don't let your dreams get squashed

i can conquer the baking, frying, and stewing of most vegetables: zucchini bake, carrot souffle, roasted peppers stuffed with risotto, szechuan eggplant, and chard-filled enchiladas, to name a few. but now it's squash season, and i have to face the fact that turban squashes are abound everywhere! a year or so ago, some grocery (trader joe's, rainbow, albertsons perhaps?) was selling turban squash, and as i love squash, especially acorn squash with apples, i figured i had the balls to take on this odd-looking cousin of the pumpkin. but i didn't. after wanting to throw the sad squash against the wall or run over it w/the v6, i faced reality and called in todd to use his manly muscles to slice it in half. after much sweat and swearing, he sliced it in 2, but after 3 hours in a 475 degree oven, it still wasn't finished baking. once it was cooked, it tasted like muck (although i've never tasted muck. but i'm sure that's what it tasted like.), and i had to give up on the squash to beat (not beet) all other inferior squashes to a pulp and order take-out instead. so you might see a turban squash while at your neighborhood grocer and think "hmmm. let's cook a turban squash. it'll be fun!" but heed my warning and choose a friendlier gourd instead. your loved ones will thank you.