Baked Acorn Squash with Dried Cranberry Brandy Sauce

I cannot think of a dish the screams autumn like this one does, and it really hits on all cylinders.  It's easy, elegant, visually appealing and delicious.  I found this recipe after searching for fall/autumn dinner side dishes and made few modifications if any, but I didn't make note of its original creator.  This accompanied a dinner that included my Mini Meatloaf Rings, found here, and Scalloped Potatoes au Gratin, found here, in a menu created for a family dinner right after the Autumnal Equinox and titled, "Fall is in the Air." This recipe provides four portions, but you'll have sauce leftover and so you can easily prepare more squash if needed.  If you have particularly large acorn squash, cut them into quarters.

Ingredients
2 medium acorn squash, halved with seeds and fibers removed
4 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp maple syrup
1-1/2 cups dried cranberries
3/4 cup cranberry juice (you can substitute sugar-free)
2 tbsp brandy
1 tsp dried orange peel
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp corn starch 

The Recipe
Preheat the oven to 400F degrees. Lay the squash peel side down on a sheet pan or cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil for easy clean-up.

Melt the butter in a microwave oven, add 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and the maple syrup, then stir to combine.  Drizzle this over the squash.

Roast the squash for one hour until fork tender.  You can finish them off by broiling the squash for 2-3 minutes until they pick up a little brown and char.

In the meantime, put the dried cranberries in a sauce pan and add the remaining brown sugar, cranberry juice, brandy, dried orange peel, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer ten minutes.

Make a slurry by whisking the corn starch with a few ounces of warm tap water, then add this to the cranberry sauce to thicken, a little at a time, until the desired consistency is reached.  Allow the sauce to simmer for a minute after each addition of the corn starch slurry.

Serve the acorn squash with the sauce spooned over.