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By Aimee, August 25, 2011

Behold what has to be the biggest spaghetti squash I have ever seen!

This tasty monster didn’t come from our garden, but I think that next year we will plant some to go along with our giant pumpkins!

I got it so I could make a “spaghetti” with some Italian style veggies. I had already made the chicken, and was getting ready to open this bad boy up when my husband came home. Good thing he came when he did too because it took both of us to get it open!

He says it was harder to open than a coconut, and by the looks of it, and the effort we both put into getting it open, I say he is right!

So, onto the “spaghetti! After finally cutting it in half, cooking it was easy. Just lay the squash cut side down in a glass baking dish (13×9), add 3/4 cup water (I used more because of the size of this squash) and then cover the baking dish with plastic wrap. Pop it in the microwave for 10-15 mins (again, I did mine longer because of size, about 20 mins), then when it is all done flip it over and use a fork to get out the “spaghetti”!

I was amazed at how easy it was to get out the squash with the fork. And boy did this big squash give us a ton of spaghetti too! Thank goodness we only used one half (planning to use the other half again soon though).

While the squash was cooking I sauteed some sliced red onion, zucchini, and diced tomatoes in a little EVOO. They were nice and ready to go on top of spaghetti! The finished product was very yummy, especially when topped with Parmesan cheese. In fact, once the cheese was on top, it really did taste a lot like traditional spaghetti! Crazy!

Sorry for the low light photos, we were hungry and I used my cell phone! Have you ever noticed that when you are trying a new recipe it always take so much longer?

We will try it again, maybe with some more veggies and a spaghetti sauce on top. I’m sure there are lots of ways to use this squash.

Have you cooked with it before? What kinds of things have you made with spaghetti squash?

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By Aimee, August 18, 2011

For another fun installment in what I am now calling the “summer of salads” I made a simple Greek salad. What I was not aware of when I first decided to make it was that Feta cheese is expensive! However, it really does give the salad that distinct flavor. What went into our simple Greek salad?

• Mixed Romaine leaves.
• Sliced tomatoes.
• Sliced cucumbers.
• Red onion slices.
• Feta cheese.

For my husband I also added grilled chicken (grilled in EVOO with salt and pepper). Another thing I wasn’t aware of? Feta cheese is made from sheep or goat milk! I’m going to guess ours was made from goat milk. Maybe this little guy contributed? I see him on my morning walk and it always makes me smile.

Who would have thought that experimenting in the kitchen would lead to learning something new about cheese? I guess it’s true what they say, you really do learn something new everyday! What have you learned recently?

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By Aimee, June 11, 2011

I have been on a search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe for some time now. Maybe it’s cooking in a higher altitude, but the regular chocolate chip cookie recipes never seemed to come out just right. They would be flat, or too hard, but never just soft and moist! Well my world was totally ROCKED when I found this recipe for Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip cookies!

For this batch I used 1 Cup of milk chocolate chips, and 1 Cup of white chocolate chips. The regular recipe calls for 2 Cups of semi-sweet (which is actually even more tasty in my opinion). The mix of chips was awesome as well though, and I can see this cookie recipe being a great base for trying all kinds of chips in them! Have you seen all the different kinds of chips in the baking isle recently? Wow!

What is your favorite cookie?