Recipe of the Week; ALMOND-CRANBERRY SQUASH BAKE

Thank goodness for the folks at Taste of Home. Like I don't have enough recipes I've been wanting to try out for years! Thumbing through their book gave me a plethora of new ideas to serve up along with the usual turkey and mashed potatoes.

I'm pretty traditional when it comes to Thanksgiving dinner, I don't serve anything weird like eel or alligator. (Although alligator is actually quite tasty- I'll reserve that for my Mardi Gras-inspired dinner in February.)

That being said, I mentioned before I like to take the common ingredients that are customary with Thanksgiving and serve them in different ways, like with my Pumpkin Bisque I plan on debuting this year.

So it goes with this recipe I found in this year's Taste of Home Christmas cookbook. Although I can't say it's a regular dish at Thanksgiving, I have served different types of squash casserole-type dishes around this time of year. This one in particular seemed to tickle my fancy, but we shall see if it ends up being only a one-time deal!

INGREDIENTS

4 cups mashed cooked butternut squash

4 tablespoons butter, softened, divided

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 can (16 oz) whole-berry cranberry sauce

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

In a large bowl, combine the squash, 2 tablespoons butter, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Transfer to a greased 2-quart baking dish. Stir cranberry sauce until softened, spoon over squash.

Combine the almonds, brown sugar and remaining butter; sprinkle over cranberry sauce.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.