Spaghetti Squash

I haven't posted in a couple days, but I've been a little busy. Our office [[along with others]] went to a reds game where lots of over-aged drunkeness ensued. We got rained on pretty bad in Cincinnati that day -- well, bad enough to not want to sit on some slimy bleachers and watch a game. A few people from our office ran over to Rock Bottom in Fountain Square to get some food and dry off. Surprisingly all I could really eat there was some over oiled, under salted edamame, a crappy dressingless salad, and some chips and guacamole. I wasn't that hungry though. On the way back we were pretty drained and most of crashed on the "party" bus, but it's pretty difficult when there's still a party going on around you. No complaints though, it's always nice to get out of an office every now and then. It makes you go a little nuts sometimes.

Summer has been busy in general, especially as Andrew's stunt date approaches. I've been talking to lots of artists to see if we can get a magic poster painted up, trying to find doctors to monitor Andrew during his feat, and hurriedly trying to get some shooting in the mix. Soon this will all be over with, and I'll think to myself "It all went by so fast." For now, it feels like this stunt will never come...

In lieu of all the summer work, I am enjoying the range of vegetables it has to offer. One being, the spaghetti squash. My step dad made it once and I think I vomited a little in my mouth. That's probably pretty unappetizing to say on a food blog, but it's true. I was a stupid kid I guess.

I couldn't say better things about it, now. If that makes up for anything. I love it. It's an amazing vegetable really. The seeds are very pumpkin looking, and the insides literally scoop out in strings. It's pretty easy to make, too, in spite of how intimidating it looks. Here's how I did it.

[[Spaghetti Squash]]

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F.

2. There's two ways to do this. You can cut it in half and cook it face down. I tried, but my knifes couldn't cut through. Personally, I like how I did it. I simply kept it whole and poked about 15 holes in it. I didn't have skewers or any fancy hole-making equipment, so I detached one of the whisks on my electric mixer and used the end of that to make big holes. A little ghetto-rigged but it worked.


3. So once you get holes in your giant squash, you get a baking dish and fill it with about an inch of water. You place your holey squash in the dish and bake for 45 minutes to an hour. You want the outside to be soft. If you poke it, it should give easily.

4. Remove it and let it cool before you handle. It will be very hot. Wait about 15 minutes.

5. Then I cut it in half. I tried to keep the halves pretty because they can act as serving vessels. If you're corny like me. I feel so home and garden.


6. When you cut it in half, get a spoon or a fork and start scraping away. You want to scape out the center first, like above, and remove all the seeds. The sides then should fall out easily. If not, no worries. Stick in the oven a little longer.

7. Then I tossed it with a little vegan butter and garlic and stuck in back in the oven for a few minutes. Just to let the butter saturate a bit.

8. Took it out, tossed it with some sauteed tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, and broccoli. Sliced and pan fried some vegan sausages. Topped it off with some salt and pepper. You can put anything on it though. Just treat it like pasta.