Use a very sharp knife and cut the squash from the vine with some of the stem intact. I don't like to break off the squash because sometimes it breaks in the wrong place and you leave part of the squash behind. I always use a sharp pocket knife. Keep your knife clean, incidentally. Here's an interesting link for you. http://www.ehow.com/how_2120658_harvest-squash-zucchini.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

Well I tried a couple of acorn squash cooking techniques this week and the results were just OK, but I think it had more to do with the quality of the squash than the cooking method. I got inspired to make cornbread Thursday night so I baked the squash along with it, for 20 min. in a 350 oven and then left in the oven as it cooled off. Then I put the squash in the fridge and made it the rest of the way on Friday night. I cut it in half and scooped out the seeds. The flesh was almost white--NOT a good sign. The acorn squash I remember liking was yellow. Then I nuked the halves, cut side down, for five minutes. Meanwhile I was preheating the oven and making the stuffing. I stuffed the squash with a rice and kidney bean stuffing, including also corn and salsa and lowfat cheddar cheese. I put the stuffed squash in the oven for another 20 minutes, at 375. I forgot to salt them before stuffing them which was a bit of a negative point. The squash was done and soft, but not as much as I would have liked, and one squash was not cooked up at the top, but I had more than enough for dinner. It didn't have the best taste. If I had to make a guess, I would say it didn't get enough water while growing. I've had bitter eggplants come out of my garden in a drought, even when watered. Also, soil plays a HUGE role in how good vegetables taste. Anyway, I guess that's why most people bake acorn squash with lots of butter and brown sugar. I'm definately going to try more acorn squash recipes, now that I know the trick about parbaking or cooking them whole to make them easier to cut, seed and peel.

Earlier this week I fixed one large patty pan by stuffing it: ~ I cut off a thin sliver on the bottom so it would sit securely in a baking dish ~ cut off hard part near the stem end ~ cut out a cone wedge of the stem end about 3" wide and chopped up the flesh in this cone ~ sauteed some onion, bell pepper, the squash, and garlic in a little olive oil until tender, then added in some dried bread crumbs, Italian seasonings, s&p, and cooked until well blended and crumbs were crispy ~ put this stuffing in the cavity created by the cone cut-out, pushed some small cubes of swiss cheese into the stuffing and set the squash in a small baking dish, adding a little water to the bottom; baked at 350 until the squash was tender, then put some more cubes of cheese on top of the stuffing and baked until they were melted. It was pretty good, but I decided the flavor of this squash was not as good as other squash. But, it may have been too big, as I felt the need to remove the seeds in the bottom below the cone I cut out. Teresa

Thank you so much zeedman for all that feedback! Here is something about cucuzza vine tips, if you are at all interested. The tips are called terenumi but I hear any squash tip can be referred to as terenumi in Italian but I am not sure about that. Its all over the internet if you search for 'squash leaves recipes' or 'squash vine tips recipes'. Cucuzza is very similar to opo squash or bottle gourd, maybe the same vegetable, ( my God, I am telling you!), used in south east asian cusine and there too the tips and young leaves are loved in special dishes: http://cookingwithrosetta.com/tenerumi-2/ http://poorandglutenfree.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-to-do-with-squash-leaves-and-stems.html I read up quite a bit and the fuzzy nature of the tips and the stalks that you thought would be unpleasant are dealt with by peeling the stems. The little bit of soft fuzz on the leaves is delicious texturally. Not knowing if I would hear from, and not being able to resist I gathered tips from my Tromboncino and Zapallo. I found the peeling of the stems, which I thought would make me hate them, is actually very easy, much easier than even peeling garlic, it took me just a few mins. If you just touch the cut end of the stalk, wanting to peel, the fuzzy 'skin' just pulls off. I just flash stir fried them with a little onion, garlic and tomato in an Asian way and they were among the best greens I have ever tasted. And I am a greens fiend. Not at all bitter instead, sweet, smooth and flavorful. The peeling does make a difference (I left some stems with fuzz on) and makes a lot more of the stalk available for cooking and the peeled stalks are delicious. And you know what? I cut the tips yesterday afternoon and this morning I looked and each of the cut tips have 1-1/2 inch new shoot already growing from the node below. But not multiple shoots (at least not yet). Maybe you didn't want to hear all this but it was on the tip (HaH!) of my mind. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your knowledge. It moved me to dig a little deeper. K.