Cleavage, Craigslist, and a Rainbow To Boot

Last evening I joined a gaggle of locals

who just happened to be in the Walgreen's

parking lot when this happened:

Taken with my old fashioned cell phone -- I don't like smart phones, as I suspect they are smarter than I.

We stood there, Walgreen's employees and customers alike, mouths open, cameras or phones clicking away.  It's not often -- at least around here -- that you witness a clear and complete rainbow, stretching in a perfect parabola* from one side to the other of Route 46 -- a useful but not often breathtakingly beautiful thoroughfare.

I don't know about the other gawkers, but looking at this miracle of Nature

recalled to me God's promise to never again destroy the earth by flooding.

Given the last 3 weeks in the Northeast, that's a welcome promise.

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Speaking of perfect parabolas:

It's Blossom and Boom-Boom, the pulchritudinous Squash sisters,

members of that well known New York family, the Spaghettis.

Our family has been eating Spaghetti Squash, farmed on Long Island, for almost as long as I can remember,

and that's a pretty darned long time.  If you've never had this unique squash, you may want to give it a whirl.

 Some people use it as a substitute for carb-laden pasta, but I use it because I love it.

That it's low carb and no-fat is just a side benefit.

Before just telling you what I do with it, I googled it, to see recommended methods.

It used to be that the standard way to cook it was to hack it in half lengthwise -- no easy task --

scrape out the seeds and icky bits, and roast it, cut side down, till tender.

After I got married and started actually cooking, I discovered I am a lazy cook.

So I just poked a few holes in the thing, put it in a dish, and roasted it whole.

My Mom didn't approve, but I couldn't tell the difference in the final product, and it was way easier.

Turns out, that's the most commonly recommended method now, although most recipes warn

about dangers of dealing with the piping hot squash right out of the oven, when you need to cut it up and clean it.

There is a simple cure for this.

Let it cool down.

Duh.

 Put the squash in the oven, 350-degrees, and roast about an hour.

Don't forget to poke it in a few places with a sharp knife first.

You'll know it's done when you can pierce it easily.  Plus, it will look cooked.

 When it's cool enough to handle, cut off the two ends to make it easier to clean.

In one end -- I think the blossom end -- there's good strands so don't let that one go without pulling them out.

 Cut the squash in half lengthwise.  With a soup spoon, just scrape out the seeds and icky stringy stuff

from the middle of the veg.  You will leave the "meat" of the squash

clinging (desperately) to the edges of the shell.  For now.

 Take a fork, and scrape the meat from the shell.

If your squash is cooked enough, it will come away easily.

If it is cooked too much, it will fall away, but it might be mushy.

 Almost done.  

 As you scrape the strands out, put them in a bowl or pan, depending on what you want to do with them.

You will be left with two empty squash shells, a lot of good spaghetti strands, and also a lot of seeds.

You can roast them like pumpkin seeds, if you must wish.

 What to do with a bowl of spaghetti squash?

You can play pretend, and put spaghetti sauce and cheese on it.

I am made of stronger stuff, and take my squash neat.

I reheat it in the microwave, get it piping hot, plop in some butter, give a goodly sprinkle of salt,

and a very generous grinding of pepper.  Then I add more pepper.  Toss it lightly -- and it is delicious.

Tonight, to go along with leftover chicken breasts cooked with spinach

and feta cheese, I'm going to saute some of those big shiny shallots,

above, with a bit of garlic, some olive oil, a touch of butter

(because I can!) and heat it up with the squash.

Spaghetti squash is one of the winter squashes,

although it has far less sugar and carbohydrate content than its more famous relatives:
the Acorns, Hubbards, the Pumpkins, and those wild and crazy Butternuts.

 These squashes can be expensive in supermarkets, but we get ours from the farmers out East;

the ones I used today cost us 50-cents apiece, and I'll be stocking up.  They keep for months.

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Now, about that mention of Craigslist. . . .

Yes, I am a Craigslist junkie.

But even I was amazed to get a message yesterday that went something like this:

Dear Craigslist Stalker,

You have sent ten listings to yourself via email within the last hour,

you greedy and selfish cheapskate.

You have reached the limit for stalking,

and are now cut off from sending any listing emails.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Love, Craig

(Okay, full disclosure -- that's not really what they wrote; their message was more like

"You have reached our silly and arbitrary limit on emailing postings" or ...

no, that wasn't it either.  Their message was rather businesslike.

But their limit IS silly and arbitrary.  JMHO, natch.)

Who knew that you can only use their "email this posting to a friend" feature ten times in an hour?

I think Craigslist made that rule about as clear as they make the *&@#^$@
verification letters you need to fiddle with now.

I have had sets that were upside down or had characters that don't exist on my keyboard.

Seriously, Craig?

Well, we forgive Craigslist, because look what I found for sale nearby:

A triple dresser from a good maker, with beautiful brasses.

$50.   What do you think?  Should I negotiate?

Paint me if you must, but be kind.  It's my first time.

This little guy is right in my hometown, for $5.

Dear Cass, Please buy me and paint me a wild color.
My life till now has been SOOOOO dull and colorless.

And . . .  I think this coffee table -- with brasses polished bright 

and maybe painted in a brilliant marine blue,

would be a great beach house find:

A butler's tray table, with removable tray.

Yes, I know butler's tray tables are old fashioned, but that doesn't bother me.

I love them, and once upon a time wanted one but could not afford it.

The price on this is $15.  I think I can manage that.

Oh dang . . . Howard will read this, won't he?

That spaghetti squash and chicken better be good tonight.

It's turned chilly here.

Memo to Autumn:  BACK OFF! 

We want our last week of summer.  -- Cass

*To the Science teachers -- I know a rainbow is actually a full circle, but it looks like a parabola.

Link Parties

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