Tuesday, December 20, 2011

rats, plural; sugary vegetables; sick kids

I am writing this perched on my sofa, listening to the veritable army of jackhammering rats in my kitchen walls.  Apparently Rat the First had friends and family.

I am deeply distressed about this.

*************
I am searching for recipes for stuff to bring to various holiday get-togethers.  The von Trapped family has a number of food allergies (we are a bundle of fun to host for dinner! Invite us over so I can give you the long list of stuff you may not cook with!)  and so I try to bring a dish that ensures that there is at least one thing we can eat wherever we are.

I am undecided on Christmas Eve desserts; I would like to attempt a flourless chocolate cake because I love to eat them, but anything involving a water bath sounds finicky and prone to easy ruination, and I am doubtful that skim Lactaid milk will be an appropriate substitute for heavy whipping cream.  Still working on that one.

I have seen various "substitute a can of pumpkin for eggs and oil in a box cake mix" recipes floating around blogland, and I made one today.  It was.....ok, I guess.  It was moist (yes, to all the people in my life who have rules about the word "moist", I just used the word "moist" and might do so again, because truly, this cake was MOIST).  It was also dense and....I dunno, just thicker and wetter than a regular cake, although not with the delightful texture and taste of a brownie.  It was just moist.  It was not horrible but I do not feel the need to make it again.



One thing I will probably be bringing to my grandmother's on Christmas Day is an apple/butternut squash/sweet potato....thing.  Casserole?  It is super delicious, easy to make, and also moist, but in a deliciously good way.

I like to buy bags of cubed butternut squash and cubed sweet potatoes from Trader Joe's, because I am all about lazy cooking.  I toss half a bag of each into a 9x13 baking pan, and freeze the rest (and usually make a second batch later in the week).  I chop up two or three apples (this recipe is going to annoy the hell out of my sister--"why can't you use precise measurements, for pete's sake, what the hell is a pinch and is it two apples or is it three apples, how do you know which is right, TWO OR THREE???")


Right, so you have a pan full of chopped up butternut squash, sweet potatoes and apples. Toss in half a stick of butter, and some cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and whatever other spice you might toss in a pumpkin pie.  I would use nutmeg if we had any.  I sprinkle about two heaping spoonfuls of brown sugar over top.  Bake at 375 degrees for an hour.  At the half hour, take it out and stir it around a bit, then pop it back in.

The finished product looks, I will admit....brown.  But its a delicious brown! A gluten free, nearly lactose free, nut free brown!


I am not a food photographer, but I promise, if you like sweet potatoes and butternut squash and apples, this is delicious.  Truly.  Although my kids won't eat it.

*************
My kiddos have been sick for the past week.  Perhaps we could just skip the November to May sickfest we have every year.


Princess has a tougher constitution, and while just as sick as the other two, plus she has molars coming in (sigh), she is steadfastly refusing to nap or sleep, ever.  This is a joyous occasion.  I should probably set her loose on the rats; she'd kill them in no time.


Girlfriend does like her band-aids.  Don't worry, they are merely decorative, placed by Princess herself, no boo-boos underneath.


Girlfriend is also suddenly obsessed with Strawberry Shortcake (note the band-aids), to the detriment of all the Minnie Mouse stuff I bought for Christmas.


1 comment:

  1. Oh! I meant to say ick to the rats. Sorry to hear that :(

    ReplyDelete

Yay! You're commenting! I love comments!