WINTER SQUASH DESCRIPTIONS & PHOTOS 

Acorn Squash -  As its name suggests, this winter squash is shaped like an acorn. A favorite baking squash, it's easy to slice into halves and fill with butter. A small acorn squash weighs from 1 to 3 pounds, and has sweet, slightly fibrous flesh. Its distinct ribs run the length of its hard, blackish-green or golden-yellow skin. In addition to the dark green acorn, there are now golden and multi-colored varieties.

Ambercup Squash - A relative of the buttercup squash that resembles a small pumpkin. Bright orange flesh has a dry sweet taste. Has an extraordinarily long storage life.

Photo from Veseys.com

Autumn Cup Squash - A hybrid semi-bush buttercup, dark green squash. Rich flavored flesh .

Butternut Squash - Beige colored and shaped like a vase. This is a more watery squash and tastes somewhat similar to sweet potatoes. It has a bulbous end and pale, creamy skin, with a choice, fine-textured, deep-orange flesh and a sweet, nutty flavor. Some people say it is like butterscotch. It weighs from 2 to 5 pounds. The oranger the color, the riper, drier, and sweeter the squash.  

Buttercup Squash - Buttercup Squash are part of the Turban squash family (hard shells with turban-like shapes) and are a popular variety of winter squash.

Has a sweet and creamy orange flesh. This squash is much sweeter than other winter varieties. Buttercup Squash can be baked, mashed, pureed, steamed, simmered, or stuffed and can replace Sweet Potatoes in most recipes.

Carnival Squash - Cream colored with orange spots or pale green with dark green spots in vertical stripes - coloration sometimes divided part and part - golden flesh. Carnival Squash have hard, thick skins and only the flesh is eaten. It is sometimes labeled as a type of acorn squash.

The delicious yellow meat is reminiscent of sweet potatoes and butternut squash and can be baked or steamed then combined with butter and fresh herbs.

Delicata Squash - Also called Peanut squash and Bohemian squash. This is one of the tastier winter squashes, with creamy pulp that tastes a bit like corn and sweet potatoes. Size may range from 5 to 10 inches in length. The squash can be baked or steamed The thin skin is also edible.

The delicata squash is actually an heirloom variety, a fairly recent reentry into the culinary world. It was originally introduced by the Peter Henderson Company of New York City in 1894, and was popular through the 1920s. Then it fell into obscurity for about seventy-five years, possibly because of its thinner, more tender skin, which isn't suited to transportation over thousands of miles and storage over months.

Gray Hubbard Squash

Hubbard Squash - The extra-hard skins make them one of the best keeping winter squashes. These are very large and irregularly shaped, with a skin that is quite "warted" and irregular. They  have a blue/gray skin, and taper at the ends. Like all winter squash, they have an inedible skin, large, fully developed seeds that must be scooped out, and a dense flesh. The yellow flesh tends to be very moist, and longer cooking times in the oven are needed. They are generally peeled and boiled, cut up and roasted, or large ones are cut small and steamed or sautéed. It's perfect for pies.

Kabocha Squash 
Kabocha is the generic Japanese word for squash, but refers most commonly to a squash of the buttercup type.

It may be cooked whole or split lengthwise (removing seeds). It has a rich sweet flavor, and often dry and flaky when cooked. Use in any dish in which buttercup squash would work.

Spaghetti Squash (also called vegetable spaghetti, vegetable marrow, or noodle squash) - A small, watermelon-shaped variety, ranges in size from 2 to 5 pounds or more. It has a golden-yellow, oval rind and a mild, nutlike flavor. When cooked, the flesh separates in strands that resemble spaghetti pasta. The yellowiest Spaghetti squash will be the ripest and best to eat. Those that are nearly white are not very ripe.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, larger spaghetti squash are more flavorful than smaller ones.

To prepare spaghetti squash, cut the gourd in half lengthwise and remove the seeds, then bake or boil it until tender. Or, wrap it in plastic wrap and microwave on high for 10 to 12 minutes. Once cooked, use a fork to rake out the "spaghetti-like" stringy flesh, and serve.

Spaghetti Squash can be stored at room temperature for about a month. After cutting, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 2 days. Spaghetti squash also freezes well.

Sweet Dumpling Squash - This small, mildly sweet-tasting squash resembles a miniature pumpkin with its top pushed in. It has sweet and tender orange flesh and is a great size for stuffing and baking as individual servings. Sweet dumplings are tiny but great for roasting and presenting whole.