I abhor the fake pumpkin spice smell - think I saw something on the internet the other day about a place being evacuated for noxious odor - yup! An office I visited frequently last year had one pugged in - smelled like bad curry all day...
But winter squashes are on my favorite list. Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), aside from being beautiful, is a nice dry flavorful beast. I put it into microwave without even poking for a few minutes. After resting it is easy to clean out seeds and roast or otherwise use. I like it in a soup with coconut milk and Thai flavors.
As a singleton I am partial to the personal size Delicata squash - halved lenghwise, cleaned, sliced to half moons , tossed with olive oil, miso, and hot pepper paste - roasted = heaven - I eat the whole sheet pan as a meal.
