Karen Wils photo Baked acorn squash in a pan surround by pumpkin pies ready for Thanksgiving supper.

ESCANABA — Golden and warm and welcomed like the sun on a dreary November day, squash is comfort food.

Sweet, tender and delicious, steamy hot and drizzled with butter or maple syrup, squash is like the smile of friendship.

Thanksgiving just won’t be Thanksgiving without winter squash.

A truly American plant, the squash and his cousin the pumpkin originated in North America. Native peoples of many tribes cultivated these viny plants. The very first Thanksgiving in 1621 was more likely to have served up more squash than turkey, corn or even cranberries.

Native Americans place a great value on squash. They often planted what was called the “three sisters,” corn, beans and squash. The corn was planted first to grow tall and straight, the beans came next to twist and turn up on the corn stalks. Finally, the squash and pumpkin plants were sowed below so that they could shade the soil, prevent weeds from growing and hold moisture in the garden.

Squash seeds were easy to dry and save and replant year after year.

The tradition lived on. Today we have dozens of varieties of squash and pumpkin plants to choose from.

There are two types of squashes. The fast growing early harvesting ones like zucchini, crookneck and pattypan are called summer squash.

Winter squash often had a harder shell and is not ripe until fall. Some winter squashes are Hubbard, acorn, butternut, buttercup and spaghetti squash.

My favorite squash is the acorn squash because it reminds me so much of my Grandpa Rose’s garden. His huge Gladstone garden grew some of the best sweet corn and pole beans but right below it all squash vines thrived.

I remember as a small kid going on a treasure hunt to find the biggest, best acorn squash. Grandpa sent brown paper bags of them home with us.

Mom would cut them in half and let us scoop out all the seeds. The kitchen filled with that unique pumpkin/squash aroma. Mom would put the acorn squash on baking sheets and stick them in the oven rack below a roast ham or chicken.

As they cooked and softened, Mom stuck a generous dab of butter and brown sugar in the squash half. They were delicious.

Winter squash kept well so our basement cellar usually had a shelf of acorns well into winter.

Squash is a wonderful veggie (it is really a fruit) that takes on the flavor of what it is cooked with. It can be roasted, baked, boiled and is most often cooked in the microwave now days.

Winter squash is often mixed with pumpkin and made into pie. Squash is typically sweeter and less watery than pumpkin.

It is healthy for you too. Squash is full of beta-carotene, an antioxidant, and full of Vitamin A and potassium.

So don’t say “no thank you” when the squash is passed around the Thanksgiving table. So many good things come from our own home gardens.

We are so blessed here in Upper Michigan. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

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Karen (Rose) Wils is a lifelong north Escanaba resident. Her folksy columns appear weekly in Lifestyles.