squash

Be still my Delicata heart

I don’t know how this beaut escaped my taste buds for so long, but now that I’ve found it, I’m not letting it go.  This squash just blew my former #1 (butternut) way out of the water. Dear Mr. Butternut squash, You were good to me for a while.  You stood the test of time as I experimented with various other squash varieties.  Acorn had nothing on you, pumpkins were a close call, but in the end you prevailed.  Spaghetti squash are fun to play with, but can’t stand alone.  Even the much adored Kabocha… Read more >

Spaghetti squash mexicana

Originally, this post was featured on my cousin Pattie’s blog, but I figured the recipe was too good to withhold from my regular readers. On that note, I share with you: Spaghetti squash mexicana Now I’m not sure if a black bean & avocado salsa qualifies a dish as Mexican…but that’s the name I’m going with 🙂 As the colder months set in, I’m constantly trying to find a way to marry what’s seasonal and local (on the East Coast) with flavors that are familiar from my upbringing (on the West Coast).  I’m not sure… Read more >

Vegan “buttery” mashed UNpotatoes

   Ingredients 1 big ‘ol parsnip (check out the fatty below) 1/2 cup cauliflower florets (approx 1 medium sized head) 1/4 cup butternut squash (approx 4 large chunks) 1 tsp miso paste (optional) 1 tbsp nutritional yeast 1/3 cup nondairy milk (I’m a fan of rice milk or coconut milk) salt & pepper to taste Instructions First peel the parsnip (I don’t go out of my way to get all the exterior off, just a loose skinning to get off the major ickies).  Then, chop and steam the crap out of the veggies (the mushier… Read more >

Faz

Not the Fonz…   Faz! While home, Kyle and I made more headway with the wedding planning, including research for our rehearsal dinner.  FAZ is a cute Mediterranean restaurant with amazing food, classy ambiance, open atmosphere, and YES, those are trees inside!  Anything green gets the thumbs up from this girl hippie. After we checked out the space, they treated us to dinner.  Fabulous! We started with brick oven flat bread and rosemary foccacia fresh from the oven.  It was warm, fluffy and heavenly.  Kyle dipped his in the seasoned oil & vinegar with parmesan… Read more >

One of these days

…I’ll be at a NYE party that is klassy and doesn’t involve plastic red cups. …this will be enough EtOH for a group of 20. (this was only 1/3 of the actual drank) …”dinner” will not mean chips, salsa, pretz, and chocolate… …or B- and fruit. …five sips of champagne won’t give me the drunkface “glow.”   …sledding with my sisters will not involve my dad’s overall ski-outfit from the 70’s. …we will get an accurate head count before piling into a car with one too few seats (there are a couple of people not… Read more >