Start Your Oven

I started off roasting a couple of Acorn Squashes and one large Butternut Squash to be used in later dishes. The acorn squash will be incorporated in the Banana Bread. The Butternut Squash was mashed. To that mashed golden squash I added Butter, Brown Sugar, Gram Marsala and a touch of Vanilla - taste and adjust if you need or wish salt. Whisk that all around and then with an Ice Cream Scoop I place on a cookie sheet the dollops. Place in the freeze till frozen solid. Then place in a freezer bag ready to take a perfectly formed dollop out and add to any evening meal during the cold nights to coming.

I then spiral cut 6 baking apples and placed in a bowl - add Coconut Sugar, Apple Pie Spices, a pinch of salt, a hand full of Cranraisins and 1 teaspoon Almond Extract - Toss and place in a buttered dish and add a few thin dots of Butter on top. Bake 350 till apples are just tender not mushy... This will be used with a Pork Roast that I have scheduled this week.. It is also Yummy on top of a steaming hot bowl of Steel Cut Oatmeal in the morning.... I think I know what I am having for breakfast tomorrow..

Next up is a great Mac Dish with Spiral Cut Ham chunks.... Everyone has their recipe for Mac and Cheese but here is a new take on it. The Spiral Cut Ham had a sweet glaze on it when I first baked it so I had to rethink my ingred's. Instead of the standard milk or cream I used Coconut Milk - not the thin kind in a can but the kind you find in the cold milk department. I also added Cream Cheese along with my Cheddar Cheese. I also used 1 teaspoon of Lemon Pepper, about 1 teaspoon of dry mustard with a pinch of Nutmeg. As it bubbled away in the oven the house smelled amazing!!! I had a hard time waiting for the dish to come out of the oven and a scoopful on my plate - LUNCH TIME!!!! I admit it was so good I had another scoopful.. I separated this dish into three freezer containers and one for this weeks menu. Yum...