Dumpling Squash with T-Bone Steak

As time passes, we've been shopping more and more for our nutritional needs at the farmer's market. We now buy 99% of all our food from either the farmer's market or our local natural food store Corn Crib. This means that almost everything we eat is either 1) locally grown or produced; 2) organic or natural; or 3) both of these. By shopping in the manner and encouraging others to do so, I'm doing my part to stop GMOs, mass-produced food and all other nasty stuff associated with a globalized and industrialized food industry.

In the news I read that certain powdered milk products in China are seriously poisoning young infants. The reason? It's cheaper to produce the powdered milk with the toxin than it is to produce it without it. HOW FUCKING SICK IS THAT?! And don't get me going about battery farming, listeria, avian flu, etc. We're in a real mess if you ask me. So rebel. Eat organically and locally.

Following with my culinary acts of defiance, I've purchased an organic dumpling squash from my friends at Amarosia Organic Farm. They said that it was really sweet and delicious. So what I did was slice the squash in half, smear it with olive oil and apple butter which was already spiced with cinnamon and cloves. Had it not been, I would have gone with cardammom.

As I baked the the squash I fried up some locally raised t-bones in my cast iron skillet. I finished them off in the oven along with the squash. The problem was that my t-bones were well done before my squash was fully cooked. The meat was still very tender - which is one of the reasons I really love buying my meat from this local farmer - but the squash was pasty. If I'd mashed the squash it would have been better but seeing as my timing was already off and the t-bones were cooling down quickly I had to just eat the squash this way. 350 degrees for 45 minutes wasn't enough. Oh well, there's always another time. Hell, there surely are enough pumpkins and squashes at the market in this season to permit trial and error.

Roasted Squash Soup

Though autumn is coming to an end - evident in my neck of the woods by the fact that there's snow on the ground - the season is ripe for squashes, potatoes, onions, carrots and other such homely vegetables. So once again perusing through the market, looking for something to inspire my mediocre (at best) culinary skills, I found a lady selling a bunch of squashes. I'd seen and cooked with acorn, spaghetti and butternut squashes before, and I couldn't tell you the specific name of the squash I chose....the above photo will have to suffice for now.

Now being an amateur of soups, I turned the yellow fleshed squash into nothing more elaborate than a roasted squash soup. All I did was cut the squash in half, sprayed it with olive oil, salt and pepper and popped it into the oven till the flesh was nice and tender. Accompanying the squash was one of the purple potatoes I've got sitting in my kitchen. Though the lady at the market said that she throws in the peel and everything of the squash in her soups, I went for a more conservative preparation of simply using the flesh of the squash, that of the potato, an onion, some garlic, chopped carrot, chicken stock and a some thyme. I would have put in some celery to complete the mirepoix, but we ran out a few days before. Anyways, once every vegetable was nice and soft, I put the whole thing in the blender and served it pureed.

A simple and light meal. You just can't screw up when it comes to soup.

Spaghetti Squash & A Sleeping Potion

I was introduced to spaghetti squash some time in my teens. Coming from a family of grilled cheese, pizza fingers and takeout, I was never introduced to anything culinarily (if that's eve a word) interesting. Well spaghetti squash is not only interesting, but it's a fabulous and healthy change from pasta.

To cook the squash, simple cut it in half, empty out the seeds, place in a baking pan with about an inch of water in the bottom, and cook in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Once cooked, use a spoon to scrape out the strands of crunchy squash. Serve with homemade spaghetti sauce. Yet be warned that it's best to serve 3 or 4 people on one squash. Half the squash to yourself can be a vegetable overdose which I guess isn't so bad when compared to deep-fried food overdoses.

I also started working again after 2 weeks being paid to stay at home while they cleaned the building in which I work after some minor fire damage. And if that wasn't enough, the shifts I'm scheduled for are from 5pm to 1am. Though I get up early in the morning and simply take a brief nap before work so that I don't pass out, the hours are less than desirable. What's more, when I get home I'm almost wide awake. The solution: a grandmother's trick to drink a tall glass of warm milk before going to bed.

Though some of you might cringe to think of warm milk, there are ways to make it a bit more appealing. I for one sprinkled a bit of sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract into the milk. This concoction almost tasted like Chai tea so it went down pretty well.

On a scientific note, the melatonin (the sleeping hormone) found in milk is what makes this perfect for a pre-sleep drink. (You could always take a shot of hard liquor or sleeping pills but that can prove to be problematic in the long run).