Squash with Maple Syrup and Pecans

This can go several different ways depending on your desired outcome. You can make this as is, chunky or mashed, as a side dish. You can add some brown sugar to make a sweet dessert. Or you can add chunks of cooked sweet Italian sauage to make a savory main dish or side. You could probably do a lot of other things, too. Go nuts.

The basics you will need:

2 moderately sized fall/winter squash
(ie. butternut, acorn, pattypan, cooking pumpkins, and things that look like squashes but are ambiguously named, but not zuchini or summer/yellow squash)

1 Tablespoon of butter
1/2 cup of maple syrup (1/3 c + the rest later)
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
salt to taste

To prepare your squash: cut the ends off, peel and halve, scrape out the seeds, and chop into 1/2" cubes. The cooking method is flexible, but we steamed it in the microwave about 7 minutes since it took the least amount of time, prep, and dirty dishes.

While that's cooking you should start most of your maple syrup and the butter cooking at med-low in a skillet that will be able to hold everything by the end. After about 5 minutes add the pecans and let it cook down for another 3 minutes. (If you want sausage add it and 3 additional minutes before the pecans go in.) Add squash and a little salt; cook covered for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the maple syrup (and the brown sugar if you chose that adventure), and cook for another 10 minutes or until done. Mash it if you want- or don't. Enjoy.