Well, any recipe for butter nut will work....and I can tell you it's a royal pain to prepare!. The skin is tough and the shape doesn't make for easy peeling....so making a dish for 75, probably involving 5 or 6 squashes would take some time, just to prepare the squash....so I think I would go for something simple, like simply layering in a baking dish adding salt pepper and a little liquid ....very little liquid and roasting until tender, dot with butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar and bake again for 10 minutes just to melt butter and sugar.
But for 70 people....I would be thinking of an appetizer....how about this?

Squash dip

2 cups cooked pureed squash ( or canned pumpkin)
½ teaspoon garlic powder (Penzeys)
Slice of fresh ginger, peeled and cut up
1 teaspoon curry powder
about 2
Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (half a lemon)
2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 oz cream cheese cut into chunks
2 tablespoons dry sherry
Process in food processor until smooth….taste for seasonings and salt if needed
and perhaps add a few drops of tobacco.
Good with pita chips (home made) or corn chips

Bake them at 400 degrees whole for a bit to soften the peel. Makes them way easier to slice, scoop out seeds and peel. Then you can finish however you want. That's my "go to" way to make acorn squash nowdays. Not sure how long I bake it, maybe 40 min or so. You can also go all the way and cook them til soft and then clean, I have done that as well. In that case 45 min. to an hour in the oven. They are much less likely to dry out that way.

How about squash pie, much like pumpkin pie? I've found that anything that calls for pureed pumpkin works nicely with squash, from pie to dinner rolls to soup. I like all the winter squashes roasted with just some salt and pepper, and my girls like them mashed with brown sugar and butter. Bud likes it in dinner rolls the best, and they have a lovely golden color.

So ravioli stuffed with the squash is out of the question? (grin)

That's one heck of a plant you have going there, it's trying to gobble up the lawn!

Annie

We went away for two weeks and when we got back I half expected it to be climbing the house. Either that or that it had become carnivorous and grabbed our house sitter. At last count there are fifteen squashes, the largest is about 18" in diameter and about 10" tall. The plant itself looks somewhat worse for the wear now, in that many of the leaves are brown and wilted perhaps due to squash bugs.

Squash pie for 70???...Whew...only annie could do that!

LindaC, that would only be 9 or 10 pies, sheesh. Whatcha thinking? (grin) C'mon, get creative! LOL

Actually, it could be kind of a slab pie, in a sheet pan, those serve 40 people or so, so you'd only need 2! Or just make the custard and forget about the crust, serve squares with whipped cream.

15 squashes? Holy smokes, Bob, you'd better do SOMETHING with those, or they'll take over your living space too, LOL. How well do they store, I wonder....

Annie

Bob, not sure what you're having and if it would be a good match with the other food, but I'd make squash casserole (either one BIG one or a few regular batches). Squash Casserole

Some heirloom squashes dib;t keep aas long as butternut...marina del Chioggia begins to spoil in a few weeks. that's why the newer varieties like butter nut and acorn became popular.

Lucky you! I love winter squash = )

I'm in the same camp as lacyvail - that squash doesn't look completely ripe to me, so it will likely be disappointingly blah-flavoured. Better to wait until they're properly ripe - which should be an orange-y tan color w/ a very hard shell that resists a fingernail. (The ripeness test for hard-shelled squash/pumpkins, BTW, is to try to puncture the skin w/ a fingernail - & don't worry, if less than ripe, the puncture should heal over.)

Here's a pic of some ripe 1s FYI:

the OP mentioned that that pic was taken earlier in the season and they now are somewhat large and a tan color

So, how'd it go? What did you make?

Sally

Oops - missed that last sentence in the OP = S

Yes, do tell...

& FWIW, I've made a very yummy & easy Thanksgiving dish by layering alternate slices of squash & apples, sprinkled w/ minced fresh ginger, molasses, maple syrup & orange juice & butter (of course!)

If they're sweet, my fave is to cut in half w/o peeling & put butter & fresh rosemary branches, salt & pepper in the cavities, then baking in a casserole dish until tender.

Thinking there may be more of the harvest left to consume; here's a link to the way I learned to peel winter squash:

http://www.chefheidifink.com/blog/seasonal/how-to-peel-and-chop-a-winter-squash/

Thanks all for your suggestions. The squash do look much more like the ones in carolb's picture now. I picked one, (or rather sawed one off of the vine) yesterday. It was the one pictured above which was the oldest squash, but not quite the largest. I weighed it before proceeding, using the bathroom scale. It was 25 lbs. I then cut it into pieces using a similar procedure to the one shown in carolb most recent post. I placed the pieces in a large ruasting pan, coated them with olive oil, sprinkled then with both pumpkin pie spice and a red curry powder and put it into the oven. (I forget the setting) After about 30 minutes, I checked and took a picture:

I stirred the pan, and then drizzled a little maple syrup over the squash and cooked it for another 10 minutes. I thought it could use a little more -- something -- but it was pretty good and many of the guests liked it.

I read all of the responses that came in on Friday, but by Saturday I was cooking all day until the party started around 3:00 P.M. The other dishes I made were:

crockpot BBQ pulled pork

baby yukon gold potato salad

cold cucumber yogurt soup

fresh coleslaw

madras curried lentils

asian peanut miso noodles

as well as the roast cheese squash.

The party was a big success. I didn't get a good count of the people at the party, there were at least 55 people and the party went on until about 10:00 P.M.

Yum, Bob, that sounds delicious. I'm guessing your guests were having a good time, as they stayed, LOL.

Now, what are you going to do with all the rest of that squash? I have a nice recipe for a squash and poblano gratin, better suited to a smaller crowd. (grin) It came from "Food and Wine" magazine.

Butternut Squash Gratin with Poblanos and Cream

Food & Wine Magazine

Serves: 12

• 6 large poblano peppers (about 1½ pounds)
• 2 large butternut squash (4 pounds total) peeled, seeded, halved and sliced into "half moons"
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1½ tsps of thyme, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, sliced thinly
• 3 large garlic cloves, diced
• 1 tsp oregano, chopped
• ½ cup of heavy cream
• ¾ cup of sour cream
• 8 ounces of Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• 8 ounces of queso fresco cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat broiler. Place poblanos on a baking sheet and place under broiler, rotate peppers until they are evenly charred. Transfer to a glass bowl, cover with a dish towel and let them cool. When cool enough to handle, remove the peel, stem, and seeds. Roughly chop the peppers into thin strips
2. Adjust the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Toss butternut squash with olive oil, salt and pepper, and 1 teaspoon of thyme. Spread onto 2 baking sheets and roast until the squash is tender. About 25 minutes
3. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the sliced onion, garlic, oregano, thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft.
4. Add the poblano strips and cook until tender.
5. Add the heavy cream and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes
6. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream and season with salt and pepper
7. Spoon half of the poblano mixture into a large baking dish, layer with half of the roasted squash, and half of the cheese. Repeat with the remaining poblano mixture, squash, and cheese
8. Bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is browning and bubbling. Allow the gratin to rest for 10 minutes.

Annie

Sounds like a bash!!....what your squash was likely missing was salt!
I am going to a friend's "Pumpkin Patch Party" tomorrow and making a huge pot of pumpkin soup as my contribution.
This friend has 3/4 of an acre and grows pumpkins, gourds, squash and in another half acre,,,Indian corn. Then has a party to give it all away. If I were a good girl, I would use one of his squash for the soup.....but I am a lazy lady, so I am using canned pumpkin!!

I think you are right. I meant to finish the dish with some salt yesterday, but forgot. I tend to try to avoid oversalting food, since it is so easy (and so common) to overdo the salt. IMHO

We had about a quart and a half of squash left over from the party, so I decided to heat it up, add half and half and puree it to make a squash soup for dinner tonight. I added some more of the pumpkin pie spice and the curry powder, and black pepper and decided that it probably needed some salt. So I grabbed the sea salt and poured about 1/2 teaspoon into my hand over the pot, right as a large bubble made its way to the top of the pot, splattering a large dollop of scalding hot squash puree on the back of my hand. Now a few hours later, it still hurts and a blister is forming.

Ouch! At least it didn't happen before the party.

I'm terrible about salting food. I don't like a lot of salt, and things taste way too salty for me while others are adding salt to their same dish. It's hard for me to know how much salt to add. Your squash dish looks delicious to me. I'm interested in your lentil recipe. Can you elaborate on that?

Annie, I've seen a similar recipe by Bobby Flay using chipotle peppers with sweet potatoes instead of poblanos and squash. It would be interesting to compare. The one you posted looks better to me. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sweet-potato-gratin-with-smoked-chiles-recipe.html

Sally

Sally, I usually avoid Bobby Flay because his food is just too spicy for me, LOL. I never saw anyone who could even put hot peppers in the drinks and dessert, but he manages. I like a little heat, but not much, and I do like chipotle and sweet potatoes, so I'm going to have to try that too now.

Thanks.

Annie

sally, the Madras Curry Lentil "recipe" isn't a recipe. It was a cheat. Since I had so many other dishes I was making, the Lentils started as this:

http://tastybite.com/products/madras-lentils/?gclid=CNOZl4friMgCFVGRHwod060CGw

I merely diced a large yellow onion and three jalapeno peppers, cooked them in vegetable oil.

Opened and heated 6 packets of Madras Lentils and stirred in the onion and peppers.