Roasted Sage Spiced Butternut Squash

Creamy, butternut squash with the warming spices of fall & winter! A perfect side dish to your Thanksgiving meal.

You guys, I can’t get enough butternut squash. I’m not kidding you. I think every time I go to the grocery store I’m putting one into my cart. I see it and I feel like if I don’t buy them, who knows the next week they might go out of season! I bake so much of this stuff that I’m giving it away to family cause I can’t keep up! For some reason each season this year is just zipping by me. Almost like next thing you know it spring time has come and I’ll be wishing I would have made more of my pumpkin spice coffee. I’m the type of person thinking about eating pumpkin pie in July but dreaming about it in October. Like how fun would it be to have a Thanksgiving dinner in the summer? I know I’m not the only person that cooks extra food for Thanksgiving just so we can have leftovers for the whole week. Ok, and yes, that’s what seasons are for. Because there are specific times dedicated to Holidays and certain veggies and fruits that go alongside with autumn, winter, spring and summer. I know it, and I recall not feeling like I want to be baking a turkey when it’s 90 degrees outside and humid in August. But it’s the thought that counts…I can’t help feeling all the cozies during the winter!

So our family is celebrating Thanksgiving this year with both sides of my family. Which means my parents are hosting in their basement and we’ll be eating around the ping pong and pool table cause 40+ people will be gathering! I’m so excited because for me Thanksgiving food is just the best. And we have a lot of great cooks coming together. It’s so fun to eat the traditional food but also the new, creative dishes people bring too! I’ll be making stuffing this year, sweet potatoes and a roasted vegetable. I’m sure I’ll also throw together a fun dessert to celebrate my husband and my birthday which is 5 days apart! His is on the 22 and mine on the 27 and we were born the exact same year! My plan is to make pumpkin and chocolate chip cookie dough brownies. It will be something that I can make the day before and just under bake them a bit!

My sister-in-law scheduled this awesome online sign up for all the food that needed to be covered for Thanksgiving. We were also able to rsvp how many people were coming. It kept track of everything and you could even add specific notes on your dish you were bringing! I used to prepare all of the food the day of but then I got smart and decided I needed to make ahead more dishes! So that’s what I’m doing this year since Kosta’s birthday is the day before Thanksgiving on the 22. I want to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with him and we have plans to go out to eat for steak because who wants to cook dinner after being in the kitchen all day! Monday I’ll go grocery shopping with my Mom to Costco and help her pick up the turkey and the items for the appetizer/cheese board. I’ll also pick up the wine and whiskey to make Cheryl’s Thanksgiving mimosas. Don’t they just look like the most festive cocktails?

So as you are finishing up your Thanksgiving meal plan, be sure to add these roasted butternut squash to the list because let me tell you, they are the best crunchy, yet creamy bites you’ll taste and they can even be served as an appetizer. I’m definitely not against maple toasted pecans for a snack but what if you decided to make these and just roast them a bit longer to get them even crunchier? You could even add them as a “crouton” for your salad. Or mix in for stuffing, kind of like a corn bread cube. Ok, I’m just getting some more ideas here but my favorite way to eat these are just straight off the roasting pan! And the sage really adds the best flavor that you don’t want to miss. But if you’d rather add a different herb I’m sure thyme or rosemary would be wonderful as well.