A tribute to the holidays...

Persians

Today I learned that Persians are not 'brown' and calling them such results in a terribly faux pas. I was let off the hook for not having many Persian friends.

I think I need to clarify my complete and total ignorance in this.

For 18 years of my life; this was a persian:

Om nom nom nom nom.

They come from this place:
Yes. The Persian Man. And likely Italian, from the looks of the mustache... So for the majority of my life, Persians referred to a delicious dessert that was uncomplicated and that you could buy for 1$ after school from some fundraiser that would invariably be hawking them in the halls. Sure, there was some vague notion that cats or rugs or some gulf waaaay across the ocean may be involved, but... mmm.

Don't worry, I've learned a lot since then. ;)

(Sidenote, Calgary was rumoured to have a Thunder Bay day where they'd fly out boxes of persians and Labatt Crystal for us displaced persons. I think it was a lie. Sigh.)

Squash Soup Recipe - As Requestsed by Beth

So I'll admit my squash soup was pretty bomb. Why bother denying it? And for everyone who's stuck in very-snowy Calgary without a pot of squash soup, I'm afraid that my life is empirically better than yours, based on that count alone.

Anyway, since this isn't a scientific article, I don't have to cite my original sources (thank god), but most of the directions came from the food network site, which has never actually given me a bad recipe.

1 large Butternut squash (~3 pounds/1.3kg)
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic
olive oil, crushed
1/2 tbsp curry powder
5 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup whipping cream
salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds etc., score the surface deeply with a knife and rub in olive oil (at least a tablespoon per side). Generously season surface with salt and pepper. Put face up on a baking sheet (I covered with foil, not sure if that's necessary). Roast for 40 minutes or until cooked through.

Sautee the onions and carrots over med-high heat with olive oil and some salt for ~5 minutes, until softening noticably. Add garlic and curry powder, reduce heat to med-low, cook another couple minutes.

Scoop squash out of skin with a large spoon (sounds easy, doesn't it? Well it's not, and I burned the shit out of my fingertips to prove that. If anyone has a better way of doing that, I'm all ears.) and add to the pot along with chicken stock. Stir to mix and bring to a boil, put on a lid and simmer for 20 minutes at lowest heat setting.

Use an immresion blender (I now own one, just ask) to thoroughly blend soup. Add nutmeg to taste, season with salt and pepper, and add cream.

Cynic!

Summer Reading

Beth wants your book recommendations. :)

The F Word

Let me just start this out by saying that I don't consider myself a feminist in any particular way. I usually enjoy Chef Ramsey's work - Hell's Kitchen is pretty entertaining, and Kitchen Nightmares is another somewhat interesting show, they usually do pretty well for background noise and a few laughs.

His new show however really got to me - I couldn't even finish a full episode of it. The F word, which mixes a few different concepts like cooking contests, new recipes, and celebrity restaurant stuff is part of a campaign by Ramsey to get women back in the kitchen.

Wtf? Are we in the 21st century here? Sure, basic concept, that women don't learn how to cook in school anymore, that's true. And he points out that 21 year olds don't think it's an important skill to learn, which may be true in some cases, and may, as he claims, lead to 30-somethings that can't or don't cook. Alright. But that's not truely a "women only" issue.

So Ramsey goes to this one house, and the woman he's talking to is a doctor, which in my mind is arguably one of the busiest professions, and she admits that she eats frozen food. Gasp. Shock. And hasn't cooked in 9 years thanks to a fish pie disaster that she tried to serve her parents and in laws. The thought of a fish pie in general is pretty nasty. So whatever, he gives her some simple recipes and helps her cook something good. The husband in all of this? Sits by prettily and enjoys the food. He doesn't have "Dr" in front of his name. Not sure what his excuse for ignoring the kitchen is but apparently that doesn't matter.

I don't get it. In this day and age where women are no longer stay at home mothers who don't get jobs I don't see the point of focusing exclusively on women in this case. Men are also more then capable of following a recipe - or maybe he thinks that professional chefs can be male, but in the family it's only the woman that should cook?

Whatever. It just ticks me off every time he says that women need to get back in the kitchen.

Love, etc