It's good to have goals. My goal this season was to cook more with squash. No, not the yellow and zucchini squashes you so often see. I am talking about spaghetti, butternut, and acorn squash. Mmmm. The types of squash I have always been intrigued and fascinated by but never attempted to do anything with because they are foreign and unknown. It's fairly easy for me to figure out what to with everyday squash, but these are different and weird.
So, I started small. Spaghetti squash with herbs and butter. Delicious. Easy. Next on the menu was pasta with butternut squash and eggplant in a yummy sauce. The trick was that the recipe called for the squash to be peeled. Getting home, I stared at the oddly shaped squash, considering how I was exactly supposed to peel it. It did not appear to be the typical vegetable one can peel with a peeler. I probably needed a knife. Reducing it to a manageable size, I began trying to cut away the flesh from the peel. Suddenly, the knife slipped from the squash, sailed through the air and sliced straight through my skin, plunging deeply into my thumb. Oh, and did the blood flow.
Did I need stitches? I was not really sure. Clearly, I needed to get the bleeding to stop, but was it bad enough for an ER visit and lots of money in the form of a co-pay? Finishing dinner, I elevated my hand and let the cloth towl adhere to the wound, eventually replacing it with a bandage that would similarly adhere, but look less obtrusive.
Yesterday, I kept wondering if I needed stitches, looking at pictures online and comparing them to my own gaping wound, it still seemed unclear. It sure looked like that one there that needed them, but it also looked a lot like this other one that didn't. I called a nurse through my insurance company. "When was the last time you had a tetanus shot?"
"That is truly excellent question. Unfortunately, my last doctor lost every medical record I had and I have been spending the last month trying to track down pediatricians and other previous doctors, piecing together my past." Some fear a large company like Google or Microsoft being in-charge of maintaining our medical records, but to be honest, I'd feel more comfortable having them all in one place, in a hopefully safe and secure format. Not out of any concern that others might hack in and steal them. I assume they could do that at my doctor's office now. But more out of a concern that they too would one day just lose all my records and ask me if I was sure I was ever really a patient. I cannot imagine how wonderful it will be to be able to call one place and obtain all of my medical records from one source. No multiple offices to call, and multiple release forms to fill out. Sure, it sounds stupid and silly, but when you suddenly really need to have this information and cannot locate it, it becomes really, really important.
On the bright side, the squash dish turned out to be delicious, and the wound appears to be healing. However, I still do not know if I need a shot or if I will develop lockjaw or something equally as bad in the coming days. Of course, if I do, it will give me another exciting event to post about.
So, I started small. Spaghetti squash with herbs and butter. Delicious. Easy. Next on the menu was pasta with butternut squash and eggplant in a yummy sauce. The trick was that the recipe called for the squash to be peeled. Getting home, I stared at the oddly shaped squash, considering how I was exactly supposed to peel it. It did not appear to be the typical vegetable one can peel with a peeler. I probably needed a knife. Reducing it to a manageable size, I began trying to cut away the flesh from the peel. Suddenly, the knife slipped from the squash, sailed through the air and sliced straight through my skin, plunging deeply into my thumb. Oh, and did the blood flow.
Did I need stitches? I was not really sure. Clearly, I needed to get the bleeding to stop, but was it bad enough for an ER visit and lots of money in the form of a co-pay? Finishing dinner, I elevated my hand and let the cloth towl adhere to the wound, eventually replacing it with a bandage that would similarly adhere, but look less obtrusive.
Yesterday, I kept wondering if I needed stitches, looking at pictures online and comparing them to my own gaping wound, it still seemed unclear. It sure looked like that one there that needed them, but it also looked a lot like this other one that didn't. I called a nurse through my insurance company. "When was the last time you had a tetanus shot?"
"That is truly excellent question. Unfortunately, my last doctor lost every medical record I had and I have been spending the last month trying to track down pediatricians and other previous doctors, piecing together my past." Some fear a large company like Google or Microsoft being in-charge of maintaining our medical records, but to be honest, I'd feel more comfortable having them all in one place, in a hopefully safe and secure format. Not out of any concern that others might hack in and steal them. I assume they could do that at my doctor's office now. But more out of a concern that they too would one day just lose all my records and ask me if I was sure I was ever really a patient. I cannot imagine how wonderful it will be to be able to call one place and obtain all of my medical records from one source. No multiple offices to call, and multiple release forms to fill out. Sure, it sounds stupid and silly, but when you suddenly really need to have this information and cannot locate it, it becomes really, really important.
On the bright side, the squash dish turned out to be delicious, and the wound appears to be healing. However, I still do not know if I need a shot or if I will develop lockjaw or something equally as bad in the coming days. Of course, if I do, it will give me another exciting event to post about.
Oooh.. do you have some good squash recipes you could share? I just bought an acorn squash but have been staring at it wondering how in the world you cook it. The only thing I've seen done with the fall squash is butternut squash soup or mashed squash with cinnamon, butter, honey, for a dessert type thing. How did you make the pasta with squash??
ReplyDeleteI do have a few recipes. I do not have your email address so I guess I'll post the one I made the night I cut myself, here. It calls for butternut squash, eggplant, and shrimp. We made it without the shrimp because my girlfriend is not a big fan. It's taken from the Food Network website, which I often find to be a great resource for ideas, even I do not always follow them to the letter.
ReplyDelete1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 5 cups)
2 Japanese eggplants, cut into 1-inch cubes (you can use regular eggplant instead, too)
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 1/4 cups dry white wine
2 cups fish broth, fresh or frozen, or canned vegetable broth
2 pounds uncooked large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt and pepper
17.5 ounces orange-colored fresh spaghetti or linguine
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
Heat the oil in a heavy large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for just a minute. Add the squash, eggplant, rosemary and thyme and saute for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the wine and broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer until the squash is tender and the liquid is reduced by about half, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Add the shrimp and simmer gently until almost cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta. (Alternatively, you can use dried pasta, which will take 8 to 10 minutes to cook.)
Toss the pasta, squash mixture, and butter in a large bowl until the liquid thickens slightly and coats the pasta. Transfer the pasta mixture to a wide shallow bowl and serve.
I have a couple of acorn squash recipes too. I will say that a lot of recipes are simple roasting of acorn squash but some can involve sausage and rigatoni or other spices and such. So ... it depends.
There's also spaghetti squash, which is so cool, as it comes out looking like spaghetti.
seriously - you rock. definitely going to try this sometime... thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteYou should also try delicata squash -- if you want it steamed, slice it in half and put it face down in a glass baking dish in about an inch of water, and bake at about 400 for an hour or until soft. Add butter and herbs for a savory dish, OR it also delicious sweet. I steam it in orange juice instead of water and add butter and cinnamon and brown sugar. SO good!
ReplyDeleteHope your finger is better and also keep us updated on the goings on of the new tenants in your office building!
Ooooch. You are brave to list a recipe for the squash that slivered you into insurance company phone calls. It's like giving a reco to another guy about a girl who stood you up. Okay, no, it's not. I hope your thumb heals, and I could be wrong, and probably am, but I thought you really only needed a tet shot if rust or a dog were involved.
ReplyDeleteK ~ Thanks. I try.
ReplyDeleteAmber ~ That sounds an awful lot like the way you make spaghetti squash. I'll have to look for it. Oh, yes, there is another office story.
Stephanie ~ It's possibly more like giving a reco to another guy about a girl that gave me an STD. :-)
That sucks about your hand.
ReplyDeleteI love winter squash, though. Good focus for the fall.