Everybody Loves a Squash!

I spent the past 2 work weeks in Dallas, which meant little to no cooking, despite a $60 shopping trip at Trader Joe's?  (I bought a lot of nuts... and nut butters... and frozen shrimp!  OK, done justifying.)  But I did have a very foodie night last Sunday.  Katie, Joanna, Amanda, and I went to the 92nd Street Y to see the one and only Max Brenner speak about his and, coincidentally, my favorite topic: CHOCOLATE.  There were obviously samples, including a cocoa dusted, chocolate- and hazelnut-covered pecan and a perfect cup of hot chocolate (read: liquid chocolate).  It was actually really inspiring to hear the path he took to get where he is today, and it sort of jump-started that creative inner spark that I sometimes forget I have.  And it totally made me want to be a part of the food industry.  Still refining that plan...  "Max" (his real name is Oded, and he is Israeli and awesome) wrote a very cool, abstract cookbook, but in the interest of not spending money and not getting fat, I didn't buy it.  But it seemed like a solid piece of art.

Lest you think my friends and I were slacking off, we had a potluck dinner before the lecture.  I made a butternut squash/quinoa fiber mess, based on this recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs.  I followed her recipe, but served it over quinoa and added some fresh baby spinach to the mix, mostly for visual pleasure.  It was a little orangey-beige for me otherwise.  And maybe a little heavy on the tahini dressing.  I think I didn't use as much squash as I could have.  Overall I really liked this, especially the quick dressing, and I would try it again, but probably without the quinoa.  Just not necessary.

Then I got a little silly.  What can I say?  I love organic fruits, like this one that I live with.

Hmm, I look a little like a monkey.

I would also like to thank two dedicated readers for giving me photos and recipes of their food creations!  I'm sorry I'm so delayed in putting them up here, but Ilene sent me the following recipe for a butternut squash lasagna (at least I think that's the one she ended up making!) and Kristen made all kinds of pumpkin fun.  That one is TOTALLY something I am making as soon as I have more than 2 ramekins in my kitchen.

First, the fruits of Ilene's labor:

And now Kristen's other pumpkin creation, a custard!  Kristen, where is the recipe from?  I think blog rules are that I can't post it unless I cite the source.  And, I mean, I'm sure my blog is being policed carefully due to the high traffic rates.  (HA.)  I can post a picture, though.

YUM!  And it's dairy free!

Time to get back to work, which is wonderfully relaxing this week, due to the fact that apparently the corporate culture of our client is to, um, take off the entire week before Thanksgiving, regardless of whether or not you have an incredibly huge deadline coming up in 2 weeks.  Hey, I'm not complaining.  Going to take advantage of it and work on my year-end review.  Happy Thanksgiving week!