What do you do with an acorn squash?

My mom and dad came to visit recently and mom brought us 4 fresh squash from home.  I was so excited and then I opened the bag and thought...what is that and what do I do with it?!

Mom told me it's an acorn squash!

I decided to try something new with it and I ended up making it two nights in a row because we liked it so much.  I mean, you pretty much can't mess up when you have squash, brown sugar, and butter.

In case you're not sure what to make as a side dish for Thanksgiving, here is what I did:

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the pumpkin looking guts inside.  Try to scrape the endges as best you can - that stringy stuff doesn't have any flavor.

Turn the squash halves upside down in about 1 3/4 inch water in a microwave safe dish.  Poke with a fork and microwave for 15-20 minutes (until soft).

Be careful removing them from the microwave - they will be hot!  Turn on the broiler in your oven to high.  Flip those bad boys over, add salt and pepper to taste, and put 1-2 Tablespoons fo butter in each half (2 was way too much for us so we cut back to 1) and 1-2 Tablespoons of brown sugar (again we cut it back to 1).  Put them under the broiler for about 5 minutes (until butter is melted).

Mix up all that buttery, sugary goodness within the squash and put it in a bowl to serve.  Yum!

Don't worry about the butter; the benefits of squash cancel it out.