Autumn Stew/Roasted Squash Seeds

I believe I have mentioned before my love affair with winter squashes; I also shared a recipe that requires a partial can of pumpkin. In furtherance of my addiction to squash (and to give you something to do with the rest of that can of pumpkin), I concocted a stew that is, as far as I'm concerned, the season of autumn, condensed into one Crock Pot full of autumnal goodness. (I've done this before, with slightly different results; if you're curious, you can check out the post on my personal blog that I haven't updated in like a year now. This one is more creamy and less sweet, but they're definitely related.)

To start, gather every autumn-y food thing you can find, plus some other stuff:

The main things here are the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples, and sausage. But the other stuff's important, too.