Caramel+short attention span=a no go ; Thanksgiving retrospective

Paco the guinea pig, whose attention span rivals my own.

I tried making the candied nuts from my previous post. I wound up with lots of burnt sugar and an unbreakable cluster of nuts that could pass as a lethal weapon in several areas of the Middle East. The recipe really requires patience and constant monitoring. Not my strong suit. So I won't be attempting anything caramel, probably ever again.

However, the roasted almonds from my last post came out great.

For a side dish, we made the following recipe, from myrecipes.com (originally from Cooking Light, December 2004) with butternut squash, omitting the pasta, and that may have been romano, not asiago cheese (whatever was on hand). It was delicious!

Ingredients

• 4 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• Cooking spray
• 8 ounces uncooked pappardelle (wide ribbon pasta) or fettuccine
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups trimmed arugula
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Asiago cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Preparation

Preheat oven to 475°.

Combine squash, vinegar, oil, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl; toss well to coat. Arrange squash mixture in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan (Maggie's note: who the heck actually has a jelly roll pan? Use a baking sheet with sides or a pan like you'd use to make brownies) coated with cooking spray. Bake at 475° for 25 minutes or until tender and lightly browned, stirring occasionally.

While squash bakes, cook pasta according to the package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1 tablespoon cooking liquid.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts, sage, and garlic; cook 3 minutes or just until the pine nuts begin to brown, stirring occasionally. Place pasta, reserved cooking liquid, pine nut mixture, and squash mixture in a large bowl; toss gently to combine. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt, arugula, cheese, and black pepper; toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Also, my class reunion was Friday. I ate way too much cheese, mostly gouda with the smoked rind and fresh mozzarella which was great with raspberries and honeydew. While I was there, my classmate Meredith gave me a challenge. She's tried making risotto every week, and has had disappointing results each time. So I have to successfully make a risotto, and report back on how I did it. I don't want to let Meredith down, so I have to hop to it!