Fantastic Fall Recipe (and fairly easy)

 'Tis the season for gourds and pumpkins and squash. Butternut hull squash are everywhere. These things: 

The good news is they're delicious. The bad news is you have to cut off the stem and the end, peel them, slice them into halves or quarters, remove the seeds in the bulgy part, and then slice them into smallish pieces. From then on, things get easier: just toss in a bowl with pressed garlic (lots!), cumin, turmeric, olive oil, and a little salt and pepper. Spread out in a large pan so that each piece has its own little space in which to bask in the heat. Set aside. 

Next, take three (or more) chicken thighs you've salted and peppered and left in the fridge overnight. The leaving them in the fridge part is not absolutely essential but results in crispier skin when the chicken is baked. Figure out which veggie might go bad if you don't use it soon. I had some perfect cauliflower that would have been marginally less perfect the next day. Rinsed it, cut it, tossed it in olive oil and lemon juice; added a few sliced red onions.  But I can see the recipe with bell peppers instead. Or zucchini.

In a largish pan, place the cauliflower mix with the chicken on top. Put the pan of chicken on the top shelf of your oven, which you've meanwhile pre-heated to about 200º Celsius (about 390ºF). Place the pan of sliced butternut squash on the lower shelf. Both dishes need about an hour; you can baste the chicken in its own juice and flip the thighs over towards the end. Stir the squash, too. The squash may be done a bit sooner; you can switch the chicken to the lower shelf if it looks very done.

The dishes will look like this before you put them in: 

I was too hungry to take a picture when they came out. Served all over Jasmine rice made, naturally, in the rice cooker. And my son said it was "so delicious, Mom!"

Nikolas Cruz and Death

He's locked up. He will never come out. But many of the parents whose children he killed want him dead. He is said by the prosecution to be a psychopath. 

This video of him with his brother on the day of the shooting tells me he is an argument for gun control. Tells me felt impulses and had no more ability to check them than a two-year-old. Tells me he feels despair:

The American idea of the penitentiary--for the Puritans, the place of penitence--is based on the idea that suffering as a sinner brings transcendence. He does seem to be suffering. If he can feel regret, and use what voice he has to condemn his crime, could the dream of gun control become real?

Cheap and Easy Beef Stew

I got this from a lovely essay by Nigel Slater called "In a Stew." He's written more here: https://www.foodandthefabulous.com/food/stew-of-onions-beer-beef-a-twist-on-nigel-slaters-recipe/

I decided to do the basic British version, the one he unflatteringly says smells of old people. Zapped it up a bit. But so easy. Here are ingredients and suggestions:

Mr. Slater says you just need hunks of beef, onions, parsnips, carrots, a bay leaf, (or a few, says I) and water (around 15 oz). You dump everything in a big pyrex bowl and stick it in the oven and let it "do its thing" for four hours, he says.

OK. Started exactly as he suggested:

He didn't say what temperature, but I started at 200ºC (around 392ºF) and I let it go for an hour; then I opened the lid and turned stuff around. Turned the temperature down to around 150ºc. (302ºF). He said four hours but I had the feeling an hour would have been enough. I also had the feeling it would have been okay to use a bottled vegetable broth. 

Finally, after around an hour and a half hours, I added "a splodge" of red wine. Around five ounces, that is, and I stirred. 

On the side, I boiled potatoes and Brussels Sprouts: 

I decided two hours was plenty:

Really, this was okay, but you don't need four hours. Probably an hour or so at 200º or so, celsius, that is. Anyway, I dumped all on my plate:

The whole dinner proved quite tasty with a glass of red wine (pictured here) while gazing at some lovely roses that came my way. I added lots of salt and pepper. A bit of butter on the potatoes and Brussels Sprouts.

Hope you all enjoy!