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Here we are in September again, where nature bestows all good gifts upon us; beautiful warm days, cool nights and the overflowing bounty of farms and gardens filling our kitchen cupboards with beautiful shapes, colors and aromas.   Squash is starting to appear yet we hardly have time to cook as children are going back to school with all sorts of extracurricular activities under way.   This recipe is a staple at our house and yes, of course you can put the Alfredo sauce on pasta instead of squash, but why not save that for winter when the vegetables are all gone?   Besides, spaghetti squash is so good for us; low in carbs compared to the others but lots of good fiber and nutrients.   But when we cook it alone it seems sort of bland.   I've tried it with regular tomato based spaghetti sauce, and that doesn't quite do it for me.   But with buttery, cheesy Alfredo?   Yum!

First off, you have to know that to cook squash is not half as hard as all the cookbooks would have you believe.   All you have to do (and this is for any type of hard shelled winter squash,) is rinse the dirt and sand off it and let it dry.   Then rub butter or good oil over the outside of the squash.   This helps keep the shell soft as it bakes so it doesn't split too easily.   Then put the whole squash on a baking sheet or some other low pan, to catch the juice if the skin does happen to split, and bake it for about two hours at 325°.   That's it.   The squash steams beautifully and the seeds and skin are so easy to remove when it's cooked; just split it open and separate the usable parts from the rest.   (With some varieties of the smaller squash you can eat the skin and seeds if you're so inclined!)   You can cook up the squash ahead of time if you need to and then all you have to do is whip up the sauce for a quick dinner, or if there's time you can make them in the same day.

• For the sauce, heat
  • ¼ cup butter in the top of a double boiler.   You can also do make this dish in the microwave.   I also like to crush
  • a couple cloves of garlic and put them in the butter, but that's optional.   Stir in
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese and
  • ½ teaspoon salt.
  Heat, stirring occasionally until nice and smooth.   That's it! Toss it onto your cooked spaghetti squash (or pasta) and serve with pepper and more Parmesan cheese on the side.   Delicious!