Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Start by preparing the squash. Like I said, squash is challenging to chop. This is my method: make sure you have a sharp knife, then slice the ends on the squash. The slice the long thin half of the squash off. Set the other half of the squash - the part with the seeds - aside for now. Then slice the squash into rounds about 1 1/2 inches thick. Then slice the skin off the rounds and chop up the rounds up creating 1 1/2 inch cubes. Then with the other half of the squash, slice it in half from top to bottom. Scoop out all of the seeds, and then chop into 1 1/2 half-rounds, remove the skin, and chop. Place all the chopped squash into a bowl.

Melt 4 tablespoons of butter and pour it over the squash. Add 1/2 cup brown sugar, and the maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt. Toss everything together.

Pour the squash onto a baking sheet and roast for 1 hour, flipping the squash after 30 minutes. Then refrigerate.

On Thanksgiving Day, add another 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the squash. Then melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Once the butter begins to bubble, add the sage and let it fry for 3-4 minutes, until stiff. Pour this and any extra butter over the squash.

Cook the squash at 350 degrees for at least 40 minutes before serving.

**If you don't want to make this a day ahead, I would add all the sugar at once, roast the squash for an hour and 20 minutes, and add the fried sage just before serving.