I’ve heard there is snow in some parts of the country and over 80* in others. That’s crazy to me! Here in Boston we are in full-on fall mode. That means pumpkins and roasted veggies and apples (although the apple season is almost over. It goes by so fast!). I think pumpkin is the first thing that people associate with fall. Well, at least I do. And I have a confession – I wasn’t always a huge fan. I’m not sure if we really ate pumpkin growing up and it just kind of tasted bland and mealy to me every time I tried it. Of course blogging (and blog reading) has opened my eyes to a lot of things. A lot of foods I’ve never heard of, a lot of ingredients I never cared for… done a little differently and a lot more intriguing. And so with seemingly every blogger’s obsession with pumpkin (and all kinds of squash for that matter) somehow I caught the bug. I am now officially obsessed too! The problem is that Adam hasn’t been brainwashed to the same extent (and by the way, thank you for the brainwashing… I am a very happy member of the clan ) and so I keep drooling over my screen, seeing delicious recipes with pumpkin, knowing that I will get to deal with “the face” even at the mention of dinner starring squash. And so I go on with my day, squash-less. (hehe, “squash-less” actually sounds really funny).

Last week Adam had plans to go out with his buddies and I happen to walk through a farmers market where acorn squash caught my eye. Hey, maybe I can make dinner just for myself with one of these little guys? I was all over that! So I did a quick search in my google reader (I save hundreds of recipes for nights exactly like this… and then maybe make 2 of them a year. Le sigh) and found Bridget’s recipe for autumn chowder. It starred butternut squash (I was sure acorn would be fine), sweet potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, corn and bacon and cheese for peet’s sake! I figured Adam could try it and if he didn’t like it, I’d be happy to freeze the leftovers and enjoy for them for random lunches and future lazy nights. But you know what? Adam LOVED it. There were so many delicious root veggies in this recipe that the squash played a very small part of the dish (I still loved having it there but I knew that Adam wouldn’t even be able to detect it). I omitted the onions, used 2 cups of light cheese, 1% milk and I wish I skipped the flour. It actually completely clumped up but not before adding a weird powdery texture throughout (the was plenty creamy and thick without it). This was hearty, cheesy, sweet and a little salty (from the bacon). I also added a bit of hot sauce to each bowl for a little extra kick. I can’t wait for my leftovers… not that we had much to freeze!

A recipe with squash that even a squash hater will love. Do you have any favorite recipes with “hidden” veggies?