Nice'n'easy acorn squash

Yawn... so, long day today, and a freak warm spell has left my apartment damp and chilly. (The radiators just don't bother unless it's 20 below.) Time to turn on the oven and bake some squash, and maybe the place'll heat up a bit. There's not much in the fridge and I'm feeling lazy, so I just tossed a couple acorn squash in the oven and rummaged around to see what else I could add.

Mmm, organic butter melted in a saucepan. Toss in some garlic and oh look! Here's an apple - peel that, core and slice, toss 'er in the garlic saute... Anything in the freezer? Oh score! Blueberries! Some of those, and hey, limes were 3 for a buck at the supermarket (there goes the 100 mile diet), so squeeze in the juice of half of one of those and simmer on low for 10 minutes or so, till the apples are just soft and the blueberries are gloriously melty and purple.

Rummaging in the fridge again, I find a stashed bottle of Abymes Vin de Savoie and some Spanish cheese, a Ros. (Please don't ask why there just happens to be Spanish cheese in my otherwise nearly empty fridge. We all have our addictions, and it's still cheaper and healthier than heroin, last I checked.) Wine goes in the glass, and a nice wedge of about $2.50 worth of expensive, imported - but oh so delicious! -ludicrosity goes on the plate.

Halve and seed the now-baked squash and divide the apple-blueberry mixture between. (I'd have taken a picture, but I was hungry. You will have to use your imagination.) This is a seriously fine squash. Buttery, nutty, and even slightly sweet, though I didn't add anything to it. The apples and blueberries are tart and the garlic gives just a little kick. And the cheese... well, the cheese is just divine.

The wine, from the Alps in southeastern France, is Evian on crack. To be honest, I'm finding it a little acidic for this rustic fruit-and-veg dish, but it seems to be evolving nicely as I plow through my meal.

If I had it to do again, I'd add a bed of wild rice and tart the whole thing up with a good dose of sage. Oooh, and a side of steamed or sauteed greens. Then I'd pair it with a Beaujolais-Villages or a mellow pinot noir from the Northwestern US or, a little edgier, a gamey one from Austria or Hungary. Vastly cheaper and darned good is the Alfredo Roca pinot from Argentina. Or just ask your local cork dork for a nice fruit-forward plonk around $10-15. Heck, Charles Shaw's merlot would work just fine.

Oh, but I'm looking forward to making a yummy soup tomorrow with that second squash and any leftover Abymes!