Recipe of the Week; BAKED ACORN SQUASH WITH APPLES

A few weeks ago I shared two of my favorite zucchini/squash recipes. You may remember I pondered what to do with acorn squash as well.

Thanks to the McCalls's Cooking School, by way of Mom's old cookbook, I found a great and yummy solution. This was my first time ever making something with acorn squash, so McCall's most certainly succeeded at "schooling" me. This is a perfect recipe for fall, and possibly a future addition to Thanksgiving dinner, as it just seems so appropriate to be served with turkey.

Give it a whirl!

INGREDIENTS

4 medium acorn squash (about 3 1/2 lbs. total)

salt

1 can (1 lb., 4 oz) sliced apples, packed water (I couldn't find these, so I used apple pie filling!)

3/4 cup light brown sugar

dash ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an oblong baking pan, 15x10x1 inches. Wash squash and cut in half lengthwise. Using a small sturdy spoon, scoop seeds and stringy membrane from squash halves and discard.

Place squash halves, cut sides down, in greased pan. Add 1/2 cup water to pan; cover pan tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender. Squash is done when skin and flesh can be easily pierced with tines of fork.

Increase oven temperature to 425. Using a slotted spoon and a large fork, remove squash from pan and discard accumulated liquid. Return squash to pan, cut sides up. Lightly sprinkle cavity of each with salt.

Drain apples well and place in medium sized bowl. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and toss until apples are well coated and sugar is moistened. Spoon apple mixture into squash cavities. Sprinkle with remaining brown sugar and nutmeg. (If you use pie filling, reduce the brown sugar, as the canned filling typically is already sweet.)

Return stuffed squash to oven and bake until apples are hot and glazed- about 10 to 15 minutes. Spoon any run-off brown sugar glaze back over the apples.

If desired, prepare stuffed squash the day before serving. Just reheat in microwave or conventional oven.

**McCall's didn't suggest it, but because I'm such a nut, I sprinkled my acorns with chopped pecans, then drizzled just a bit of melted butter over my squash before baking.