When I started this blog, I imagined that there would be a lot of emphasis on snacks.  When I’m short on things to do, I like to teach myself to cook and bake new things.  I tried a lamb stew from a Middle Eastern cookbook last week called a khoresh – I didn’t take any pictures, but I was so pleased with it, and with myself, that I thought about making it again right away just so I could post photos.  But it turns out my food photography skills are negligible, so I’ve had to content myself with taking photos, filing them away on my computer, and tucking in to my food.  But today is the big reveal! And here is the lesson I’ve learned:  I need to stop cooking so much with orange ingredients.  Also, there is almost nothing you can do to make hummous look good in a photo.

In the past five days, I have made:
– lavender scones (so easy! who knew?)
– butternut squash quiche (inspired by a lunch at a popular cafe in London)
– hummous
– butternut squash lasagne (with from-scratch noodles)
– pretzel bread
– apple and plum crumble (regular apple crumble recipe. modified)
– candied orange peel (really easy, but so time consuming. and then I ate it all in one sitting.)

I’ve been using squash a LOT because a. its delicious and b. its really the only squash that I’ve seen here.  There were a few at the Arjuna Whole Foods store and the market, but they were prohibitively expensive.  While I’ve missed my pumpkin-based recipes this season, I’ve filled the hole in my heart with sweet potatoes and butternut squash.

As a parting thought: if anyone would like me to test-drive some recipes for them, please say the word. I’d be happy to try it for you and report back.