Here we are, 4 days until Christmas and I’m finally posting a Thanksgiving recipe. Obviously, it would be great for Christmas too, so if you’re still searching for a new side dish, I highly recommend this one! I found it on Instagram, posted by one of my favorite cheese providers, Murray’s Cheese. The recipe calls for hot honey and burrata.

Burrata is an Italian cow’s milk cheese made from mozzarella and cream. The outer casing is solid mozzarella, while the inside is stracciatella and cream, making it extremely luxurious and delicious when broken open.

I’m posting both Murray’s photo and my own. Murray’s used kabocha squash and shows the burrata still in its whole form. While I used acorn squash and broke up my burrata a bit more and scattered mine throughout the platter, ensuring all guests were able to have some on their plates. Also, the lighting in my photo is atrocious, taking on the stove, under the stove light! Terrible!

If you’ve never had hot honey, you’re really missing out! The brand most popular is Mike’s Hot Honey, which you can find at most grocery stores. Trader Joe’s has their own brand and you can also easily find burrata there.

I found the recipe for this next dish on Food52 and made it for Paul’s “Welcome to the Lake” dinner on Saturday night. It is a delicious and stunningly beautiful dish.

I added and omitted a few ingredients from the original recipe. In the photos, you’ll see 2 zucchini, 2 yellow squash, and 2 eggplants, but that was too much for the baking dish, so in the recipe, I say to use one of each.

Don’t worry, we didn’t let those go to waste. I spread the excess on a sheet pan, seasoned and baked them off for another meal.

We picked up Paul at Montreal-Pierre E Trudeau International Airport at around 10:30 am.

We then drove to Old Montreal, parked, and walked about a mile and a half to Schwartz’s for their famous smoked meat sandwiches.

That sandwich was just as spectacular as I remembered from when I visited in October, 2010.

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I love this dish! Spaghetti squash is subbed in for the classic noodles.

Spaghetti Squash-Chicken Pad Thai

Chicken

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced jalapeño pepper flesh
• 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast half, finely chopped

Pad Thai Sauce

• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons water

Pad Thai

• 1 small to medium spaghetti squash (about a 2-pound squash)
• Peanut or olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 6 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 large eggs, whisked
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
• Red pepper flakes
• 1 lime, cut into wedges

Chicken: In a medium bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the soy sauce, and then stir in the garlic and jalapeño.

Add the chicken, cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 6 hours.

Pad Thai Sauce: Whisk together the rice vinegar, fish sauce, brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons in a small glass bowl, microwave on high heat for 30 seconds and whisk until everything is combined into a thin sauce.

Pad Thai: Cut the squash in half lengthwise and use a spoon to remove the seeds. Place the halves, cut side up in a large Pyrex dish, add 1/4 cup water to the dish, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on high for 8 minutes or until tender.

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Aaron Chamberlain, co-owner and head chef from St. Francis, recently taught at Les Gourmettes.

He made this soup, which he simply calls Pumpkin Soup. As you’ll see, it is much more than just pumpkin soup.

Aaron uses a combination of squashes to create a more complex flavor. If he wants to call it Pumpkin Soup, so be it. I call it good!

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While Sheila and I are living it up here in Coronado, this healthy and hearty soup is served as our lunch one day and dinner the next. You do need to remember to soak the beans the night before, otherwise, it is pretty straightforward. Unlike yesterday, this time the photos nearly match how I describe to do it, nearly. I just had to use two baking dishes for the roasting of the vegetables, if you have a dish that is large enough, just use one.

If you have leftovers when reheating be certain to add a bit more water to thin out the soup. It thickens considerably as it cools.

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Mark Tarbell and Tarbell’s are one of the many chef friends/restaurants that I follow on Facebook. A great side-benefit to following these talents is that they sometimes post what is on special for dinner that night. When it looks tempting, I can hurry up and make reservations… or if we don’t feel like going out… I can try and duplicate the dish for my own knock-off “special of the day”.

This was the case late last week when I saw Tarbell’s post above.  It reads:

“A new week, a new Mr. Fish! Nantucket Sea Bass with a stew of sweet corn, summer squash, and Napa cabbage is topped with a cured tomato relish. We’re loving the veggies we’re getting from local Crooked Sky Farms!“

It is a big recipe, but after not posting a recipe for a full week, a big recipe is called for!

I didn’t have sea bass, but I did have halibut. Additionally, I didn’t want to cure tomatoes for the relish, so instead, I used sun-dried tomatoes as the base. Following is the delectable result.

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Connor and I went to the Scottsdale Old Town Farmers’ Market on Saturday morning. I got him all excited to go, telling him that we could split one of Eugenia’s heavenly croissants from the Essence Bakery Cafe booth at the market and then we’d go Barrio Queen for breakfast afterwards. Who could resist once they’ve seen this breakfast menu?

Con got up early on a weekend day and we left the house at 7:20. Only two problems – the Essence booth wasn’t there on this particular Saturday and Barrio Queen doesn’t open until 11:00. What an utter letdown!! We ended up eating a very nice meal at The Breakfast Club, but it certainly wasn’t the same as Chile Verde Con Huevos or Chilaquiles from Barrio Queen!

Oh well, at least we bought cute round zucchini at the market and I did my best to make it up to him by creating this meal for him on Sunday.

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This quick, easy, and delish recipe comes from my Illinois BFF, Jennifer.  My girl knows how to throw together a fabulous dinner like no one else! With three busy sons, who run her ragged, she is the master. Love you, Jenni-Jen! xoxo

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I found this recipe in an issue of Bon Appétit three or four years ago and tucked it away. When I stumbled upon it right after Thanksgiving, I knew it would be a perfect side for the pork roast I planned to serve on Christmas Eve. Not only because the flavors would complement the pork so well, but also because I had a kabocha squash and a butternut squash laying around that I had used in my Thanksgiving table decor. I’d also used several pie pumpkins in the decor that I’d already roasted and frozen for use in a pumpkin soup I planned to serve. It is so gratifying when you can use such gorgeous vegetables twice… first to decorate and then to eat!

Just as with yesterday’s post, this dish may also be prepared a full day in advance. Assemble completely in the baking dish, cover and refrigerate, then bring to room temperature before baking.

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I found this lovely orange Kuri squash at the Phoenix Public Market in downtown Phoenix. It was almost too pretty to use, but I finally caved and made it into an equally lovely soup. Any winter squash will work just as well; butternut, pumpkin, acorn, whatever you find or have on hand.

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