A "how to" on Spaghetti Squash

This time of year, I eat a lot of squash.  I can't help it!  It's delicious and in season.  I like all types of squash, including butternut, acorn, winter, but I love spaghetti squash.  While at work, many people are leaning over to check out what I am eating and I often get questions on how to cook it.   Since I eat so much of it this time of year, I thought a step by step how to cook spaghetti squash would be helpful for everyone.

First of all, preheat your oven to 350.

So here is the spaghetti squash

Cut off the ends

And then cut in half length wise

Put about 1/4 inch of water into a baking dish, place the squash in the dish (cut side down), cover with foil and put in the oven for 45-50 minutes

Take the squash out of the oven and remove seeds/pulp.  Then run a fork through the strands of the squash.

Put everything into a bowl and your finished product will look like this

Then you may top the squash with whatever you like.  I made sauce and meatballs, so I used the squash in place of spaghetti.  I also like to drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Enjoy!!

All things pumpkin...the Great Pumpkin Festival

With pumpkin season in full force, I was lucky enough to attend the Great Pumpkin Festival at Cambridge Brewing Company (CBC) in Kendall Square where you can eat and drink everything pumpkin!  It was a great event to have just before Halloween because everyone was dressed up and we got to see some great costumes.  I didn't dress up because we were headed to the Bruins game right after, but at least I got compliments on my Marchand jersey!

There were three bars at the brewery, the main bar, brewhouse bar, and the patio bar, all of which features different beers, some local, and some as far away as Alaska.  Of course, I wanted to start local and support our local companies, so I started at the main bar with CBC beers.  My first beer was Valley Ghoul, which was brewed with barley grown and malted from Valley Malt, which I blogged for during the Hyper Local Brewfest in April!  Next was the Coach and Four, made with Cinderella pumpkins out of Westport MA.  I love Westport for many reasons (school, engagement, beach, farms, etc.) so I like to try things from that area.  While we were drinking our local beers, we ordered from the awesome food menu, full of great pumpkin eats!  We started with roasted pumpkin bisque and roasted pumpkin hummus.   For dinner, I had the pumpkin ravioli.  Being the foodie that I am,  I had to try a bite of everyone's dish, a bite of short ribs, a bite of schnitzel, and a bite of fish and chips (all pumpkin by the way).  Everything was outstanding!  And to end our meal we ordered pumpkin bread pudding and frozen pumpkin pie.  We had some difficulty with the pumpkin pie because it was too frozen, but it was still good.  While we had dessert, I made it to the brewhouse bar to try the Calatrava a spicy beer from Elysian Brewing in Seattle, made with habanero chilies and vanilla beans.

After our delicious meal, we went out to the patio bar to try beers from very far away.  I went with the Pumpkin Porter all the way from Alaska.  I typically don't drink porters, but I just wanted to say that I tried beer from Alaska and it was actually pretty smooth.  Then I tried Purple Pumpkin Eater from Seattle (I think I am starting to like Seattle beers) with pumpkin and lavender and then Citrouille Pumpkin Ale from Quebec, which was your standard pumpkin beer flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc.  I really wanted to try the Punkuccino from Seattle which is a coffee pumpkin beer, but they were out of it.  So I will have to look around the stores for this beer.

If you like pumpkin, this is a great fall event to check out.  Tons of beers and good food, so how can you go wrong!  This is an annual event, so be sure to go to the Great Pumpkin Festival at the CBC next year!    

  

Boston Local Food Festival 2013

I wish the Boston Local Food Festival (BLFF) could happen every weekend!  Although it was a gloomy and rainy day, there was so much to see and lots of local food to be eaten.

I met my friends and their adorable baby at the festival to get some eats.  My first mission was coffee!   We found a delicious cup of joe at El Recreo Estate Coffee The coffee had a strong, rich flavor and really hit the spot on a chilly day.  There was so much to see so we walked around with our coffee to check everything out.  We came across Volante Farms because there was a sign for pumpkin hummus, which I had to try (and buy!).  There was also a slow cooked pork sandwich with pickled vegetables and a smoked apple mustard using hoponious union ale from Jack's Abby. Enough said there!  We had a nice little lunch for  ourselves.  Volante Farms is located in Needham, so I will be paying them a visit soon!  They also have a catering menu for Thanksgiving!

We continued around the festival and tried some pumpkin butter (yes, I am obsessed with pumpkin!) and low sugar raspberry jam from Lala's Harvest.  Since the baby tried the pumpkin butter and liked it, my friend went home with a jar.  Lala's Harvest is located in Sharon, MA and uses local and organic ingredients to make their products.  As we continued around the festival, I said hello to my friends at Locally, who I blogged for the BLFF blog.  We then stumbled upon The Fresh Truck, which I have been dying to find!  I love the idea of a mobile farmers market to make local healthy food available to everyone in Boston.  Here I am on the bus!

We found many, many vendors that I am familiar with from going to the farmers markets, cookie lady treats, Nashoba Brook Bakery, Q's Nuts, Valicenti Organico, just to name a few.  There were also farms selling produce, I picked up some peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce from Red Fire Farm.  If you were hungry there were restaurants and food trucks to eat at (everything $6 or less) and Do It Yourself Demos, Seafood Throwdown, Chef Demos, and Chowda Cook-off.  I enjoyed watching the Seafood throwdown and seeing the chef's wandering around the festival buying produce to cook with.  There was so much to do here, we just couldn't see everything.  We had a great time and left with very full bellies!  I can't wait to do this again next year!

Cooking Class at Waltham Fields Community Farm

A couple weeks ago my friend and I went to Waltham Fields Community Farm on a gorgeous evening for a cooking class!

Shannon, from Whole Foods Fresh Pond, kindly came to the farm to show us how to make some delicious and healthy meals from their Health Starts Here program.  It was a great way to see how to use seasonal produce in some unique recipes.  The program focuses on four pillars of healthy eating to include healthy meals in your diet.  These include whole food, plant strong, healthy fats, and nutrient dense.  Look for the health starts here label when you are shopping at whole foods and check out their website for tips, recipes, and cooking methods.

Our first course was cabbage kohlrabi slaw with a lemon and avocado dressing and was my first time eating kohlrabi.  It looks like celery root, but smoother and is similar to cabbage, kale, and broccoli.  This is a refreshing slaw and all the ingredients would easily be found at the farmers market or in your CSA.

    

Our next course was Orzo Soup.  This was my favorite part of the meal (and of course I forgot to take a picture) and I could see myself making this frequently, plus I have been making a lot of soup these days with the cooler weather coming in.  It is super easy to make and has some nice leafy greens, such as escarole to keep it super healthy.  If you like spicy you can heat it up by adding some red pepper flakes.

For our main course we had collard rolls with eggplant, adzuki bean, and spicy tahini sauce.  I love the idea of making rolls in a nice leafy green, so this was perfect for me.   I often make tacos with lettuce to cut out the processed tortillas, so I definitely support making a wrap of a leafy green loaded with vitamins.  However, I know my husband won't touch this, so this will have to be something I make for myself.

And for dessert, we had raw apple crisp.  Quick, easy, and healthy and was a great way to finish out meal.  Simply combine pecans, hazelnuts, raisins, ginger, and cinnamon in a food processor and cover over apples.

When the class was over we took a walk around the farm to check out their learning garden.  There are a lot of really great programs that the farm is putting on, including youth learning programs and workshops.  The Waltham Farm Day is this weekend on October 5 from 2-5pm.  There will be tractor climbing, face painting, PYO carrots, recipe tasting, and arts and crafts.  It's a free event so go check it out!!

Timing is Everything - September

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Belmont Farmers Market to see what is in season now.  I love this time of year because the tomatoes are still coming, but we are getting some great fall flavors like butternut squash and pumpkin!  I also found some delicious honey crisp apples which are a great fall treat!  Apples are so crisp and tart this time of year, I can't help but to buy a few when I'm at the market.  
Another one of my favorites this time of year is spaghetti squash.  It is such a great substitute for pasta and tastes delicious.  I made some last week with sauce and meatballs, but I love to eat it with some butter and parmesan cheese.  Peppers are coming out in lots of colors, eggplant, green beans, corn, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage coming out soon with these cool temperatures.  And pumpkins, lots of pumpkins!

Now into the Belmont Farmers Market.  I used to frequent this market when I worked in Medford, so I really enjoyed going back for a visit.  Two great farms are there, Kimball and Dick's Market Garden, as well as Belmongo Farm, The Farm School, Flats Mentor Farm, Hutchins Farms, and Nicewicz Family Farm.  All with plenty of vegetables.  Nobscot Artisan Cheese and Foxboro Cheese are there for your cheese fix and also Sara Ran Away with the Spoon and Sfolia Bakery for your sweet tooth.  You can also find honey, maple syrup, wine, hummus, and knife sharpening as well.  All in all, a great market!  I definitely miss stopping at this market on my way home from work!  Belmont Farmers Market is located in the Belmont Center parking lot of Thursdays 2-6pm until October 31st!  Go check them out!

Enjoy all the fall flavors!!  

Livin' La Vida Local

Last weekend was my last weekend of freedom!  School started this week, so it's back to the grind.  I can no longer spend my days contemplating what market to go to or what food truck to hit up.  I decided that I wanted to spend the little free time I have left to do what I like best, livin' local!  On Friday, I switched up my Copley Square routine to check out the Charles Square Farmers Market.  I had a mission in mind with my switch, which was to go to Kimball Farm to buy one of their award winning tomatoes.  It was another beautiful Friday afternoon, perfect for a Peet's iced coffee and a walk around the market.  Vendors included Busa Farms, Flats Mentor, Stillman's, Valicenti Organico, Hi-Rise Bread Co. and Q's Nuts.  So nothing was lacking at this market.  Check out the tomatoes...

Kimball Farm

Busa Farm

The next part of my weekend involved a knife skills class at 51 Lincoln in Newton.  I learned so much from this class and I am hopeful that it will cut down preparation time with cooking.  This class took place in the kitchen, which I thought was so cool to be behind the scenes in a restaurant.  There were so many knifes and other neat tools in the kitchen.  I learned how to chop, dice, julienne, brunoise, and batonnet various vegetables such as celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and oranges.  I also learned about the two most common knives, chefs knife and pairing knife, as well has the importance of keeping these sharp.  I am getting mine sharpened tomorrow and maybe even going knife shopping.  At the end of the class, the teacher made us lunch, which was beef empanadas with a fresh heirloom tomato salad, which were delicious!  51 Lincoln is a restaurant in Newton that features local, organic ingredients when possible.  They have partnered with Allendale Farm and Ward Farm.  They even have a rooftop garden to grow herbs, Swiss chard, kale, tomatoes, habanero, and banana peppers.  Go check them out!!

And lastly, I ended my weekend by going peach and apple picking with the family!  We went to Nashoba Winery in Bolton where there was also a locavores market.  The market was lacking in vegetables, but there were donuts, jewelry, tea, bread, and honey, but also some of my favorites Sweet Lydia's and Cookie Lady Treats.  We got a bottle of Cyser Wine, which is made with apple and honey and the guys got beer.  We sat out and had a picnic before we went picking.  Of course, we ended up getting another bottle of wine to take while we went picking.  This time we went with Marion, a blackberry wine.  I am more of a red wine drinker, but I enjoyed these fruity wines especially because it was a hot, sunny day.  We hit up the peaches first, I was on a mission to make boozy canned peaches out of my Food in Jars cookbook.  Taking a peach off the tree and eating it reminds me of my younger days when my grandfather would pick a peach and give it to me.  They were always super sweet, juicy, and messy.  I took some apples home as well, but no canning for those.  I have enjoyed a fresh, crisp apple everyday this week!

Peach Picking

Locavore Market

I hate to brag, but the hubs surprised me with a food dehydrator and I have a four day weekend!  So be ready for some pics of something dehydrating this weekend!

Timing is Everything - August

There are many flavors that I love about summer.  That first bite of a juicy peach, the sweetness of a ripe tomato, or even a crisp, fresh bell pepper, all of which you can find now at your local market.  Other veggies that you will be able to find now include beets, broccoli, cabbage, onions, potatoes, eggplant, collards, kale, radishes, cucumber and various herbs.  Fruits that you will find include blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, melons, peaches, nectarines, and plums.

I strongly feel the best part of summer is the tomato.  There is nothing like that taste of that garden tomato.  I am pretty simple with how I eat tomatoes.  I like to get a pint of grape tomatoes and eat them raw, slice up an hierloom and sprinkle a little salt, or top with mozarella and basil.  The more colors you can find the better!  It's great to find all different colors and make a colorful tomato salad with some fresh herbs and a little balsamic.  There's no need to get fancy, just appreciate that fresh summer taste.

Something I start doing this time of year is buying two pints of grape tomatoes when I go to the market, one to eat and one to roast.  The roasted tomatoes go into a ziplock freezer bag and in the freezer they go.  By the end of September, I have a nice stash of tomatoes to use in the winter.  Other ideas to preserve tomatoes include canning, making sauce, whole, or chopped, and dehydrating, which I have yet to try.  

This week is Massachusetts Farmers Market week, so be sure to stock up on all your favorites to support MA farms!!