Many years ago a dear friend and I moved in together while we were working in exciting, low-paying government jobs. One of her team-mates had a home outside of town and had farm animals and a garden. I particularly remember a grisly story about the “processing” of a chicken that went from chasing to killing, disembowelment and plucking. The story took an hour as did the processing.
He was a nice guy and my roommate often came home with extra vegetables from his garden (but no chickens). Once he gave her a Hubbard squash. I’d never seen something of that size or texture. I knew that Irma Rombauer (Joy of Cooking) would have the answer. Now I do not have that cookbook any more and all my current cookbooks are in storage but I recall it saying that one needed non-kitchen implements to gain access to the interior of that particular huge winter squash. My story has grown with the years and I’m talking sledge hammers, axes or chain saws.
We were living in the city, actually we both grew up in small nearby towns. Our families didn’t own these implements, five and seven hours away by car. The lovely Hubbard lived on our kitchen counter for six months until we threw it out. To this day, I doubt either of us has ever tasted Hubbard squash. Pity. Cheers, Dee
Cooking with Dee 
Sometimes prepping a squash that large can be like butchering an animal, more like a hog than a chicken, thought. I name all my large squash as they are growing, and I too am sad when the growing season is over. But I am no longer sad when I start making fabulous squash cookies……..
Now if we’d gotten that Hubbard on my husband’s family farm in TX we could have gotten into it in a heartbeat! I’m in my early fifties and have never used a chain saw and will never do so if I can help it. I only shot a bb gun because it was required in school down south for every “Southern gentlewoman” to know how to shoot. I was so nervous to pull the trigger that few weeks that I nearly failed the class! Thanks for writing in, and good luck with your squash this year. Dee