As the household cook, “What’s For Dinner?” is a daily question.\u00a0 With some planning, I can answer this question.<\/p>\n
For instance, having bought an unlabled ‘spaghetti squash’<\/em> at one of the local 99-cent stores, \u00a0I was delighted with myself, thinking of more than a few baking\/cooking possibilities with this gem of a find.<\/p>\n Now, I must share that I am a creative cook.\u00a0 What this means is, I hardly ever consult with a cookbook.\u00a0 I use the herbs, spices and vegetables that are available in an outside garden and a kitchen cupboard.\u00a0 Chop chop here, dice dice there, sprinkle and dash all over.<\/p>\n Having washed the outside of the squash with white vinegar and water (pesticide cleansing), I proceeded to cut it in half and\u00a0scraped out the seeds.\u00a0 Although\u00a0the squash\u00a0looked a little different from other spaghetti squashes I have dealt with, I chocked that up to it being imported from Mexico, or Nicaragua, or a Spaghetti Squash Grower-Land.\u00a0 Whatever.<\/p>\n With that done, I\u00a0placed both halves on a baking sheet\u00a0fruit side down and stabbed the thing\u00a0for a thorough baking.\u00a0 In the pre-heated oven\u00a0 it went,\u00a0350 degrees,\u00a0set for an hour.\u00a0\u00a0I\u00a0continued with its stuffing.<\/p>\n I am now getting excited.\u00a0 “Ahh.” I thought, “this is gonna be tasty!”<\/p>\n On the stove top I prepared a low-heat skillet with olive oil\u00a0to which I added fresh scallions, fresh chopped garlic, fresh basil leaf cuttings, fresh parsley, two fresh and colorful\u00a0sweet baby bell peppers with a dash of sea salt, turmeric and paprika.\u00a0\u00a0 Mixing with a wooden spoon, the house began to smell gloriously!\u00a0 After this mixture became a golden brown (perfection!), I\u00a0added 2 cups of\u00a0ground turkey and\u00a0four pre-cooked pork sausages.\u00a0 Sizzling continued.<\/p>\n Anticipation climbed.\u00a0\u00a0Six more minutes remained until the oven timer would alert me that the squash was done.<\/p>\n “Ding __ Ding __ Ding” the oven blurted.<\/p>\n As\u00a0I proceeded to take the baking dish with aforementioned squashes out of the oven, I notice that\u00a0the\u00a0squash halves were unusually juicy and rather soft as opposed to my familiarity with baking such things in the past.\u00a0 Hmm, no matter.\u00a0 We’re\u00a0hungry now!\u00a0 The enhanced fragrances overflowed in the house, enticing our appetites.<\/p>\n Placing each half on dinner plates, I continued to fill each with the delectable stove-top preparation.<\/p>\n “Dinner’s ready” I called out.<\/p>\n “Okay, I’ll be right there,” responded my husband.\u00a0 “Gosh, that smells good.\u00a0 What is it?”\u00a0 I explained all of the above as I just shared with you.<\/p>\n Seated in the dining room, full plates ready for attack, my husband examines what I place in front of him and then squeals “Hon, are you sure this is spaghetti squash?!\u00a0 It’s not!\u00a0 It’s melon!\u00a0 O M G, you baked and stuffed a melon!\u00a0\u00a0HaHaHaHa, etc.”\u00a0 Once realizing this kerfuffle, I joined him with a bellow of laughter.<\/p>\n No kidding.\u00a0 All in all,\u00a0it was tasty!\u00a0 We ate it all gone.\u00a0 In fact, we enjoyed it so much, I think I’ll do it again.<\/p>\n Truly…<\/p>\n A. K. Buckroth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As the household cook, “What’s For Dinner?” is a daily question.\u00a0 With some planning, I can answer this question. For instance, having bought an unlabled ‘spaghetti squash’ at one of the local 99-cent stores, \u00a0I was delighted with myself, thinking … Continue reading