Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Things I Don't Understand
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Adventures in Cooking
Tonight I tried a recipe that I made up by myself. I had the idea of making butternut squash with whole wheat pasta. I searched the internet for some similar recipes to get a few ideas and ended up blending a bunch together with my own twist.
First, can I just profess my love for butternut squash? It is so delicious and flavorful and full of vitamins. I almost love it as much as eggplant, almost. I love eggplant more because butternut squash is a bitch to chop up. The rind is super tough and you really need a vegetable peeler to get through it. Except I don't have own, so I tried to use a cheese slicer. Epic fail.
Hmmm, butternut squash kinda looks like.....yeah....I'm not going to go there.
I sauteed chopped garlic with chopped shallot is a little olive oil. This smells sooooo wonderfully good. When a recipe starts like this, its just good.
Then I threw in some white wine, fresh ground nutmeg, paprika and allspice. When I first started cooking I didn't know what allspice was and I bought Mrs. Dash thinking that allspice just meant a blend of different spices. I was wrong.
Then I threw in the chopped up squash. I microwaved it for 2 minutes first because butternut squash takes a long time to cook and you want it to be fully cooked and tender, but not mushy. I also added some fresh basil. I poured in unsalted chicken broth, put the cover in and let it just cook away on medium heat. You want to be able to smash up the squash a little but again, you don't want it to be mushy.
Lastly, I spooned the mixture of the whole wheat spaghetti. Yum. It was rich but not heavy, I really liked the spices and the squash worked well with the whole wheat spaghetti. It tasted like Fall in a bowl, you could taste the leaves turning color and the warm, chunky sweaters. Ok, it didn't taste like sweaters but you get my point.
I also made chicken and garlic bread to go with this, which I didn't chronicle because it wasn't that exciting (the garlic bread was the stuff from the grocery store bakery). It was a good thing I had other food because after I busted my ass chopping up that squash, garlic, shallot, and sauteing and such, Brady informs me that he doesn't like squash. I know I have made him butternut squash before and he liked it. Now that I think of it, that was before we were married, I guess now that we are married he can just tell it like it is. I wonder what else he doesn't like of mine? Well tough cookies Brady, I love butternut squash and it loves me and we aren't ending this beautiful relationship just because you are a picky eater.
First, can I just profess my love for butternut squash? It is so delicious and flavorful and full of vitamins. I almost love it as much as eggplant, almost. I love eggplant more because butternut squash is a bitch to chop up. The rind is super tough and you really need a vegetable peeler to get through it. Except I don't have own, so I tried to use a cheese slicer. Epic fail.
Hmmm, butternut squash kinda looks like.....yeah....I'm not going to go there.
I sauteed chopped garlic with chopped shallot is a little olive oil. This smells sooooo wonderfully good. When a recipe starts like this, its just good.
Then I threw in some white wine, fresh ground nutmeg, paprika and allspice. When I first started cooking I didn't know what allspice was and I bought Mrs. Dash thinking that allspice just meant a blend of different spices. I was wrong.
Then I threw in the chopped up squash. I microwaved it for 2 minutes first because butternut squash takes a long time to cook and you want it to be fully cooked and tender, but not mushy. I also added some fresh basil. I poured in unsalted chicken broth, put the cover in and let it just cook away on medium heat. You want to be able to smash up the squash a little but again, you don't want it to be mushy.
Lastly, I spooned the mixture of the whole wheat spaghetti. Yum. It was rich but not heavy, I really liked the spices and the squash worked well with the whole wheat spaghetti. It tasted like Fall in a bowl, you could taste the leaves turning color and the warm, chunky sweaters. Ok, it didn't taste like sweaters but you get my point.
I also made chicken and garlic bread to go with this, which I didn't chronicle because it wasn't that exciting (the garlic bread was the stuff from the grocery store bakery). It was a good thing I had other food because after I busted my ass chopping up that squash, garlic, shallot, and sauteing and such, Brady informs me that he doesn't like squash. I know I have made him butternut squash before and he liked it. Now that I think of it, that was before we were married, I guess now that we are married he can just tell it like it is. I wonder what else he doesn't like of mine? Well tough cookies Brady, I love butternut squash and it loves me and we aren't ending this beautiful relationship just because you are a picky eater.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
It was about a month ago, when I first met Sebastian and saw that havoc he was about to wreck on my kitchen. Now after mold remediation and the rebuilding of my cabinets, my kitchen is finally back to normal again.
And I have my wonderful Uncle Rich to thank. When the mold was removed so was all the drywall from underneath my kitchen cabinets and the bottom part of the cabinets. Rich replaced all the drywall, making it fit perfectly into all the crevices and corners and he rebuilt the bottom of my cabinets. It looks awesome. Better yet, it looks like it did before the mold waged war. Now, I can put all my kitchen stuff away. Which is nice because it's been hiding in the abyss we call the "spare room." This is the room that is supposed to be a guest bedroom or Brady's sports memorabilia room or a nursery. But it is not any of those things because it has become a dumping ground for all our crap that has nowhere else to go.
But I digress, the point of this post was to say thank you to my uncle (even though I'm not sure he knows what a blog is). Thanks a million Uncle Rich, you're the best!
That's me at four weeks, I believe this is my first Easter. And I'm being held by my dear uncle who looks a little scared to be holding a baby.
And I have my wonderful Uncle Rich to thank. When the mold was removed so was all the drywall from underneath my kitchen cabinets and the bottom part of the cabinets. Rich replaced all the drywall, making it fit perfectly into all the crevices and corners and he rebuilt the bottom of my cabinets. It looks awesome. Better yet, it looks like it did before the mold waged war. Now, I can put all my kitchen stuff away. Which is nice because it's been hiding in the abyss we call the "spare room." This is the room that is supposed to be a guest bedroom or Brady's sports memorabilia room or a nursery. But it is not any of those things because it has become a dumping ground for all our crap that has nowhere else to go.
But I digress, the point of this post was to say thank you to my uncle (even though I'm not sure he knows what a blog is). Thanks a million Uncle Rich, you're the best!
That's me at four weeks, I believe this is my first Easter. And I'm being held by my dear uncle who looks a little scared to be holding a baby.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunday Funday.
This past Sunday, Brady and I headed down to Huntington Beach to celebrate my friend Rachel's birthday. The birthday party consisted of most of my college girlfriends. I love seeing my college girls, they are so much fun. We have a blast reminiscing and cracking up about our college stories. However, every time I see them, I forgot that I'm not still in college and that my body definitely does not metabolize alcohol like it did in college. Luckily, I have my advil cold and sinus hangover remedy. It works like a charm.
The party started at Black Bull Chop House in Huntington Beach for brunch. The brunch was okay, pretty typical brunch fare. But it included all-you-can-drink champagne. Which our very slow waiter, put in a bottomless carafe for our table. This is probably where we all went wrong. I don't think the phrase "all-you-can-drink" should ever be used in relation to alcohol
After brunch, we headed to Kilarney's. There was a group of guys dressed up as Mormons doing a pub crawl. Of course, I didn't realize it was a joke and was like, "hey did everyone see the Mormons in the bar? Isn't that weird?" I then noticed that their shirts were written all over with markers and they were pounding shots.
We ended that day at the Aloha Grill, mind you after Kilarney's we went to Hurricanes. We ended up doing our own mini impromptu pub crawl. The Aloha Grill is know for their rainbow drink which is like a grown up slushee with all the flavors mixed together. Brady and I were a couple of steps behind the group, when we got to the Aloha Grill, my friends had wiped out the slushee machine and it was going to take a long time for the slushee to solidify into something other than pure liquid. So we had mai tais and pretended we were in Hawaii.
And after a champagne brunch, Kilarney's, Hurricane's, and Aloha Grill, I just had to give my husband a big ol' kiss on the cheek. Or something like that.
I will have you know, that the next morning (Labor Day) I was up at 8 am and went to the gym for yoga with my sister. I also vacuumed the house, washed the bullies, cleaned the bathroom, did laundry, and cleaned the kitchen. My productivity makes me feel a little bit better about spending a day pretending I was still in college.
The party started at Black Bull Chop House in Huntington Beach for brunch. The brunch was okay, pretty typical brunch fare. But it included all-you-can-drink champagne. Which our very slow waiter, put in a bottomless carafe for our table. This is probably where we all went wrong. I don't think the phrase "all-you-can-drink" should ever be used in relation to alcohol
After brunch, we headed to Kilarney's. There was a group of guys dressed up as Mormons doing a pub crawl. Of course, I didn't realize it was a joke and was like, "hey did everyone see the Mormons in the bar? Isn't that weird?" I then noticed that their shirts were written all over with markers and they were pounding shots.
We ended that day at the Aloha Grill, mind you after Kilarney's we went to Hurricanes. We ended up doing our own mini impromptu pub crawl. The Aloha Grill is know for their rainbow drink which is like a grown up slushee with all the flavors mixed together. Brady and I were a couple of steps behind the group, when we got to the Aloha Grill, my friends had wiped out the slushee machine and it was going to take a long time for the slushee to solidify into something other than pure liquid. So we had mai tais and pretended we were in Hawaii.
And after a champagne brunch, Kilarney's, Hurricane's, and Aloha Grill, I just had to give my husband a big ol' kiss on the cheek. Or something like that.
I will have you know, that the next morning (Labor Day) I was up at 8 am and went to the gym for yoga with my sister. I also vacuumed the house, washed the bullies, cleaned the bathroom, did laundry, and cleaned the kitchen. My productivity makes me feel a little bit better about spending a day pretending I was still in college.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)