Butternut Squash Enchiladas

I found the perfect Fall recipe to use all of the butternut squash that I spent so much effort growing in my garden this year. Really butternut squash is effortless to grow, but beware it spreads all over the yard with huge green leaves and yellow blossoms and will take over much of your garden space. My one squash plant somehow wrapped itself around all of my peppers through my beans under my herbs and then all around my tomatoes. It took over!

As I looked at the squash I thought to myself, what was I thinking? What will I do with all of this? Then I remembered a delicious meal i enjoyed while working in Deer Valley, a place of culinary intrigue, oh and a fabulous ski resort as well. I was at a meeting and the lunch that was served was Butternut Squash Enchiladas. Many were perplexed by this strange combination while I was completely enamored by it. I had forgotten all about it until now.

So, I did a bit of research to find the perfect recipe and this is what I came up with. Please feel free to leave comments with suggestions or additions to this recipe.


Butternut Squash Enchiladas
adapted from the Washington Times and Epicurious.com
serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS
2 small butternut squash (about 2 1/2 pounds total), halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup drained canned corn
12-16 6-inch-diameter corn tortillas
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 8 ounces)
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (about 8 ounces)
Salsa Verde or Tomatillo Sauce
Sour Cream

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F. Pour enough water into roasting pan to come 1/2 inch up sides of pan. Place squash halves, cut side up, in pan. Bake until tender, adding more water as necessary, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Cool squash completely. Remove seeds from squash; spoon squash into bowl. Discard squash skin. (This can be done in advance, then refrigerate the squash until the day you make the enchiladas)

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Mix in squash and corn. Season with salt and pepper. Heat tortillas to soften either in oven, individually in a skillet or individually over direct flame until soft and heated through, turning with tongs, about 10 seconds per side.

Place 1 heaping tablespoon squash mixture down center of each tortilla. Top with 1 tablespoon of each cheese. Roll up tortillas. Arrange seam side down in 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead; cover and chill.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spoon Salsa Verde or Tomatillo Sauce and remaining cheese over enchiladas. Bake until enchiladas are heated through, about 20 minutes. Place 2 enchiladas on each of 6 plates. Top with sour cream.

Side notes:
*Serve with black beans or rice
*Garnish with roasted squash seeds or cilantro
*For additional spice add cumin and chili powder to squash while roasting or add chopped jalepeno or serrano peppers to squash & corn mixture
*For added sweetness to squash add brown sugar and honey to squash & corn mixture
*You can prepare these a day ahead, cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before baking. Or you can freeze them, then defrost and reheat.
*Chilled Mexican beer, sauvignon blanc or a spicy zinfandel would be a nice accompaniment.

For a full list of VintageMixer recipes click here.

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Oatmeal Recipes

Being back in Salt Lake City after being gone for over a month, I am feeling the peace of coming home. Familiarity all around me: sounds of the trax going by, the brightly colored leaves dusting my feet at I ran through the park yesterday, a salad from Cafe Rio, coffee at 9th and 9th, then today...SNOW!! Really?! I am just not quite ready for you. I was just settling into fall. But, I was quickly reminded that this is one of the things I love most about Utah. Even when it does snow, it is usually not too cold to go outside. Plus, I have some super fun snow and rain boots that I can slip on to brave the outdoors. It's not so bad after all. And its an excuse to get back out the oatmeal. Here are a few varieties that I have created the last few cold days. Maybe this will warm up your day as it did mine.

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal
1 serving of Oats (I use McCann's Steel Cut Irish Oats but you can use Old Fashioned or Quick Oats too)
1/8 cup of vanilla soy milk or almond breeze
2 tsp pumpkin puree
1 packet of splenda
dusting of cinnamon
a few crumbled pecans


Banana Almond Berry Oats
1 serving of Oats (any style)
1/8 cup milk (soy, almond, or regular)
1/4 banana sliced
a few blackberries
1 tsp Almond Butter

*Recipes inspired by HungryGirl and KathyEatsRealFood

Here are a few of my other Oatmeal Posts:
Oatmeal Brulee
Blueberry and Banana Baked Oatmeal
Banana Blackberry and Flax Oats
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Oatmeal

Why do I love Oatmeal so much???
Because I would not survive Utah winters without it.
It keeps me full until lunch or even longer
Its a strange creative outlet for me
Limitless variety
Warms my soul...there's nothing like a hot bowl of oatmeal as I read in the morning

For a full list of VintageMixer recipes click here.

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Dallas and Austin Texas

We only spent a few days in Dallas and Austin so I'll just sum up our time there in one blog for you. Both cities are foodie meccas for sure. So much so, that I could not even begin to try all of the places that I would want to. We mainly focused on our friends that we visited and the concerts but of course we did a bit of eating along the way.

Dallas
We stayed one night in Westlake, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, and a culture of its own for sure. There is actually a street called Wisteria Way, like the one n Desperate Housewives. This is where many pro-golfers live along with the Jonas family and many other well known people. It is a private golf course community with mansions and a beautiful club house. We were able to tour the club house and take a drive in our host's beautiful escalade around the neighborhood.

Our hosts fixed us amazing Texas style meals: Tri-Tip and baked potatoes for dinner and bacon, eggs, and biscuits for breakfast. (By this point in the trip I had submitted to the fact that I would, without a doubt, be gaining weight this month, but I did so with full enjoyment).

Our very sweet hosts also had a beautiful old 1940s car, which I snapped some shots of. I love old cars and have dreams of one day owning one or even just renting one to take a coastal drive along Hwy 1 in California.
We didn't leave Dallas without visiting one of my favorites, La Madeleine. What's funny is that I've turned my West Texas husband into a lover of girly foods. Although he still loves his meat and potatoes, now he talks about this French Cafe as much as I do. We love their tomato basil soup, strawberries romanof, and pretty much anything that we order there. This place is special to me because my mom used to always take me here any time we were in Dallas while I was growing up. She and her mom did the same at The Little Mushroom Cafe, so in the tradition my mom would take me to this cute cafe followed by some shopping at North Park mall.

Austin
We also spent only a short time in Austin so I really can't do it justice in the foodie department but I will give you a small glimpse of this Texas city. There are lots of places for happy hour chips and salsa with margaritas. We went one late afternoon and enjoyed chips and queso as well as some strong Texas margaritas (they don't make drinks very strong in Utah!). We didn't make it to Kerby Lane for breakfast this trip but my friend sends me their pancake mix in the mail so I did make sure and pick some up before we left. Next time I will have to actually eat there because their buttermilk pancake mix is my absolute favorite. We made a late night stop at Mozart's Coffee Shop, one of the coolest coffee shops I've visited for sure. It overlooks Lake Austin and has indoor and lots of outdoor seating lakeside.

We also got to try a new chain restaurant called, Zoe's Kitchen, specializing in fresh Mediterranean style food. I loved their veggie stacker on focaccia and Josh thoroughly enjoyed his steak roll ups. My most favorite moments in Austin were getting to be with some of my dearest friends. Having margaritas, walking around town lake, and having a special breakfast at my friend's new home in Cedar Park. Nothing compares to having a long conversation with an old friend.

After asking some locals, here are a few famous Austin Restaurants:
Salt Lick Bar-B-Que
Amy's Ice Cream - must try the Mexican Vanilla flavor
Hula Hut - amazing fish tacos and a great view of Lake Austin
Old Pecan Street Cafe
Maria's Taco Express
Bess Bistro - Sandra Bullock's restaurant

Other fun stuff:
Lake Austin - great place for a long run or just a walk by the water
Congress Avenue - boutique shops, local restaurants, and food carts
Uncommon Objects - eclectic antique store on Congress
6th Street - for live music and nightlife

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Norman, Oklahoma

We are back in Utah finally after 1 month traveling across the country, visiting some of favorite places and people! I still have so much to share with you from the trip that I thought we could just travel back in time together since I wasn't able to post as much as I would have liked while we were traveing. After Lubbock we made a quick stop in Norman, OK, where I went to college.

Though we daily 'reside' in Norman, becasue this is the name we've given every house since I've moved away from the city, I've only actually been back three times since college. One visit for one of my best friend's weddings and the other two for small concerts that we set up for Josh as excuses to go back to this favorited spot. This trip we were able to see a few close friends and celebrate an engagement of one of my best friends, plus Josh played a concert in a room at the stadium.

Why do I love Norman? It is the essence of a College Town. A little over 90,000 live there yet their stadium holds over 90,000 and is sold out for every game. School pride beaming from everyone and spashes of crimson on every street corner. Cute cozy diners and independant cafes, a lively campus corner with shops, bars, restaurants, and OU memorbilia shops. What more could you ask for?

We were only in town a little over 1 day so, we didn't get to do much but we did find time to squeeze in a visit to a few of my favorite eating establishments:

Rusty's Frozen Custard
Rich creamy custard with tons of mix in choices. In my opinion, I've yet to find a better custard shop. I ordered my trusted favorite: vanilla with coffee flavor and rice crispies.
Bison Witches
A fun sandwich shop on old Main Street offering bread bowl soups and amazing sandwiches. Can't ever have enough of their broccoli cheddar soup and their Shelly's Special sandwich with thin sliced white turkey breast, avocado slices, cream cheese, alfalfa sprouts on a toasted croissant.
Cafe Plaid
Absolutely the best chicken sandwich of your life on fresh foccacia with pesto mayo. They also have amazing caesar salad, tomato soup, and sugar cookies.
The Library
The feeling of Europe right near campus corner with some of the best beer and pizza in town.


Some other local spots worth visiting that we didn't have time for: Victoria's Pasta Shop, a cute cafe on campus corner with housemade pasta to die for. The Diner, a traditional style diner on Main Street with my favorite blueberry pancakes. Hideaway Pizza, an Oklahoma favorite that's always busy. The Mont, where everyone celebrates their 21st birthday and the place for great chips and salsa.

While we were there we also walked around campus. If you're ever around Norman you must see campus and drive around all of the Greek row of Sorority and Franternity mansions. Also, don't leave with out visiting the Library Great Room and the Union Ballroom- two beautiful spots on campus. And I can't forget to mention Shoetopia, my favorite store on campus corner with lots and lots of adorable shoes.

4 comments

Lubbock Texas in my rear view mirror.

I wanted to give an update from the road...we enjoyed time with family in Lubbock and then had a quick stop in Oklahoma and now we're in Dallas. From Dallas we'll drive to Austin...sigh... and then home to Utah!

I'm sure most of you have never been to Lubbock Texas so I wanted to give you a glimpse of where I grew up. (For those of you who didn't know, yes, I grew up in a smaller city West Texas) A few facts for you: 66% of the world's cotton is grown within a 90 mile radius of Lubbock, home of the famous Buddy Holly, and home to the Texas Tech University, where football and Bobby Knight reign. Also, the Dixie Chicks have a few songs about Lubbock, or how much they hate it, as Natalie Maines is also from Lubbock. Usually, its a love/hate relationship with most people and their home towns as it has been also with Josh and I.

For all of my foodie friends, I wanted to share with my opinion of the best restaurants in Lubbock. One thing I can say is that if you love Mexican food, Lubbock is your mecca. Also, this trip I found a few surprising new places very uncharacteristic of the usual Lubbock offering.

photo from Cafe J, where we celebrated our 4th anniversary.

Trusted favorites:
best Lubbock restaurants

Abuelos
Where you'll find the best Tex Mex with chips and salsa flowing and the smell of enchiladas overtaking your senses!

One Guy
calzones, calzones, calzones!

Cafe J
This is the closest Lubbock comes to fine dining and they do a pretty good job with a great atmosphere and excellent southwestern gourmet menu. I highly recommend their crepes (now only on their lunch menu).

Rosa's
A Lubbock landmark and casual Mexican eatery. Homemade tortillas all day long- best with their queso or honey. They even have a facebook page with over 27,000 followers and have now expanded into other markets in Texas.

Sugarbakers
Ladies choice. This is where my mom and me like to go for sandwiches and fruit and of course we also can't leave without one of their homemade desserts. This place is also known for their strawberry sauce that they put on their fruit.

Bless Your Heart
My favorite healthy spot. Soup, salad, sandwiches, and frozen yogurt.

Newly found favorite:

Home Cafe
A new restaurant in Lubbock serving gourmet home cookin' from cheese gritz to buttermilk pie.

Up and Coming:

West Crust Pizza
Opening Oct 23rd, this new pizza spot has the same owner as the popular coffee shop Sugar Browns and promises only the finest ingredients with the same personal touch and culture as their other establishments. West Crust is on twitter so join up if you are in the area!

3 comments

FREE music

Hi friends,

I wanted to give all of you in my inner circle a heads up that Josh is giving away 300 free songs before the release of another album tomorrow. Here are the details on how to pick up a free song:

http://joshrosenthal.net/2009/10/12/no-more-lies/

Basically you just need to shoot him an email for it. Email him at joshrosenthalmusic at gmail dot com. The first 300 will receive a free song. Also, if you'd like to buy the full album, it will be available for download on itunes tomorrow.

The latest CD has some great fall tunes for you to listen to while baking that pumpkin pie you've been dreaming of!

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Southern Comfort Food

While in Arkansas, we prolonged our trip a couple of days so that we could visit one of my bridesmaids and a very special friend who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. We were able to stay with her and her husband and get a little taste of their life, and enjoy their sweet company.

As much as I love Utah, it does feel nice to be back in the South for a while. I love that during this season you hear more about football and hunting than almost anything else. I love hearing Southern accents, some so amazing that I have no idea what the person just said. Something about the tone of the South that just makes you relax, overwhelmed with peace.

Ashley, made us an amazing dinner, which we ate ever bite of (sorry Ash for not leaving any leftovers for you!). She made a dish that I grew up eating, Chicken Spaghetti, a taste of home for me. And for dessert she made a recipe from her sister in law's new food blog- check it out at Rachael's Recipe's.

Hope you enjoy this special Southern meal.

Chicken Spaghetti
from Under the Mushroom
INGREDIENTS
3-4 Chicken breasts or (1 5lb stewing hen)
1 onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
1 stick of butter
2 onions, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. mushrooms thinly sliced
2 cans tomato juice
1/2 cup stuffed olives
1/2 cup pimentos
3 T chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 lb vermicelli spaghetti
2 c Velvetta cheese
1/2 c dry sherry

DIRECTIONS
In a large pot simmer the hen or chicken breasts, with enough water to cover. Add onion, garlic bay leaves,salt and pepper to pot. Remove from heat and let chicken cool in stock. When coo remove the hen and discard the skin and bones and shred into bite-sized pieces. Strain broth and divide in half. In a saucepan melt the butter and saute the next five ingredients until soft. In a large roasting pan combine the chicken, 1/2 broth, onion mixture, tomato juice, olives, pimentos and chili powder. Taste for seasonings. Bake at 350 degrees, covered for 1.5 hours. In the remaining broth cook spaghetti and drain. Fold in the spaghetti and the cheese and bake 30 minutes longer. Just before serving stir i the 1/2 cup dry sherry.

Apple Yummies
This was a delicious apply-dessert made with crescent rolls, apples, and all of the other good stuff in an apple pit (ie butter sugar, cinnamon.) See the full recipe here. Her sister in law recently started a food blog, which looks like a great resource for great Southern recipes and helpful shopping tips.

For a full list of VintageMixer recipes click here.

5 comments

The Ozark Mountains in backwoods Arkansas

This was my first trip to Arkansas and although it did live up to its strange backwoods-y-ness what you don't hear much is how beautiful the forrest is there. We drove from Little Rock to Mountain Home, 4 hrs North, and enjoyed beautiful rolling hills, green pastures, lots of grazing cows, and lush green trees the whole drive. The towns are sparse and very small but if I lived in Arkansas I wouldn't want to live in a town either. I would imagine people take advantage of the landscape and live on a large plot of land at a good distance away from any neighbors. What we did see along the roadside: lots of flee market type antique stores, front yards filled with tractors boats and other random items, and the occasional road kill. Josh played at a camp near Mountain Home, AR, and it was a beautiful camp with huge log cabins with the Buffalo River running through the middle of the property. There was also this beautiful bridge at the camp that was all lit up at night. I captured a few pictures of it below.

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Lubbock Texas and The South Plains Fair

Have you ever gone back home, or to where you grew up, and been overwhelmed by something that, at the time, you thought was normal, but now you realize how strange it is. For those of you who are just starting to read this blog, I grew up in Lubbock Texas and moved to Utah after college. There are a lot of quirky things I enjoy about West Texas- wide open sky, Mexican food, grocery store baggers carrying your groceries to your car, and long conversations with people whom you've never met before. A couple of days ago I had the opportunity to go to the South Plains Fair for lunch and of course I accepted. Apparently, when it's fair season, many people meet up for lunch here. Here are a few special things I saw at our small town fair:

handle bar mustaches
ft long corn dogs
turkey legs that looked like they should belong to elephants
cheese fries with no cheese included
fried snickers (tempting)
funnel cakes
palm readers

Here's my confession: I really do love corn dogs, especially ones from the fair. Wednesday I had really delicious greasy corn dog. Mainly I like the crispy pancake batter and could go without the dog, but either way, I've had my fix.

Update on our trip: We came from Colorado to West Texas (Lubbock), and yesterday we flew to Arkansas where Josh will play for another camp. We're currently in Mountain Home AR, population 11,000, and later today we'll drive about an hour outside of this town into the Ozark Mountains to the camp. There should be lots more exciting things to share with you soon. So, far Arkansas is anything but dull.

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