Fall feasting, and a recipe

It was a lovely market day today, and I came home with a number of fall favorites (as well as a few summer holdouts):

-apples (honeycrisp, empire, and golden something - not delicious)
-pears (bosc, I think)
-apple cider!
-fennel (I haven't tried this before, but I'm looking forward to it)
-leeks and yukon gold potatoes
-blackberries (only one box at market today!) and raspberries
-squash: acorn and kabocha
-spinach, lettuce, and heirloom cherry tomatoes (sungold and yellow pear)
-nectarines (they'd been in cold storage)
-turnips, broccoli, carrots, eggplant
-shiitake mushrooms and arugula microgreens
-fresh pasta and mozzarella
-amish--made egg noodles
-grass-fed ground beef
-whole chicken

You can see that some pasta and leek and potato soup are in my future. I'm sad that I can't find local cream - I may just use some local whole milk. The tomato plants are doing their thing so I will be making some fresh sauce this week. I'd like to do a pasta with cream sauce, mushrooms, and fennel as well.

Today's cooking endeavor included grass-fed burgers with gouda, peppered bacon, and arugula microgreens for lunch, and a new squash dish for a potluck. I'll attempt to recreate it below. It's my first attempt to write out a recipe.

Mashed squash and apples
2 acorn squash
2 crisp apples
maple syrup
cinnamon
butter
coarse salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. Save at least 2 - 3 tablespoons of seeds for roasting. Place squash cut side down in a pan with a half inch of water and bake until the squash rind is easily pierced with a fork (for halves squash this may take about an hour; you can shorten the cooking time by cutting the squash in quarters.) Leave oven on.

While the squash is cooling, spread the cleaned seeds on a salted pan and toast briefly, stirring once when the seeds begin to brown. Remove from oven and set aside.

Peel, core, and slice apples, then toss with a small amount of maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I like to microwave them for 1-2 minutes, but this isn't completely necessary.

Allow the squash to cool slightly, then hold the squash with a pot holder and scrape the flesh into a shallow oven-proof casserole or dish with a spoon. Mash the squash with a fork, potato masher, or immersion blender. Add 1 - 2 tablespoons of butter and salt to taste. Drizzle maple syrup and sprinkle cinnamon over squash and stir well, to taste. Place apple slices around edge of pan and over the top of the squash. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Return dish to oven and bake for 10 minutes. Remove dish from oven and sprinkle with toasted squash seeds. Enjoy!