TUESDAY

Here's a side dish that might go well with roast turkey or grilled chicken or not. It came out of a kitchen jam session last night & could use a little work, but it shows promise. Quantities are all approximate, depending on the number of diners, the size of the squash, the amount of stuff. Your mileage may vary.

Squash Stuffed with Stuff

(serves 1)

* 1 small butternut squash (round part about the size of a grapefruit)
* about 1/3 c shelled walnuts
* a sorta small sorta medium onion
* some celery - the skinny parts of the stalk work best, leaves & all (but not the gross soggy wilted ones)
* 1/2 an apple, peeled, cored, & coarsely chopped
* some stuff (maybe some raisins, maybe some cranberries, maybe some ground meat - pork would work well, and so would ground turkey. Not having either on hand last nite, I used tofu.)
* seasoning to taste, depending on your choice of stuff

Preheat the oven to 350.

Cut the neck off the squash and save it for another day. Scoop out the seeds, but leave the skin on. Put the shell cut-side down in a baking dish & pour enough water over the squash so it's sitting in 1/2-inch or so. Bake for 35-45 minutes.

While that's happening, toast the walnuts (in a toaster oven, or in a dry skillet over moderate heat) & when they're cool enough to handle, coarsely chop them.

Coarsely chop the onion & the apple, & slice or dice the celery. If you're using raisins, soak them in enough hot tap water to cover. If you're using meat, brown it in a skillet, drain off the fat, & set the meat aside in a bowl.

Heat a skillet to med-hi, and when it's hot, add a little oil & saute the veggies until the onion wilts & turns translucent. Add the apple and stuff. Cook stirring occasionally until the onion gets a little brown around the edges & the apple starts getting all soft & gooshy. Toss in the walnuts, give it one more good stir, & take it off the heat .

Take the squash out of the oven, invert it so the cut side is up, and fill the cavity with the skillet stuff. Put it back in the oven for another 10-20 minutes & eat it right out of the shell.

I made this up the other night & it was pretty good, but it could use a little more zip, so consider this just a rough draft. Maybe a dash of cider to keep the stuffing moist? A sprinkling of brown sugar, or a more assertive mix of herbs? Experiment. Also, no reason you couldn't try this with acorn or zebra squash. Acorn meal might make an interesting substitute for walnuts, but last year's harvest was pretty meager, I'll have to hope for a better yield this fall before I can try that.

-Roy, southwestern New Hampsha

Oddtodd,
This isnt so much a recipe as a guide

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THE ULTIMATE SANDWICH

We've all had a mediocre sandwich. something with white bread and american "cheese food". something with mayonaise. Weve all choked it down, but nobody has thought of a way to turn the sandwich into something great. our friends at subway have tried it with limited success. the quiznos people have done well also. but all fall short of the original idea of the sandwich: a meal in one course. after years of sandwich research i have perfected the art of sandwich making and will share it.

THE TAO OF SANDWICH
there are 4 flavors in a sandwich. all other flavors are blends of these 4 flavors.

          spicy
            |
sweet --0--   bitter
            |
       smooth

all 4 flavors are available in various intensities, depending on what ingredients you use. depending on what kind of sandwich you want, you should use things with various amounts of the different flavors. opposite flavors wll balance each other. if they are tasted at different times they will complement each other. ajacent flavors will blend together nicely. an example

PEPPERONI SANDWICH
french or italian bread-smooth flavor
zesty mustard(french's)-spicy. <spread this on the bread. adds a spicy flavor to balance the smoothness of the bread
pepperonis-spicy flavor
mozzarela cheese- smooth. in contact with the pepperonis. balances spicy flavor.
oregano- supports spicy flavor and adds a nice smell.

thats a pretty straight forward sandwich. slightly spicy, slightly smooth. Heres another snadwich which is a little bit more complex

TURKEY PUMPERNICKEL SANDWICH
pumpernickel bread. bitter/sweet. bitter flavor is dominant.
honey mustard-spicy/sweet. sweet is dominant. spread on bread to support sweet flavor and balance bitter flavor.
turkey-smooth flavor.
creole seasoning-spicy. put it on turkey so turkey is not so smooth its un noticed.
colby jack cheese-smooth/bitter. smooth is dominant

that one has elements of all 4 flavors in various amounts and intensities to give a fairly balanced sandwich.
DO:
1 pay attention ot the flavor of every ingredient in your sandwich.
2 use spices. theyre little packets of flavor.
3 use fresh meat and bread. the fresher your ingredients are the more flavor they have
4 styles. try to make a sadwich have one overall idea. if your meat is marinated in a ceratin spice, go ahead and add that spice you your sandwich.

DON'T:
1.dont use mayonaise at all. its just goop. who wants goop on their sandwich? i have observed mayonaise in hamburgers from fast food places. MAYONAISE IS AN APOLOGY for serving you a crappy sandwich.
2. Dont use white "air bread" it has no substance and tends to turn into a paste when it comes in contact with any deli meat. the bread is the foundation of the sandwich.
3. ketchup. its just tomato paste. you can do better than tomato paste. get something with flavor.
4. balogna. this stuff is made from the asses of livestock. it has almost no flavor at all. "ass" is not a flavor. it is a sandwich tragedy.
5 "cheese food". this oil based yellow stuff contaminates everything it touches with biohazardous "cheese food" particles.

i hope this helps everyone learn the culinary art of sandwich making

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PUPPY CHOW

Heck yes. I call it puppy chow... but that tends to scare some people.

Ingredients!
A bunch of Chex cereal (9-10 cups)
chocolate chips (1 cup)
peanut butter (1/2 cup)
butter (1/4 cup)
vanilla stuff (1 tablespoon)
powdered sugar (a lot)

Directions:
Take the cereal and put it in a bowl on the side. Then take the chocolate
chips, peanut butter, and butter and put them in a microwavable bowl and
nuke them for a minute and a half or until its all smooth. Poor this
choclatey goodness ove the cereal until it is evenly coated. Then put this
stuff in a ziplock back with a bunch of the powdered sugar and shake, a
lot.

This might be the most delecious food in the world. Great snackable.

-johnny v.
studio city, california

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