Velvety Butternut Squash

(When I first entered the title I accidently typed "buttnut squash".  Hahahaha! I am a twelve year old boy.)

About a month ago I purchased a new cookbook called "Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat" by Melissa Joulwan. Now I read it every day. And I refer to it when I'm making my grocery list. It's like my bible. I love this book so much. It's more than just a cookbook though, there are also little background stories about how she came up with the recipes, why certain ingredients go together, and ways that you can alter the recipe and still end up with a tasty dish.

One of the recipes I tried recently is Velvety Butternut Squash. If you like pumpkin pie you will love this recipe. I myself was not a fan of squash, but this one has won me over.

Here are the ingredients as listed by Melissa:


2 1/2 pounds butternut squash
2 tablespoons water
1 head fresh garlic, or 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons Ras el Hanout seasoning (see below)
1 large egg
1/4 cup pecan halves, chopped (reserve a few whole for garnish)

Ras El Hanout

2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons powdered ginger
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg


One of the great things about these recipes is that you can substitute for whatever you have in the cupboard. I didn't have any Ras el Hanout made up so I just added whatever was close.

Here is what you do:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, remove the seeds, and place the two halves face down on a cookie sheet. I also added some garlic seasoning just for fun.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the flesh is soft. If you are using fresh garlic, remove the outside papery layer of the garlic, wrap the head in aluminum foil and place it in the oven along with the squash.

Once the squash is tender, remove it and the garlic from the oven and let them cool. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

When the squash is cool, scoop the flesh into your food processor or blender (we have a Ninja - I must tell you about it later). Squeeze the roasted garlic pulp (or your minced garlic) into the blender with the squash. Blend the two until you have a smooth puree.

Add the coconut oil, coconut milk, salt, and Ras el Hanout. Blend again and then taste. Adjust the seasonings to suit.

Beat an egg in a small bowl. Transfer the squash puree into a mixing bowl and add the egg, stirring until they are smooth.

Grease the inside of a casserole dish with a little coconut oil and pour in the puree. Garnish the top with some chopped pecans (I used macadamia nuts) and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the edges are bubbly and the top is lightly golden brown.

Next time I think I'm going to leave out the nutmeg and cinnamon and add more garlic and pepper to make it a little more spicy and a little less like pumpkin pie.

Do you have a squash recipe that you love?  

Let me know what it is - I'm always looking for something new.

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I'm linking up to these parties this week!

Monogram Wreath

You know how hard it is to find a gift for someone that doesn't really need anything.  I always leave it up to Tom to think of a gift for his mother, and I always end up having to rescue him at the last minute. This year I suggested I make a wreath for her front door and he pounced on that idea.

I wanted something that was both spring and summer-like so that she could leave it up for an extended period of time.

Here is what I came up with:

I started with a plain mdf letter from Michael's and hot glued moss to it. 

I can't believe how long that took!  Every time I thought I was done I would find another bare spot.  Here it is halfway through looking wild and woolly.  

Once it was trimmed and pressed down it looked a lot better.

I used faux orchids from the dollar store and added little orange daisy charms to the center of each of the white ones.  I also added in some brown berries and some green and white buds.

Lastly I found a cute little clip-on butterfly for the top corner. I added a wide green ribbon to hang the wreath by.

I love how pretty it is. 

Lively colours, not too busy, and I love those shades of green.  

I hope she does too!

It was also my aunt's birthday on Saturday. I've been saving these suede-covered storage boxes for her forever. This particular shade of green is one of her favourites.  And I thought the wide brown satin ribbon set it off nicely.

I used three colours of paint chips to make a tag and just cut the circles freehand with scalloped scissors.

She also loves purple so I added the flower for colour.

Love it!  Coming up with interesting wrapping is always my favourite part of giving a gift.

I hope everyone had a terrific Mother's Day. I received breakfast in bed. With two interested parties wondering why I'm wasting time taking pictures of the food instead of eating it!

Tom and I also redid the gallery wall in the living room, and he rode his bike with me while I ran 5K outside for the first time. Perfect day!

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I'm linking up to these parties this week!

Littlest Hobo

I wasn't able to get anything done last night because we had the sweetest visitor.  Our neighbour stopped by on her way home from walking her dog after she had found a stray dog that kept running onto the road.  She was afraid it would be hit by a vehicle, so she managed to wrangle it into her car to be safe.  She stopped by because, "Tom knows all the dogs in the neighbourhood."  That makes me laugh so hard because he does.

But we didn't know this one.  And Animal Control wouldn't come get it until we had put a collar and leash on it as "it wasn't under control."  Umm, isn't that kind of in your name?

But we have several spare collars and leashes so that wasn't a problem. While we waited for them to show up we took pictures of the sweet girl in case we needed to put up flyers.  How darling is this face?

She was such a good dog - didn't bark, didn't growl, just wagged her tail and followed us wherever we led her.

Animal control did finally come and we found out later that she belonged to a house several blocks away.  So it's a happy story because she found her people, but I'm a little sad that I'll never see her again.

Bye Callie, it was nice to meet you!