Sugar, cream and spices all go into pumpkin pies. If you can make it with a pumpkin, potato or other starchy root vegetable, you can do the same with a squash. You just substitute the sweet potatoes for the pumpkin. Pumpkin bread becomes squash bread. Carrot cake or spice cake becomes squash cake.
Potatoes are good in soups and stews, or sliced thin and fried.
Mashed potatoes with butter and gravy have always been a staple item. The best part about most pumpkins and squashes is that they love to be sweetened. Maple syrup, white and brown sugar, molasses, honey and corn syrup are all fantastic sweeteners to consider. While a recipe may call for a cup of brown sugar, keep in mind that all pantries were not fully stocked at all times and food shortages made anything edible a real treat. Substituting these sweeteners was common.