I love to grill--I often find myself grilling baby-back ribs with my own dry rub, or grilling asparagus, fennel, zuchini, yellow squash, etc.

One simple recipe I came up with for butternut squash soup ... all amounts are approximate, as I rarely measure anything ...

• 1 squash, cut in half
• sprinkle enough brown sugar, cinnamon and anise seed on the cut side of each squash half
• cover baking tray with aluminum foil, place squashes cut side down on foil
• bake in oven at 375F until skin is loose and flesh is soft
• remove from oven, scoop squash flesh out, discard skin
• puree squash flesh with hand-blender, adding 1/2 pint of heavy cream

This leaves you with a thick and tasty orange soup. I have yet to find someone who didn't love it.