"yummo"

I should be reading for a paper, but I've taken a break to heat up some lunch:



These are leftovers from last night. I had an ambercup squash and cooked it according to the suggestion that was on the little label, so cubed and steamed, and then fried in olive oil until it's nice and brown. I used a spice blend that I got at the grocery store, called Carribbean spice, on it. It's got a lot of things in it, lots of cumin and garlic and oregano and chiles. This tasted so, so good. The squash was awfully hard to cut up and I wondered if it would be worth it, and it definitely was. On the side is just a pile of spinach with some dressing on it. I was actually too lazy to make a real dressing, so I just drizzled some olive oil and rasberry red wine vinegar on it and cracked some pepper over top. The squash is especially nice when a little of the vinegar gets on it. And yes, I'm not going to lie, that is a pillsbury crescent roll on the side of the plate, and it tasted delicious.



Yesterday I made blueberry muffins. It's a basic recipe, with oats and buttermilk too.

I think I'd better go put on some tea, do up the dishes, then grab a muffin and get down to work!

Sunday Lunch

This afternoon I wanted to bake a loaf of quickbread, from an old bread cook book I have. The recipe is called Brown Apple bread. It's very simple recipe. No yeast of course, because it's a quick bread. The only really time consuming part was creaming the brown sugar and butter together because I had to use cold butter, and waiting for half a cup of molasses to pour from the carton. Apparently molasses is as slow in June as it is in January! Before I could start cooking, I went to the grocery store for the buttermilk I would need, as well as some other food for the week.

While the bread was baking I fixed a lunch that made me very, very happy:



Pâté on fresh bread, with big chunks of a super-rich double-cream cheese, big pieces of ripe tomato, and salad with blueberries and pear-guava vinaigrette. So satisfying. I shop best when I imagine that I'm either French, or a very healthy hippy as I wander around the store.

The bread took an hour and a half to bake, and then I subjected it to a lengthy photo shoot. The kitchen was no good as the lighting was very blue, so I moved it to my roommate's room where there is a bright, plain corner. After taking the exact same picture of the same object, in the same position, under the same lighting conditions with both our camers, I am convinced of my need for a new one. Mine doesn't let in enough light. Anyway, here is the completed loaf, with a couple of thick slices cut out and a big pad of butter on one of them.



And I did end up unravelling my sock back to the heel flap and making it the proper length, and I'm glad I did. I do want to get these done soon, though, so I know what I'll be working on tonight!