squashing my fears... one snack at a time

i am fierce and fearless, and yesterday i proved it to myself again. yes, that's right, yesterday i roasted up a butternut squash for the first time ever. i know, you might need to step back from the awesome.

yeah, i'm not exactly sure how i've made it this far in my life without cooking up butternut squash before either, but such was the case. part of it might be due to the fact that i never remember to pick one up when i see them for sale, but i'm thinking a larger part is the fact that my boys are not fans of trying new things. the biggest one is especially picky. and yes, i'm talking about my hubby here.

if it was something green and leafy, bumble would be all over it, he'd actually rather eat vegetables than meat most meals. and i might have gotten lumpy to try it if he hadn't seen me prepare it. his comment the entire time was that squash smelled just like pumpkin, and if i wasn't carving it or making a pie, what was the point? that left a whole squash for fishie and i.

now i have eaten squash many times before, and i really enjoy the flavor. i have made acorn squash, which is very yummy with a little bit of maple syrup, and just this past sunday i made spaghetti squash for the first time. a yellow gourd that, when properly cooked, will shred and look like pasta just fascinated me for years (not a hyperbole, i will obsess about a food for a long time before i attempt cooking it). making it was an interesting experience, and i think it definitely would have benefited from another 15 minutes in the oven.

anyway, a few fridays ago when i went to the farmer's market, i saw bunches of lovely looking squash and picked up a few to try out. all i had left as of yesterday was a butternut squash, and i kept debating in my head how i wanted to prepare it. i knew i had to think of something sooner or later because it wouldn't stay fresh forever. i really wanted to try my hand at making soup, because that's how i've had it before and always enjoyed the flavor. the problem with that was i wanted to share some with fishie, she enjoys the squash baby food in the little jars so much, and i knew soup would be a bit hard for her to eat. so i settled on simply roasting it.

i have to admit it turned out ok. i know some things i'd do different if i tried to make it again, like pealing it first, because i had such a hard time trying to get the skin off after the fact. i think i might also try chopping it up into smaller cubes and tossing with a bit of oil so it gets a more toasted flavor all over it. still, the squash was yummy, and fishie definitely thought it was very good. all in all, i declare that this was a success, and definitely something to attempt again in the future.