Life is sometimes simple, except when it’s not. Writing isn’t simple, or at least I don’t find it so. Buying a house isn’t as simple as we would like it to be. Raising a puppy or a kitten isn’t as simple as it looks at first. But baking spaghetti squash is simple, if you know the right way to do it.

Don’t hack away at that rind! Why are you trying to cut that raw, hard thing in half? Why would you do that!?

Here’s the easiest way in the world to bake that big yellow sucker:

1. Wash your spaghetti squash all over and pat dry.
2. Poke a fork in that hard rind, all the way around, so it won’t explode in your oven. This is just a precaution; once I forgot to do it, and the squash was fine.
3. Put it on a cookie sheet on a piece of parchment paper.
4. Bake that thing at 350° for one hour. If you can stick a fork in it easily and if the rind is starting to turn brown, it’s done.
5. Take it out and let it cool for maybe ten minutes, unless your hands are made of asbestos.
6. Slice the squash in half with a carving knife. The knife should go in easily and you should be able to bisect it with no trouble. As I mention in my cookbook, it’s rather like deflating a big warm football.
7. Remove the seeds and the inner pulp, which is often difficult to see because it’s only slightly darker than the flesh. It’s OK if you miss a few bits, it’s not toxic or anything.
8. Now take a fork and rake the flesh of the squash into strands. This is your “spaghetti.”

Boom, done!  Wasn’t that easy?

Don’t put yourself through hell trying to stab and slice through that hard, raw rind. Save yourself the trouble and do it the easy way. My way!

— written in response to a frustrating conversation with a clerk at the grocery store