Yellow and Warm

It's been very, very cold.  I should stop reporting this as if it is news; it's January in Maine after all.  Still, it's the kind of cold that takes you by surprise, pinching you and stinging you.  On such days it's good to eat winter food, soft and yellow and creamy-warm, thick and fragrant and earthy.  One of the things I like about acorn squash is the contrast of the dark skin and the surprising yellow inside.  It's a winter secret, like the glow you see in your neighbor's windows as you walk past on a frosty black night.  Yellow leaking out of a dark shell makes an ordinary living room seem like a warm haven of lamplit conversation, hearty fireside laughter. 

Comments

[Carol Anne]

I love all of the winter squashes -- acorn, butternut, pumpkin ... You're right about the glow of the color of them. But it's more than that. I love the warm flavor that gives me happy and peaceful feelings.

Alas, my husband and son don't feel the same way. I don't get nearly enough.

[Lisa]

A wonderful way to cook these beauties:

Slice in half, scoop out the seeds. Cook face down in one cup chicken stock for 45 minutes. Turn upright and stuff cavity with pre-made chicken Stove Top stuffing with some chopped walnuts or pecans added. If you want to get reallyl crazy, add some crumbled bacon and cook until the stuffing is toasted. Dribble the chicken stock from the pan over it.

Heaven, I tell you. A little bit of wintry heaven.

I'm sick of squash! What's new?

[pfefferminz tee]

Oh my! I know someone that will absolutely die for this. Must make this soon - it looks sooo good.