Butternut is my favorite winter squash....I am not a big sweets lover or dessert maker but have no doubt that a pie made of butternut would be better than one made of pumpkin.

Be venturesome yourself. Pumpkin is a fine tradition. But I can vouch for Sweet Potato Pie & whip cream.

I've made wonderful pies out of buttercup squash, which is drier and sweeter than butternut. But I've been stocking up on butternut squash this year (in addition to the ones I've grown myself) because my local farm market has been charging so little for them.

And today I bought something they call a Neck Pumpkin. It looks like a gigantic butternut with a long, thick neck. Mine weighs over 9 pounds, and I paid $1 for it. A couple of people told me they taste just like butternuts.

I like butternut squash much better for pie than pumpkin. It has a prettier color too.

Sue

One can add some spices to a butternut squash pie to keep it from being, what some might think, bland. They don't have to be ordinary spices in your cabinet. I have never tried it (but I will some day), add a small hot pepper, finely minced. One pepper mixed in to a 10" pie won't amount to much fire, but it will keep it from seeming blah.

Jim

I've got a buttercup on my counter as we speak, alisande! I'm going to fix it tomorrow, don't know how yet.

Yum, Rhizo! My husband used to grow lots and lots of buttercup squash. We ate it all winter, and it was always our favorite. This was my first year growing winter squash for me and my son and his family. I planted buttercups, of course, but added butternut, red kuri, and sweet dumpling. My yield wasn't as large as I'd hoped, but I picked about 20 squash and hope they'll taste good!

PS: My photos of the red kuri and sweet dumpling are in today's "I'll Show You Mine...." thread.

This post was edited by alisande on Tue, Oct 14, 14 at 20:23

I wish I liked squash. :( I do, however, enjoy pumpkin pie.

My favorite improvement to pumpkin pie is called........apple pie!

I find both the smell and the taste of pumpkin pie to be unpleasant, but obviously lots of people love it. We banned pumpkin pie from our house years ago.

Love squash, all types. I have 8 squash sitting on my kitchen counter now, 4 different types. So much cheaper to buy at the farm stands than at a grocery store where they sell by the pound. 99 cents for a butternut squash is much better than paying over $1 a pound.

A good improvement for pumpkin pie is a splash of rum or as my friend just used a splash of vodka in her pie filling. Costco was selling their huge pumpkin pies for $5.95 last week for our Thanksgiving. I bought one and shared it with the neighbours.

I bake my squash most of the time cut in half in the oven with butter and brown sugar, microwave whole and mash it with cinnamon or chili powder. Spaghetti squash just butter and pepper or a sprinkle of fresh grated parm or romano cheese. Love squash soup.

Alisande, your squash are beautiful! I didn't grow my nice buttercup myself or any other winter squash. I'd have to double the size of my small garden area to do that and I don't think I can manage it. It would be fabulous to have my own supply, though. Congratulations to you, my friend.....good job.

I've decided to simply mash the squash tonight after cooking in a little chicken broth. I'll mix in some butter and cream, a dash of savory herbs and spices. That's my favorite way to fix hubbard squash, too. It'll have the consistency of mashed potatoes.

I had been wanting to try sweet potato pie and finally found one in the grocery store's bakery. It was really good and I went back and got another one. It's like pumpkin pie but has a lighter, sweeter, fruitier something going on. If I could choose only one pie for life it'd still be pumpkin. But not so spicy that it's smells like shaving cologne. Only rich, creamy, and sweet will do !

That sounds so good, Rhizo! Yes, the winter squash are space hogs for sure. I grew mine this year in an area formerly taken up by our inground pool. I had it filled in a couple of years ago--a bittersweet but necessary decision. I'm happy to make use of the space in this way. (The garden also contains another bean arch. It's great having two!)