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Here in Arizona, where the weather stays summery well into October, I sometimes forget when fall hits the rest of the country. This, of course, is terribly, terribly sad, since fall – or the fall I remember from having grown up in New England, at any rate – with its cooler temperatures, yellowy-gold light, and fiery-hued foliage, has always been my favorite time of year. Fortunately, the sudden proliferation of all manner of beautiful thick-skinned gourds in the supermarkets come this time of year serves as a happy reminder that despite the fact I’m still sweating away in shorts and tanktops, autumn’s really arrived. So never mind that it’s still barbecue weather: I, for one, am more than ready to move on to fall like everyone else in the rest of the country. Which is why hot temperatures be damned, it’s time to cook up some butternut squash. Butternut squash has a yellowish-tan skin and a beautiful, bright orange flesh. When cooked, its flavor is sweet and rich, and tastes somewhat similar to sweet potatoes. Butternut squash tends to be one of the more common winter squashes, and makes for excellent cooking not only because of its fabulous flavor, but also because its skin tends to be a little easier to cut through than other winter squashes. It’s generally vaguely pear-shaped – fat at the bottom and skinnier at the top – although sometimes you’ll find ones that are much more cylindrical in form. As for size, butternut squash generally range from 8" or so long to a foot, and weigh anywhere from a pound to four. choosing and storing butternut squash prepping butternut squash
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