Thursday, January 17, 2008

#1: Butternut Squash with Nuts

For those of you who receive a CSA box or who have a winter garden, you know the curse of winter squash - silky, sweet, luscious, multiplying like rabbits and ready to take over the world.

Thus, 101 Ways to Cook Squash, an ongoing series.

Today, a savory squash – filling, hearty, good all on its own or with a little shave of parmesan cheese, or some bitter green salad. I found a similar recipe somewhere on the internet and tinkered a little bit – everyone in the House loved it.

Butternut squash with nuts

Ingredients:
1 C chopped walnuts (toast a little in your frying pan)
3 TB soy margarine (or butter if you can swing it)
1 onion, chopped
1 regular butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cubed.
Salt and Pepper
1 C Napa cabbage (or other mild green)

1. Toast your walnuts on the stove in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Remove from heat and chop roughly.
2. Melt the margarine in the pan, add onion and sauté until tender and very slightly brown.
3. Stir in the squash, cover the pan, cooking until done but not mushy, perhaps on the al dente side. This takes about 10 minutes.
4. Stir in the cabbage and the nuts, and adjust seasoning.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Waiting for Imbolc

Apologies, Dear Reader - I’ve been Away, house sitting, without Internet. Not a bad gig – I watch TV, walk the dog, read, rest. It's wonderful to be back at the House with Dear Housemates, though.

Right now we are between New Year’s and Imbolc, which is the halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. We’ve made our resolutions, and are waiting for the perfect moment to release them into the world. After the darkness of the Solstice, the light is starting to emerge, so faintly you almost can’t tell. This lends a certain quality to January that I love – a sense that this time doesn’t count, is only practice for the real work in another few weeks.

I’m spending January preparing for the year. This year I’ll be bringing dreams for my life to reality, solidifying diffuse ideas into something true and concrete. Time to start spending my energy on my plans, to see which ones work and where they will take me.

Last year I was pruning – casting aside all the extras, familiar ideas, old patterns, old branches and leaves. I’ve only started building during the past 3 months or so – gradually starting to re – member forgotten dreams and visions about who I am and what world I want to live in. Now all that’s left is to put small changes to work – how I spend my minutes, where my dollars go, things like that.

Like wintering cherry trees, saving precious energy in their roots, I’m trying to eke by until Spring, when I can explode upwards into a halo of blossoms and new branches. I can’t wait.