Veggie-Deal

I was at Schnucks a week or two ago and overheard the woman ahead of me being offered a magazine with holiday recipes. "Ooo," I thought. "I could use one of those."

The cashier did not offer me one, so I asked after it, and she said it would be $0.99 (the other woman got it for free). Not sure of the discrepancy, I quickly decided I still wanted it and just chalked it up to an oh well kind of moment. Nothing worth fretting over.

Tonight I tried one of the recipes in it, and that $0.99 proved well spent. I had been hoping to make it for my two friends named Becky, who Ari distinguishes by calling one Beckby and one Beck-Beck. (What I find so funnily amazing is that, when she first used those names, I knew exactly who she meant for each.)

Unfortunately, our weekend was supremely scattered and a bit stressful, and so I asked Beck-Beck (Beckby had to cancel) if we could reschedule. I felt like a poo, but also knew our evening was bound to be a bit chaotic and it would not really be a good entertaining kind of evening.

So... Beck-Beck (and Beckby) when we are able to dine together... here is what you'll get (at least part of it!):

Maple-Roasted Acorn Squash

2 small to medium acorn squash
sea salt & black pepper (to taste)
4 tsp. butter or margarine
4 Tbsp. maple syrup
4 tsp. brown sugar
rosemary
thyme

• Halve the squash and scoop out the insides. Place into baking dish, rind side down, and add roughly 1/4 inch of water to the dish.
• Into each squash cavity, put 1 tsp. butter, 1 Tbsp. maple syrup, and 1 tsp. brown sugar. Sprinkle the squash with rosemary and thyme (roughly 1/2 tsp. of each for each squash half). You can use fresh or dried... just use your best judgment.

I may try a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg next time to see what that does to the recipe; and I definitely plan to use this as a side for Thanksgiving. I could have even spent $2.50 on this magazine thing and still come out ahead!