Acorn Squash

Winter squash is cultivated in several major varieties that are distinct in shape, size and color. They range in flavors from very mild to distinctly nutty, and in appearance from multicolored turbans, long pale bell shapes and golden footballs to grooved green and orange spheres. Winter squashes should feel heavy for their size, and have a hard, deep-colored rind free of blemishes and soft spots. The thick shell should have a dull appearance; a shiny rind indicates unripened squash.

Q: I am a big fan of winter squash, especially acorn squash. I really want to incorporate it into more of our family meals. Can you please send me some acorn squash recipes (other than soup)? - Barbara M. A: I can only assume you're already an expert at making acorn squash soup and don't have anything against a lovely, velvety, satisfying tureen full of the stuff. I'm also a big winter squash fan, and before I start getting e-mails, I'd like to clarify one little point: Acorn squash is in the summer squash family, along with zucchini, but in the kitchen, it is often treated like winter squash, such as butternut.

American Indians began cultivating asquutasquash more than 2,000 years ago, a hearty vegetable that has long since been abbreviated to "squash. " Harvested in autumn, winter squash soon became a staple of early American settlers because the thick shell allowed for long storage. All squash is high in fiber, and winter squash is an excellent source of beta carotene. One-half cup of cooked acorn squash contains about 12 percent of the daily requirement of Vitamin A and about 20 percent of Vitamin C, at only 57 calories.

"What's low in fat, low in calories, loaded with vitamins and tastes good?" is the joke. "Nothing!" is the punch line. But we beg to differ. Winter squash is nutritious and sweet enough to please a family at dinnertime. February's doldrums can be livened up with a variety of stuffed winter squash as inexpensive, meatless alternatives this month. Hard-shelled squash first appears in supermarkets by late fall, and its season extends to late winter. The darling of nutritionists, winter squash is loaded with fiber and vitamins A, C and B complex.

Teaming a food-and-wine writer with a prize-winning sommelier has produced an innovative cookbook-wine guide that combines more than 50 inventive recipes with practical wine information. The premise of Red Wine With Fish: The New Art of Matching Wine With Food (Simon & Schuster, $19.95) is that while the rules for mixing and matching wines are not written in stone, some wines pair better than others with certain foods. Matching foods and wines is an age-old mystery. Sometimes the perfect match is a personal preference, but other times it involves good sense.

The Owens-Illinois Co. finally closed its glass-bottling factory here, after years of cutting its workforce in the early 1980s. By then, this small, hilly, hard-pressed city of less than 20,000 had gradually lost about 3,000 jobs at the Owens plant and had seen most of the vegetable processors in South Jersey shut their plants, too. Even the area's farms, with the seasonal jobs, had begun devolving into real estate. When Owens made its exit, that appeared to be the last ax for Bridgeton's hopes for better economic days.

At Linvilla Orchards in Media, produce manager Ed Farace stocks plenty of pumpkin and winter squash varieties that he says taste much better than the standard jack-o'-lantern type. They're all good for you, but as a rule the more orange the meat, the more nutrients it contains, including vitamin C, potassium, omega-3 fatty acids, and beta-carotene. Any of the varieties mentioned below can be purchased now and stored inside in a cool spot for use this winter. Fairytale and Cinderella pumpkins: Both of these deeply ribbed pumpkins will remind you of the kind that magically became a carriage for Cinderella when her fairy godmother sang "Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo. " Both have a flat appearance, as if they have been stepped on and squashed.

When it comes to microwave cooking, people often misjudge the "doneness" of the food because they haven't factored in the standing time, or the time that the food continues to cook without any microwave energy. Here's a tip: Slightly undercook a food to bring it to the right doneness at the table. People probably notice standing time the most when cooking a potato. To test a potato for doneness in a conventional oven, you should be able to pierce it with a fork. But judging doneness from a microwave oven is different.

A large part of the great pleasure derived from cooking and eating is the discovery that foods prepared in seemingly unlikely fashion can yield wonderful results. In support of this idea, we offer this month an appetizer soup that may strike you as strange but will convince your taste buds that unusual can be delicious. Four other dishes on our February Affordable Feast menu will let four people enjoy not only novelty, but also bounty. All of the dishes are easily prepared from supermarket ingredients at an economical cost of less than $14. Here is this month's menu: CURRIED SQUASH SOUP HAM WITH RAISIN SAUCE BAKED ONIONS STEAMED FRESH SPINACH BUTTERSCOTCH BREAD PUDDING All items used to prepare this meal were checked for price and availability in a Philadelphia-area IGA market.

Let's see, I guess I've been picking my Burpee "Snappy" snap peas for about 10 days, now. That means it's probably about time to be planting some cucumbers next to the pea trellis so it will turn into a cucumber trellis in early August or maybe even late July. I did find a little self-sown "Yellow Plum" tomato plant there some weeks back. If it survived drought, pea shade and weed festation, I'll tie it to a bit of trellis too. If you and your family and your neighbors and your local food cupboard or soup kitchen all partake of your garden's goodies, you want to get the very most out of your space and keep planting stuff.

At Linvilla Orchards in Media, produce manager Ed Farace stocks plenty of pumpkin and winter squash varieties that he says taste much better than the standard jack-o'-lantern type. They're all good for you, but as a rule the more orange the meat, the more nutrients it contains, including vitamin C, potassium, omega-3 fatty acids, and beta-carotene. Any of the varieties mentioned below can be purchased now and stored inside in a cool spot for use this winter. Fairytale and Cinderella pumpkins: Both of these deeply ribbed pumpkins will remind you of the kind that magically became a carriage for Cinderella when her fairy godmother sang "Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo. " Both have a flat appearance, as if they have been stepped on and squashed.

Q: I am a big fan of winter squash, especially acorn squash. I really want to incorporate it into more of our family meals. Can you please send me some acorn squash recipes (other than soup)? - Barbara M. A: I can only assume you're already an expert at making acorn squash soup and don't have anything against a lovely, velvety, satisfying tureen full of the stuff. I'm also a big winter squash fan, and before I start getting e-mails, I'd like to clarify one little point: Acorn squash is in the summer squash family, along with zucchini, but in the kitchen, it is often treated like winter squash, such as butternut.

Winter squash is cultivated in several major varieties that are distinct in shape, size and color. They range in flavors from very mild to distinctly nutty, and in appearance from multicolored turbans, long pale bell shapes and golden footballs to grooved green and orange spheres. Winter squashes should feel heavy for their size, and have a hard, deep-colored rind free of blemishes and soft spots. The thick shell should have a dull appearance; a shiny rind indicates unripened squash.

Steve Goddard is surprised himself when he finally counts the number of compost bins behind his London Grove house. Let's see: The numbered ones, 1 through 9, are squat cylinders of green plastic 3 feet high, 3 feet in diameter. Two have names - Judy, after the friend who gave it to him, and Black Mariah, because of its color. Then there's a squarish model dubbed "the doghouse" and three resembling mini-space capsules. Finally, the grand champions: two voracious tumblers that can hold almost six large trash bags of stuff each.

American Indians began cultivating asquutasquash more than 2,000 years ago, a hearty vegetable that has long since been abbreviated to "squash. " Harvested in autumn, winter squash soon became a staple of early American settlers because the thick shell allowed for long storage. All squash is high in fiber, and winter squash is an excellent source of beta carotene. One-half cup of cooked acorn squash contains about 12 percent of the daily requirement of Vitamin A and about 20 percent of Vitamin C, at only 57 calories.

"What's low in fat, low in calories, loaded with vitamins and tastes good?" is the joke. "Nothing!" is the punch line. But we beg to differ. Winter squash is nutritious and sweet enough to please a family at dinnertime. February's doldrums can be livened up with a variety of stuffed winter squash as inexpensive, meatless alternatives this month. Hard-shelled squash first appears in supermarkets by late fall, and its season extends to late winter. The darling of nutritionists, winter squash is loaded with fiber and vitamins A, C and B complex.

Danish, golden and white acorns, sweet mama, butternut, buttercup, baby pumpkins, white baby pumpkins, Hubbard and golden Hubbard squashes - the farmers' market bins are beginning to overflow with mountains of colorful, hard-shelled squash types, commonly known as winter squashes. They are rich in complex carbohydrates and are good sources of fiber, and the deep orange-fleshed varieties such as acorn and buttercup are carotene powerhouses. They are very low in calories, fat and sodium.

When it comes to microwave cooking, people often misjudge the "doneness" of the food because they haven't factored in the standing time, or the time that the food continues to cook without any microwave energy. Here's a tip: Slightly undercook a food to bring it to the right doneness at the table. People probably notice standing time the most when cooking a potato. To test a potato for doneness in a conventional oven, you should be able to pierce it with a fork. But judging doneness from a microwave oven is different.

Americans have all but forgotten seasons in the kitchen. But one food still found almost exclusively on cold-weather menus is winter squash. While the thinner-skinned and quicker-cooking summer varieties are in demand year-round, few people care to cook the hard-shelled winter squash in summer. Prices for different large squashes in local markets last week ranged from 29 to 69 cents a pound, while the petite pattypans were priced as high as $3.98 a pound. Winter squashes (the name squash is taken from an American Indian word for gourds)

Teaming a food-and-wine writer with a prize-winning sommelier has produced an innovative cookbook-wine guide that combines more than 50 inventive recipes with practical wine information. The premise of Red Wine With Fish: The New Art of Matching Wine With Food (Simon & Schuster, $19.95) is that while the rules for mixing and matching wines are not written in stone, some wines pair better than others with certain foods. Matching foods and wines is an age-old mystery. Sometimes the perfect match is a personal preference, but other times it involves good sense.