ACORN SQUASH AND PORK CHOPS

This is a recipe my mother always made when the weather turned cooler and "fall was falling." Fresh acorn squash is plentiful and cheap now, but it keeps well and this is a dish you can enjoy all winter. Although it takes only a few minutes to prepare, it does take a bit of time to cook, so save this recipe for a day when you have other things you want to do besides hang around the stove yet want to warm up the kitchen. I usually fix a salad and a green vegetable to go with this.

1 acorn squash for every 2 people
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pork chop for each person
2-3 tablespoons maple syrup

Cut squash in half lengthwise and clean out. Season with salt and pepper. Place cut side down in a baking pan with about 1/4-inch of water. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, season and brown pork chops. Turn squash cut side up and put 1 tablespoon of maple syrup into each squash half. Lay pork chop on top. Drizzle more syrup over chop. Bake 1 hour at 375 degrees, turning pork chop over after 30 minutes.

HINT: If you've never cut a winter squash in half before, you'll need a cutting board, a big sharp knife, and a hammer. Set the squash on the board so that it rests naturally on its side and isn't as likely to roll off the board. Place the knife with the blade in a groove of the squash's skin, with the tip either at the stem or blossom end. Tap the knife with the hammer until the knife is about halfway through the squash, then flip the squash over and do the same on the other side until the squash is cut through. If the knife starts to curve to one side or the other as it cuts through, pull it out and swing the squash around so that the cut will curve the other way (In other words, if you had the knife tip at the stem end, switch it so the tip is at the blossom end).

{Published in the Heber Springs, Arkansas Sun-Times, Feb. 24, 1999, by D.C. Ice.}