Baked Butternut, Yummy!

      
    One of my favorite vegetables from the garden is
    butternut squash.  And it's a good thing, because
    my hubby definitely overplants!

    Besides the yummy taste of butternut, a big plus is
    that when you plant enough of it, like in our garden,
    it can be stored in a cool garage and your harvest
    will last until the next season.

Storage:  We live in the northeast, with cold winters, so I have a space in our garage when I can store the butternut on an old bookcase.  I stand them up, next to each other on the shelve.and that's it!  When I want butternut for dinner, throughout the year, I just go out and get one.  They stay wonderfully!

I think the best way to make this squash is to bake it.  It is so quick and easy.  Often when it is just my husband and me looking for a quick meal, we will each have a whole butternut squash and small salad as our dinner. What could be simplier than that?

MY BAKED BUTTERNUT RECIPE

1 butternut squash
2 TBS melted butter
real maple syrup
brown sugar
cinnamon
nutmeg

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
• Wash off the outside of your butternut.  
• Split in half as shown in the picture.
• Scoop out the seeds.  Save them to dry if you want for next years garden.
• I leave the skin on, but pierce the outside several times with a fork to create holes to help the baking process
• Line a cookie sheet with tin foil, grease lightly.
• Place your butternut squash face down and cook for about 45 minutes
• When it is almost done, melt about 1 tablespoon of butter for each half of the butternut squash- then mix in the rest of the ingredients- I don't use measurements- but mix the rest together to the taste desired.  The maple syrup and brown sugar can be eliminated if you want a healthier version.
• Mash the butternut with a fork like you would a baked potato, then add your butter mix, and blend throughly.. 
• Bake an additional 10 minutes.

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Saving Your Seeds

If you want to save your seeds for next year, it's a simple process.  Put your seeds in a colander and rinse with cold water to wash off all the gook.  Dry them with a paper towel. Then lay out your seeds on a sheet of wax paper to dry. Once dried, put in an envelope, date and lable.  Place in the fridge until needed next season.