dinDin

Tonight Rowley and I needed to make some dinner. It's been a while since we've gone grocery shopping and we wondered what lurked in our refrigerator drawers.

Obvious enough was an "erect" butternut squash on our table, which we used as guidance for our meal together.

Rowley is really good at looking up recipes and buying spices. Fortunately we had some new ground turmeric from Whole Foods - where he got it in bulk, by the way, it is so much cheaper to buy spices in bulk! And also some red bell peppers and a jalapeno.

From our "Extending the Table... A World Community Cookbook" he found a recipe for Sweet Vegetables (Indonesia).

Serves 4-6

Cook until crisp-tender
3 c. Butternut squash, peeled and cubed (750 ml) - (just put a little olive oil in a wok and saute the cubed squash)

In separate saucepan, bring to a boil;
2 c. Coconut milk (500ml)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c onion, sliced (50ml)
1 t. Ginger root, minced (5 ml)
1/2 t. ground turmeric (2 ml)
2 t. Salt (10 ml)
2 fresh red pimento or sweet red pepper, thinly sliced
1 red jalapeno, thinly sliced (optional)

When boiling, add;
cooked squash

Simmer about 10 minutes, allowing squash to absorb flavors

OPTIONS:
Add cubed squash directly into sauce, without precooking. Simmer until tender.

Substitute green beans, cut diagonally, for half the squash.

Add 1/2 lb. small shrimp, shelled and deveined.

DELICIOUS - with some red wine- "Peace Family vineyard" - A mix of Shiraz, Cabernet, Grenache, and Mataro. This wine was an engagement gift from my cousins Henry and Becky. We've been saving it for a special occasion. Tonight was a special occasion for me to get a buzz while I cooked, and let Rowley catch up on his 19th century art history reading, right now about Jacques Louis David.

Conversation consisted of recounting our day together with Shane Campbell and Matt Stolle at the Tropicalia exhibit at the MCA, and of our Sushi lunch at BeniHana. Rowley is taking an Andy Warhol class with Shane at the Art Institute and also plays poker with him on Wednesdays. Matt is Rowley's good bud from college and now grad school, where he is finishing up his MFA in printmaking - good man that Matt is. He printed all our wedding invitations and gave us a print and a bottle of wine for house sitting his apartment last winter. His wife, Lisa is really cool too. She's a nurse.

After discussing Robyn O'Neil's piece in the "Trials and Terror's" exhibit at the MCA a couple of months ago - how we thought it was framed in a weird way that probably referenced a triptych - but I argued that triptychs usually put heaven on Christ's right hand and hell on his left, more often than heaven up top and hell below (even though I know that this format is typical too). But O'Neil's piece had a strong central tree in the top half with little men standing around and then in the bottom, framed horizontally, was the tree uprooted and the little men hanging from the branches in nooses. But, the way it was framed was off..... Anyway, after some reflective silence, and then talking about how we keep in touch with good friends, I finished my meal, and said that life was good. Funny enough, Rowley said he thought the same exact thing at the same exact moment - That life is good! And believe me, we've been learning the trials and terrors of being adults, but overall we are fortunate to have each other and our friends and good food - a very nostalgic dinner, but highly recommended.

Then we topped everything off with a chocolate chip cookie and a cup of hot corn tea that we got from my friend Juan a while back.

I washed the dishes.

P.S. This was posted by Michelle, not Rowley. We are working out the kinks.