UMTravels

Work in the morning while baking a loaf of caraway dark rye to go with dinner.

Left the house at noon for a relaxing drive south – relaxing at that time of day, wait an hour and it starts to get messy.

A couple of stops in Olympia before Curts:

• Safeway – found a ton of mark-down meat to have Rich seal and freeze for Seaside poker in December
• Fabric store that I’d never been in – turns out it’s slanted towards upholstery, but has tons of foam
• Liquor store for some brown booze

Arrived at Curt’s to find an acorn squash to be added to dinner with a note…. 350 degrees for an hour, butter or/and brown sugar.

It would be tasty, but sort of plain. And he had fresh sage in the fridge… how about this:

Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage

• 1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
  
• 1 bunch fresh sage
  
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  
• Salt
  
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Halve squash lengthwise and peel; remove seeds and pulp with a spoon. Place flat side down on cutting board and slice into half-moon pieces, about 1/2-inch thick.

Chop enough sage to equal 1 tablespoon; set aside remaining sprigs. Combine squash, chopped sage, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Spread out in a single layer on a large jellyroll pan. Turning once halfway through, roast squash 30 to 35 minutes, until tender and caramelized.

Meanwhile, line a large plate with paper towels. Remove stems from remaining sage. Pour 1/2 cup olive oil into a small skillet over medium heat. Fry 1/3 of sage leaves 20 to 30 seconds, until crisp. Remove from oil with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt. Repeat process with remaining sage.

Arrange squash on a platter and garnish with fried sage leaves.

Thanks Oprah (or whoever does your recipes)… pictures are here: http://www.oprah.com/food/Roasted-Butternut-Squash-with-Sage

Add a marinated briskety thing, and some pan fried (the the oil left over from frying the sage leaves), and several bottles of fine wine, and you have a lovely end of the week meal.

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