Temple Bar-barism

Yesterday we went exploring around the neighborhood of Temple Bar: this is the "arty" section of Dublin, with the vintage clothing stores, the cafes serving various soy delicacies, the requisite independents: bookstore, record store, gallery, film theatre, and-- Farmer's Market!

The market was contained in a market square, but they had copious amounts of one of My Favorite Things: butternut squash. I was so excited to rifle through the bin and find a smallish one, heavy for its size (this is good, means its ripe or something), knowing that I could purchase it and reproduce my butternut squash soup in the comfort of my suburban Dublin home. I went to the checkout, where the squash weighed in at 1.5 lbs., and I paid 3.00 Euro for it. That's about 4.00 or something. This squash grew from solid gold, on the grounds of a palace.

In America, squash gets a bad rap, I think. People seem sort of grossed out by the mushy texture, or think they have to doctor it with lots of marshmallows or syrup to alter the taste. I am here to tell you all you need is a little oil, salt, pepper, and herbs de Provence. It's awesome that way.

You're lucky to be able to get squash on the cheap: .79 per pound, or maybe less on sale. Eat it, lots of it, I beg you-- because I can't, and dream of it.