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i’ve been known to be a picky eater. my relationship with vegetables is tenuous at best. i used to hate them all, but i’m slowly learning to enjoy some of them.
last fall, one of my coworkers had me over for dinner and made a really delicious and simple squash. i loved it at the time, then promptly forgot about it. when i saw all the lovely acorn squash at the farmer’s market last sunday, i thought i may as well give it a go.
the results, delicious.
and easy. i cut the squash in half and scooped out the pulp. then place a pat of butter and a teaspoon of yummy wild berry honey (from sweet as can bee honey farm) in the center. baked at 400 degrees for an hour. i probably could have cooked it a tiny bit less as the edges charred a bit.
one super helpful tip i found online was to give the squash a couple pokes with a fork and nuke it for two minutes. this made it much easier to cut the squash in half.
i also saved the seeds and toasted them w/ a little olive oil, salt, and ground cumin. 17 minutes at 275 degrees and they are just right.
i’ll definitely be exploring squash a bit more. any ideas or recipes?
i haven’t been a big fan of halloween since i was a kid. as an adult i never enjoyed the pressure, yes pressure, of coming up with a good costume. but, the one thing i absolutely L.O.V.E about halloween is candy corns. little, sugary triangles of deliciousness.
this year, since i’m all about trying to make things for myself, i wondered if i could possibly make my own candy corns. seemed crazy, right? of course, on the internets you can find out how to make pretty much anything.
after sifting through what google had to offer, i settled on this recipe posted in the washington post and gathered all the necessary provisions.
the results…
aren’t they cute little fellas?
they are seriously delicious. i could not imagine anything more yummy than a store bought candy corn, but these way beyond. incredible creamy sugary-ness with a slight vanilla flavor.
however, complete pain in the ass! the research i had done warned me that once the dough started cooling it would get hard quickly. and it did, very, very fast. my hands were aching and sore and the dough was barely pliable by the time i got the color incorporated. i was able to manhandle about half the dough into the “corn kernels.” there is no frickin’ way i could have worked fast enough to use all the dough. once i was satisfied that i did, indeed, have some pretty kernel shaped candies, i decide to screw it and just cut the dough into bite sized chunks.
the bite sized chunks are just as tasty as the kernels, but everybody knows you’ve got to eat them by nibbling off one color at a time! not having that option really does take away from the experience.
they were SO GOOD tho. i’ll probably do a little more research to see if anyone has come up with a solution and try it again sometime. next halloween, when the bruises on my hands have finally disappeared.
sundays in the fall are usually reserved for football and knitting. all. day. long. i don’t get to the farmer’s market much this time of year. but, since the seahawks were unbearable to watch this morning, i decided to make a quick run to the west seattle farmer’s market. it was a great day to visit the market; i’d forgotten how much i love fall produce.
whenever i hit the market, i can’t believe how much fantastic stuff i can get for $20. today i picked up a big jar of honey, one each of four different types of pears, a couple of pounds of sweet potatoes, a pound of poblano peppers, and a couple acorn squash. tonight i’ll be cruising the internet looking for recipes. yay!
friday was my birthday and i had some really good fun.
the cutest, funniest husband ever made me a delicious dinner of homemade macaroni and cheese. he used the recipe from a local restaurant, the icon grille. everything should have molten cheese sauce on it!
the next day, jess and i headed up to bellingham to continue the celebration. we both got our bachelors at western and have some great (and some crazy, embarrassing!) memories of the place.
first stop, casa que pasa for the most delish burritos in the northwest. i love the potatoe; jess likes the rancho. we both crave these on a regular basis and try to make a trip to bellingham once every six months or so to get our fix. pan friend potatoe cubes with beans, cheese, and an amazing sauce. to die for i tell you.
we also did a little shopping. our main stop was texture. we both have at least three of the awesome comfy skirts handmade with organic fibers from texture. they are so comfortable and cute. i picked up a black one for winter. although they are based in bellingham, texture has a booth at the ballard farmer’s market pretty much every weekend.
to keep it crafty, i picked up a couple knitting books at village books: itty bitty toys by susan b. anderson and the knitter’s book of wool by clara parkes. i can’t wait to crack into them.
then we hit up tony’s coffee to get our fix for the trip back home.
it was such a fun day. i still love bellingham. birthday’s are the best! i do, however, have a wicked food hangover from all the mac and cheese and giant burrito. oh well, i guess you only turn 35 once. yikes!
luckylily 