45 minutes.

3. While squash is baking, mix maple syrup, butter, and cinnamon in a small bowl.

4. Remove squash from oven and turn cut side up in the dish. Brush maple syrup mixture over cut side of squash and spoon remaining mixture into center of squash. Return to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until squash is soft.

Parmesan Spaghetti Squash

The weather in DC has started to cool off (although the forecast is to go back up to the 80s for at least a day or two this coming week) and the fruits of the autumn harvest are beginning to appear at the farmers markets and grocery stores. This week, I dug into the squash harvest...

Parmesan Spaghetti Squash (~ 6 servings)
1 medium spaghetti squash (~ 3 -4 lbs)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 T. butter or margarine, cut into several pieces
1/2 tsp. black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Place squash cut side down in a large baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes (until squash is tender).

3. Remove squash from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, then use a fork to rake squash pulp out of shell so that it forms spaghetti-like strands.

4. Toss squash, cheese, butter, and pepper until well mixed.

Caramel Crispy Squares

A few weeks ago, I picked up a box of Caramel Delight Fiber One cereal, thinking that it sounded good. While the flavor was decent, it wasn't quite sweet enough to offset the extra-fibery taste of the cereal (35% of your daily recommended fiber intake!). At about the same time, I got a bag of marshmallows that turned out to be a bit stickier than I would have liked. And so the caramel crisy squares were born!

Caramel Crispy Squares
2 T. butter or margarine
3 cups miniature marshmallows
4 cups Fiber One Caramel Delight cereal
1 cup butterscotch chips

1. Microwave the butter in a large bowl until melted (about 45 seconds).

2. Add marshmallows and toss, microwave 1 minute, stir, and microwave 1 more minute or until marshmallows are melted.

3. Stir in cereal and butterscotch chips.

4. Turn out onto a large sheet of waxed paper and press out until layer is about 1.5 inch thick. It will be very sticky, so do you best. (Alternative - press into greased, foil lined 8 x 8 pan.)

5. Allow to cool, then cut into about 12 squares.