Butternut Squash Soup and Parmesan Crisps
The little bugger had been in our fridge for more than a week. We heedlessly knocked it around as we searched for leftovers. I almost forgot it was in there until I saw its rounded little end peeking out from behind a container of steamed broccoli.
Although my mom claims that she taught us to eat “everything,” there are quite a few things that I did not grow up eating on a regular basis. One of them would be squash. Squash is for decorating during Halloween, not eating. So when Matt ordered butternut squash soup during a memorable birthday brunch, I was intrigued. What was this bright orange vegetable? Was this really the squash I painted last year for Halloween? That delicious, slightly sweet, beautiful orange flesh was inside that pale-skinned, bulbous, rotund thing all this time? When I saw the stacks of butternut squash at H-Mart, I knew I had to get one.
Say hello to my little butternut squash.
A Day of Baking
Mushroom and Kale Pasta
The only semi-healthy thing we ate today:
Pasta with crisp bacon and sliced cremini mushrooms and kale sauteed in butter, olive oil and reserved pasta water. Seasoned with sea salt, ground black pepper, grated parmigiano-reggiano and red pepper flakes. If you couldn’t tell, when you’re only cooking for two, there are many days of repeat proteins (see double spam posts below).
The rest of the day was spent baking.
Dessert:
Homemade pistachio macarons with chocolate ganache filling
“Who Looks? Who Looks?” – Deluxe Ramen
What is deluxe ramen? It’s a combination of packaged ramen (let’s keep it simple here), fresh vegetables or leafy greens and a protein topped with egg, either poached or fried separately, or dropped directly into the boiling broth.
The basic idea is that you are adding ingredients beyond the noodles, dried seasoning and soup base contained in the ramen package.
However, before you even think of going to the trouble of making deluxe ramen, you need a good base ramen.
Health on a Bun
Hi. Guest blogger Matt here. I apologize in advance for being one of those people who doesn’t give exact measurements, but let’s be honest — finesse and me have always been strangers. If you’re into delicate, thoughtful cooking, maybe you should stop reading before you get to the bacon-wrapped SPAM® and avocado sandwich with garlic wasabi mayo. BELATED SPOILER ALERT.
This sandwich not brought to you by the Federal Nutrition Council.
Eggy in a Basket
After watching “V for Vendetta,” Matt and I would always refer to fried egg on plain toast as “eggy in a basket,” even though what we were eating was not “eggy in a basket,” but just fried egg on toast. We never thought to go to the effort of actually carving the hole out of the toast, but because the name was so catchy, we used it anyways. (When we’re both starving and need coffee, any unnecessary steps are eliminated.) Since we both got up early this morning and our stomachs hadn’t woken up just yet, we decided to try it out.
The result: a delicious and hearty breakfast
Family Traditions
Whenever my family comes to visit me, I know that each and everyone of my meals will be planned for the weekend. It’s a family thing. At a minimum, we will know when and where we will be eating even if we don’t know what exactly we’ll be doing together.
We also have a few longstanding eating traditions that have developed over the years by virtue of my sister having certain cravings that happen to occur every time we are all together.
Huynh Tradition: banh trang cuon (or self-serve spring rolls) for the first night we’re all together and dim sum for the last day we are all together.
Coffee and Cupcakes
Home brewed Starbucks coffee and homemade Sprinkles red velvet cupcakes (a gift from my sister O)
Who needs to go anywhere now when you can satisfy your cravings at home! Although, I have to admit, I’m pretty geeked for the new Sprinkles opening in Chicago this spring. 
Winter Dinner Party
I first discovered the cornish game hen in the frozen section of my local grocer one day while doing my usual stroll through the store’s narrow aisles. Perplexed by the miniature chickens that were buried at the bottom of the freezer, I picked up a few of the frozen game hens, figuring that there was probably some source online that could direct me on what to do with these little birds. It turned out I didn’t need to do much searching- Matt, having actually had cornish game hens before, ended up surprising me one day with a lovely meal of an herb-seasoned cornish game hen served with a side of crusty bread, cheese, grapes and wine. (I’m smiling just thinking about that meal!)
After that wonderful dinner, I fell in love with these juicy, flavorful and elegant little birds.
So when Matt and I planned to have some friends over for dinner this past weekend, my immediate thought was to serve cornish game hens. Matt expressed some hesitance, mainly because eating cornish game hen can get a little messy (the meal looks elegant until you start cutting into it and then it’s like medieval times on a plate), but I would not be swayed. Game hens taste delicious, are fairly easy to prepare (once they’re in the oven, you can pretty much forget about them) and look great– what more could one ask for? Once I found a dinner party menu featuring cornish game hens on marthastewart.com, it was decided — if Martha Stewart can serve beautiful cornish game hens at a dinner party, then dammit, so could I.
Of course, while the game hens themselves are fairly easy to prepare, once you start matching the meal with a salad, sides and a dessert, things can get a little more complicated.
The “Leave-Your-Diet-At-The-Door” Menu
Fruit and Cheese Plate
Roquefort Pear Salad
Cornish Game Hen
Garlic Mashed Potatoes / Green Beans and Almonds
Miniature Flourless Chocolate Cakes with French Vanilla Ice Cream
