Truthfully I wasn't sure how I was going to begin this next post but I decided to just start writing about my fall and how Blessed I truly am. I have had such fun visiting the Farmers Markets this past summer and fall but as the saying goes......all good things must come to an end.
Wednesdays turned out to be one of my most favorite days of the week, not only because I get to attend my running class and spend time with some amazing new runner friends, but I also visited the farmers market here in Hutchinson AND it was pick up day at my local CSA. www.loonorganics.com. Truly a good day blessed with good food and friends, and best of all, this leads into my two favorite hobbies..........RUNNING AND COOKING..
So here is Laura and Adam working and enjoying life on their farm. Yum and THANKS so much for all you do.
Next you have me doing what I love to do when I am not cooking and working........I RUN. This fall I participated in a couple 1/2 marathons which I normally don't do because training for two marathons a year usually consumes me. This year however, I didn't run a spring marathon but waited till Fall to run the WINE GLASS MARATHON in New York's wine country. My husband and I had the time of our lives out in New York. We happen to be the lucky ones since our visit was about 3 weeks before the Perfect Storm, Sandy. My sympathies go out to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy.
Above you'll see me approaching mile 10 and replenishing my beverage my husband was so kind to bring me. He insisted on a pic too. As you can see, we had great October weather and it was a good day for running. After we went to a local Italian Bistro to celebrate. Both the wine and food were way too delicious. I had my share of both but I guess that's what runners do right.......drink and eat after to celebrate. We met some great new friends too.
Before my marathon in New York however I ran the Women's Rock over Labor Day for somewhat of a training run and it was also a fun time with lots of awesome women. After completing the Wine Glass Marathon I decided to fit one more 1/2 in since I recovered quite well. Late October I chose the Monster Dash here in St Paul. It was COLD that morning but over all another good morning to run. Turns out I had a pretty good year for running ........not making any PR's by any means, but truthfully it wasn't my intention this year. I simply just wanted to have fun and hopefully finish my fall marathon under 4 hours running with Pete the 4 hour pacer. Since I had completed several marathons under 4, I thought it would be very doable because I was feeling really good again after dealing with a couple injuries last year. In fact I have completed several marathons under 4 hours and qualified for Boston a few times too but this was the year I just wanted to play it safe. I ran a smart race.....not fast by any means.......at least according to past marathons I have completed and I felt great the entire way but for some reason I just couldn't kick it down fast enough that last mile. It was a disappointing finish missing Boston by only 2 minutes but I still had fun and my husband was so proud of me regardless.
My husband is so so dang supportive and he really never knows when and where I am running mostly because it's always last minute for me. Luckily he has been with me at all the above races and still remains my number one fan. We'll be running together in Rome next March so soon the training begins all over again. WHEW I am tired thinking about it but it's the ROME Marathon so I'll be doing my best to work hard and run hard in Italy. More on that to come.............
SO yes it's been a Bountiful time of running but lets get back to my Bounty of Squash.
These past couple months I think I went a little over board on purchasing squash. Gotta love it and my husband for being so accommodating to my running and veggie fetish. I guess that is how I came up with my BLOG title: Eat your vegetables today:-) We do get our share of veggies everyday.
OK this is just what I have in my house.........You should see my garage. A table full of assorted squashes, cabbage, beets and over 25 pounds of storage onions. Yep we're set to entertain all winter long.
This past week I saw a really yummy recipe one of my favorite Italian Bloggers posted using a baby pumpkin or squash. Proud Italian Cook ......please check it out. She's amazing. Anyhow, on Tuesday I decided to prep a squash. Instead of using Butternut or a small pumpkin as stated in her recipe, I used Sweet Meat (the ugly looking light green squash you see on my center piece).
I placed the squash in my oven at 350 and went on with my business. I did some work in my office with my Shaklee Business, laundry and even a couple errands. So yes it baked away for a good two hours. It was a BIG squash. Before I left for my yoga class, I took it out of the oven so it could cool while I taught my class. After yoga my sweet meat squash was cool enough to handle and I was so eager, my husband too, to taste this type of squash since neither one of us had had it before. I peeled and peeled and diced and diced and diced up the Yummy looking golden Meat inside. Some of the meat I set aside to puree for tomorrows squash gnocchi dish but tonight I took about two cups and tossed them with EVO, a bit of maple syrup, and S&P. I broiled them on a sheet pan to caramelize a bit and used this for a topping for our green salad. I tossed some greens with EVO, Pecans, Blue Cheese and our yummy caramelized squash. DELICIOUS.
The remainder I Pureed in my Vita Mix and saved it till until The next day to hopefully make that Delicious Squash Gnocchi I thought looked so delicious on my blogger friends post. Turns out Wednesday was also Halloween, I got out of work late, and my husband informed me he was probably working a bit late too. So since my husband wasn't around to help me answer the door while I finished off attempting to make gnocchi I had to move on to Plan B.....except I wasn't sure what that was. I just knew I didn't have the time to dig into the squash, flour, and eggs, mix up the gnocchi and than form it, all in between trick or treaters and it was all ready going on 6.
I remembered seeing a recipe for Squash and Prawns tossed with Rigatoni and I also recall seeing pasta with Kale so since I love both, why not combine the two. So this is what I came up with. IT was quick, yummy and delicious I have to admit. Squash, Kale, Shrimp with Rigatoni.
First off I sauted onion and garlic, added steamed chopped Kale, my pureed squash, chicken broth, a bit of cream, Salt and Pepper and finally some fresh Sage.
My husband loved it and was truthfully pleasantly surprised since he thought he was coming home to Gnocchi. He's so nice and pretended not to be disappointed but after a few bites he devoured his and than asked, "when can we have this again:-)"
