Week #4 Wrap Up (through 12/27)

I'm not sure why my weeks are different from everyone else's. Our first week was Thanksgiving week, right? So this is Week 4. I'm confused. Anyway! This was a good week. The days were relaxed and mellow, and I did plenty of cooking and resting. Ahhh...

The Rustic Cabbage Soup I made up on Sunday lasted us all week as a quick lunch or dinner. I had rehearsal on Monday night and a late TKD class with Ted on Tuesday night, so it came in handy. We also finished up the leftover Chinese take-out from Paul's work's holiday party on Saturday. When all the entrees were gone, I transformed the leftover rice into the delicious rice pudding I made for Nancy when I visited. Mae and I were the only ones who ate it, and the entire 13x9 pan was gone in less than 2 days. Mmm.

On Thursday I fixed Annette's delicious Savory Squash Gratin to go with our traditional Xmas Oyster Stew that Paul grew up loving every year. The gratin was very rich but tasty. I used Gruyere cheese because that's what I had on hand, ready to make Saturday's crock pot French Onion Soup, using CSA onions, homemade veggie broth and locally made bread from Great Harvest Bread Company. While I was roasting the acorn squash for the gratin, I popped in my oldest sugar pie pumpkin too and froze the puree for soups later on. The resulting plethora of roasted seeds were perfect this time; I think the trick is roasting them at low heat for a longer time. I had them at 250 for a total of 45 minutes, stirring every 15.

I hope that those of you who celebrate Xmas had a lovely one!