butternut squash soup

tonight dianna and i made this soup. it was awesome!

2 butternut squash (about 4 3/4 pounds total), halved lengthwise, seeded (keep seeds!!!)
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 cups thinly sliced onion
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 cinnamon stick
5 cups (or more) canned low-salt chicken broth


bake the seeded squash face down on a cookie sheet at 375°F until squash is very soft, about 50 minutes. make sure to oil the cookie sheet.

while this is baking you can cook up the squash seeds. just a little bit of peanut oil in a frying pan. heat oil. place seeds in. salt seeds to your liking. cook, moving regularly until seeds are golden brown.

remove peel from squash (i just pealed it with my hands); discard peel. cut squash into 2-inch pieces. heat peanut oil in large pot. mix in onion, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and cinnamon (turn heat down to a slow simmer). cook until onion is tender, about 15 minutes. add squash and all the chicken broth. boil. reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes. use a hand soup mixer thing to puree the whole thing up. make sure to throw out the cinnamon.

garnish soup with roasted seeds.

enjoy!

la double quincenera de dianna

the douglas' arrived with 3 suitcases full of decorations for the party
not little carry on suitcases
big huge suitcases full of stuff
like:

a suitcase full of plastic coconuts, palm trees and pineapples for drinks

becky and lindsay in action.

lindsay was in heaven with all these decorations.

jolanta and lindsay making a plethora of cupcakes

becky, john and michael cleaning the backyard.

i won't let anyone sleep at my house without working, apparently.

once the backyard was cleaned, the lights went up. notice that the lights are pineapples and plam trees. there are also chili peppers and sunshines.

people even risked their lives to get these lights up.

michael in a tree
becky working like a banshee

daddy and daughter taking a break.

check out how interested joda is in michael's pontifications.

between mike and tom, there was never an awkward pause in a single conversation all weekend.

the house is coming together
please note all the drinks behind michael

lindsay made the most delicious chocolate cupcakes with beets
it was so so good, i was going to put the recipe, but i don't have it
so if you want it, let me know

we then ran out to get pinatas
(you know it is a good day when you are running out for pinatas)
please note how much nicer that tree's planter box is
thanks john!

the pinata getters
olivia, dianna, and me

the douglas clan that came to the party
4 brothers and in-laws and nephews are missing.

who knows why we are smiling! perhaps because we know we'll get a 3 hour break while the guests are actually at the party. then, it's back to work.

the quinceanera, or birthday girl.

then the party began. we decided to really feed our guests
with:
root beer
yummy juice
herb tea
shredded beef*
shredded pork**
salmon***
refried beans
tortillas de arizona (thanks mom)
and lots of fixin's

this guy kicked off the party

holly and ben, most likely discussing how super-clean our backyard is.

cupcake mania

please note isaac's awesomeness about cupcakes

sarah's mom came all the way from seattle for this party

tomicah and ando always slip into hungarian every time they're reunited.

i'm glad we brought them together again

todd, jenn, olivia and kari in the psychedelic green doorway.

bethany, simone and camille.

the pinata gets attacked by a rusted metal rod covered in duct tape.
no one would let us spin dianna around because there was too much potential for injury

even with the blindfold off she can't get the thing to break

at least she has good form and looks like a model doing it

tom douglas, bearing ice cream cake

how cute is this cake?

then the clean-up.... this is only 1/5 of the mess in the kitchen, not to mention the rest of the house and yard.

dave and kimber stayed to help clean

they deserve a badge of honor,
free meals,
and respect for the rest of their lives for staying
dave's hands were total prunes from washing dishes.

the festivities died down today after the douglas' left for home. it was an awesome weekend. i am really glad we could celebrate dianna. she celebrates so many people all the time, i am really happy we could take a moment and let her know how much we love and appreciate her sunshine-y take on things. we need more diannas in this world for sure.


* the beef recipe
6 lbs of organic grassfed sirloin tip roast
8 cloves of garlic
3 cans of green chilis (diced)
adobo seasoning
salt
1 C water

peel garlic cloves and shove into the meat. heavily dust the meat with adobo seasoning. place in crockpot. add green chilis and water (with about 2 tablespoons of salt). cook on low in the crockpot for about 10 hours

separate beef and juice. reduce juice to about half volume. shred beef. pour reduced juice over beef. serve.


**the pork recipe

1 organic grassfed pork loin roast

½ can apple juice concentrate (in frozen section)

1 liter Dr. Pepper
1 jar chipotle sauce (preferably La Victorian brand)

*put these 4 ingredients in crock pot on low all day (10-12 hours)

when pork is done cooking, transfer to a bowl then shred with a fork. cook the juice down so that some of the water evaporates, to about half of the volume. pour over meat

*** the salmon recipe

big hunk of wild salmon filet
2 cup fresh lime juice
3 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
whisk together lime juice, salt, and pepper and add oil in a slow stream, whisking. then whisk in cilantro. if you can, let sit overnight.

wrap fish in aluminum foil but don't seal it off, leave the top open. pour on the vinaigrette...be generous. bake on 350 for about 35 minutes. until fish flakes. serve

my hummus recipe

i served some of my hummus at the shower. it was a big hit, and a couple people asked for the recipe. here you go.

in some circles, i am known as belly, so this recipe carries my name.

Belly's Hummus Recipe
3-5 cloves of garlic
1 t salt (flaky sea works best)
2 cans of chickpeas, drained
1/3 C tahini (sometimes i just do a couple of tablespoons)
juice of one regular lemon or 2 limes (about 1/4-1/3 C) or so to taste
1 C extra virgin olive oil (the better the evoo the better the hummus)
cilantro
a little more extra virgin olive oil
pinenuts

mince and mash the garlic to into a paste with the salt.

in a blender/food processor, puree chickpeas with the garlic paste, tahini, lemon juice, evoo and some water. if you need more moisture add either water or oil depending on what you think it needs until it is the desired consistency. if you are watching your weight, you can cut some of the evoo down and replace it with h2o. the better higher quality the oil the better the hummus.

put that in a bowl.

then get about 1/2 C of cilantro leaves. put them in the blender/food processor with about 1/4 - 1/3 C olive oil. until it is all pureed and blended together. pour this over the hummus.

if you want add some toasted pinenuts or marinated beans. but this ain't that necessary.

serve with pita, red or yellow peppers, carrots, or just about anything else that sounds good to you.

makes a nice spread on sandwiches (as if you didn't know that)

i promised and i delivered. whew...i can check this off my list.

a house full of fun

last week we had a house full of fun!

dianna's mommy, becky, was in town to play a concert (besides saving children in india from leprosy and rearing 9 kids of her own, she is a concert violinist. who are these people? and why in the world do they hang out with me?) in order to keep up the facade of being cool enough to have these people as my friends, i planned to wow her with avocado and seared tuna salad. i think it worked. she called later in the weekend because we had forgotten to send her the recipe and she had promised the same kapow! effect for her husband... so here you go:

seared tuna salad kapow!

• 1 tuna steak per person being served (make sure it is sushi grade...i get mine at costco and it is much better than the stuff at the fish market -- go figure.)
• 1 hass avocado per person being served.
• 1/2 red onion -- cut into paper thin slices
  
• roasted sesame seeds ( i just buy raw ones and roast them in a frying pan)
  

cut up the avocado into bite size chunks
sear tuna on a hot frying pan. i season it with montreal seasoning. cut into bite size chunks.

the dressing is why this recipe is so kapow! (it is modified from a recipe from ina garten)

• zest of 2 limes
• juice from 3 limes
• 1 teaspoon of wasabi powder
• 2 teaspoons of soy sauce
• 3 T of crystal hot sauce or some kind of hot sauce like that
• 1/3 C olive oil
• salt to taste
  

wisk it all together in a bowl.

toss avocados in the dressing. serve tuna, avocados, and red onions on plates. sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds and drizzle with more dressing if desired.

then on saturday amy and josh (and jonah and ellie) came down to dc
(from william and mary)
we didn't get to hang out all that much, but we did
go to the air and space museum (WAY TOO CROWDED)
then walked over to the botanical gardens.
it was super fun. and perfect because of josh's new found love of orchids
he has been toying with the idea of joining the american orchid society
i think this pushed him over the edge
(plus the fact that he gets a student discount and a free orchid)

i didn't write down the names, but they were AMAZING

jonah loved them more than his fake smile lets on

these aren't orchids, but they are cool

ellie taking the stairs like a champ

i got home from the orchids and the greers to this:

only part of lindsay's family
from right to left
david, who while sitting next to me asked me what i looked like
issac, who discovered that we had a wardrobe and also
quoted the prologue of romeo and juliet to us (he is 7)
sarah, who is "really good at finding secret passage ways"
and benjamin, who says a couple of unrecognizable words, but thankfully
doesn't cry at night
rachel who is 11 is much to mature for this kind of tomfoolery.
in fact, because she will be 12 this year
and is basically an adult, she nearly earned the
right to sit at the grown up table
she made a strong argument. in the end,
we all just sat together.

david is also a ladies man
and had it bad for dianna

he loved the reciprocated love
he asked for her to come over every day he was here

and do they ever LOVE aunt lindsay (as she is known)
aunt lindsay spent the weekend making delicious meals for the house of 9
benjamin looks like he should be lindsay's son (sarah kinda looks
like lindsay's daughter too)
families and genes are really weird

i have no photos of marnie or dan ( mom and dad), which is a real bummer.
but needless to say, we had a blast with these critters running around our house
and it was sad to see them go.
but strangely a lot less energetic and kinda quieter. ;)