.squash this.

I have really just discovered the incredible that is squash. I'm not sure what I did before this past fall without squash. I remember having it on rare occasions as a kid but I've never cooked with it myself until the last few months. And I am so glad I started trying it out! As is the man.

So tonight I made a delicious roasted acorn squash for an easy, tasty side dish. I love recipes that only call for a few, simple ingredients. Most squash can go well with spicy or sweet flavors but with acorn squash all I've tried so far is sweet, a small dusting of brown sugar. I would love to hear about the other spices you use for acorn squash though!



Roasted Acorn Squash serves 2
1 acorn squash
1 tablespoon butter
2 unpacked, spoon fulls of brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the squash in half, remove the seeds. Place half a tablespoon of butter into each half of the squash. Sprinkle one spoon full of brown sugar into each well. These spoon fulls should not be packed. If I had to estimate an actual measurement per each half I would say roughly a packed teaspoon. Place the squash in a casserole dish and cook for 45-50 minutes. Use a spoon to "baste" the squash with the butter and brown sugar mixture every 15 minutes. You just want to make sure a little bit of butter and brown sugar gets onto the edges of the squash.

What's really great about this as well is that when you take it out and start to shred it with a fork the butter and brown sugar will seep deeper into the squash, giving every bite a sweet flavor. Yum!

XO

.goodness, gracious.

Where have I been!? I apologize again folks. I haven't been feeling to good for the last little bit and there hasn't been much cooking going on. Lots of cereal, sandwiches and raw fruits and veggies.

I do want to share something I made shortly before the New Year though. After all the holiday eating, drinking and overall sugar consumption I decided it was important to get some good veggies in once we got back home to Georgia. Plus it gave me a chance to use a super awesome, new kitchen gadget I got.

A steamer basket!

I used it to steam cauliflower and make mashed cauliflower. Mmmm. It was cauliflowerlicious.

There's not really a set recipe that I used for this, just a mish-mash of multiple recipes I looked up. The only thing I would do different next time is steam the cauliflower a little longer, it didn't quite get to the creamy stage. I served the mashed cauliflower with some ham and corn. Delish.

Mashed Cauliflower serves 4
1 head of cauliflower
1 tablespoon butter
1/4-1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper for taste

Wash and chop the cauliflower into small florets. Place them in the steamer over boiling water and cover with a lid. Steam for at least 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower is super tender.

Place in a mixing bowl with butter, milk, salt and pepper and blend until creamed. Add more butter or milk if desired.

XO

.happy new year.

Whew! Hello! Fear not Dear Readers (all 5 of you), I have not abandoned le blog. It has just been an incredibly hectic 2 weeks. We drove to Virginia. We drove to Texas. We.... sat around and watched movies. Yeah, I know.

I do have something in the queue for you but, alas, the camera battery died and I haven't charged it yet to upload the pictures. I set the man on that task. It should hopefully get done quicker that way rather than waiting for me to do it.

In the meantime I wish everyone a  very happy New Year! I hope 2011 is as good as 2010 was cause man, that is the year to beat. I'd love to hear what your resolutions are! I have a few but one is to take better photographs for the blog. If anyone happens to have a spare light box laying around and wants to sent it to me that would be awesome. Ha.

XO!

.'tis the season.

 

I have a confession. I feel as though I should tell you all I have a little bit of a blog crush on the Pioneer Woman. My cousin Mandy introduced me to her website and I have been hooked ever since. She cooks. She bakes. She takes pictures of her children covered in manure. And so much more. I love it.

A short while ago she had a cookie week, in preparation for Christmas, no doubt. I bookmarked many of the recipes to try and this is the first one I got around to. I remember having something like this growing up but it wasn't one of the yearly traditional cookies that my grandmother made.

These cookies are off the chain. For real. They are light, airy, buttery and delicious. It's taking all of our self-control for me and the man to not go eat the rest of them right now. I halved the recipe and didn't add any of the lemon or orange zest, as I only had one stick of butter and no lemon or orange. I also used whole cherries for each cookie, rather than cutting them in half. The Pioneer Woman's recipe is here. And mine is below.

Christmas Cherries makes 13 cookies
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or the juice of one lemon)
1 cup flour, double sifted
Candied cherries (green or orange)

Cream the butter and sugar together until combined. Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Mix until combined. You may need to scrape the bowl periodically to get everything together. Add the flour, mix. Place dough in a ziplock bag, or cover the bowl with saran wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. After the dough is cold enough take it out and roll it into small balls. I was able to get 13 out of a half batch. Press a candied cherry lightly into the dough. Bake for 20 minutes.

XO