Honey Nut Squashes with Cranberries and Walnuts

These honey nut squashes are twice-baked and filled with honey nut squash flesh, fresh cranberries, and walnuts.

The Story:
Philip has been working on a new look. Well, not exactly new, but a look he had nearly two decades ago. See, when we met and for the first few years of our marriage, he had long hair.

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Our wedding day. We eloped, but it was still the best wedding ever.

Two years ago, I asked him to grow it out again and it’s reached his shoulders and he’s happy with it. He also turned 39 this year and has been a college professor for a dozen years now, so we decided to see about doing up some professor fashion. Using a couple of boards from Pinterest to get ideas, we recently set out to redo his wardrobe.

We knew not to bother with retail. Last year just prior to a conference, Philip was looking for a sports coat and four stores and over a hundred bucks later, he had one. But it didn’t seem worth it. This time, we headed out to a mega thrift/charity store. I love shopping vintage, thrift, and consignment and for Philip’s wardrobe upgrade, we’re even more sold on shopping at these places. He got four sports coats, thirteen sweaters, and six dress shirts for the whole of $136. SCORE! It’s really hard to justify retail in these circumstances.

On our way back from our man wear extravaganza, we passed a lot selling an assortment of winter squashes. Spotting more rare varieties than the usual suspects of pumpkins in various sizes and shapes, we pulled in and searched around. For $10, we scored two blue hubbard squashes, a regular hubbard squash, a pint of purple bell peppers, a red velvet whoopie pie (told ya it was a PA thing), and two honey nut squashes.

I had to look up what these little squashes were called. They are like small butternut squashes, but with a slightly darker flesh. How small are they? Each one will fit in a man’s palm. Like the outside, the interior flesh is also a darker orange. I did them up with some Thanksgiving Day staples- fresh cranberries, cinnamon, and maple syrup. They turned out delicious.

Gather your tools. You’ll need:
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1. sharp knife 2. baking sheet 3. mixing bowls 4. spoon 5. measuring cups 6. measuring spoons

Gather your ingredients. You’ll need:

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Clik here to view.1. honey nut squashes 2. olive oil 3. fresh cranberries 4. walnuts 5. ground cinnamon 6. maple syrup

Honey Nut Squashes with Cranberries and Walnuts

Ingredients:
2 honey nut squashes
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon maple syrup

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut squashes in half, lengthwise, and scoop out seeds and strings. (Save for the garden next year, if desired). Rub flesh of the squashes with olive oil and then bake- cut sides down- on baking sheet for 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, scoop flesh out from squash shells, leaving enough for the shells to keep their shape.

In a small bowl, fork mash squash flesh and combine with remaining ingredients. Spoon into squash shells and serve.

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