Pisco Sour

When I went to Peru for my brother's wedding to his Peruvian princess, one of my favorite things was Pisco Sours. Pisco is Peru's national booze. Sweet! When they recently brought me back a bottle, I was determined to make them myself.

2oz Pisco Brandy
1oz lime juice
1/4 oz simple syrup
1/2 egg white
dash of bitters

Throw all but the bitters in a shaker and shake the snot out of it. The egg white's froth up and make a rad foam, which you sprinkle a couple drops of bitter on. I think if I had stuck all the liquid in a blender, it probably would have frothed up better (like in that pic, which was taken in Peru). Obvious you-might-die warning: RAW EGG WHITES. Basically, you're taking your chances. Risky risky!!

Spaghetti Squash

Nicole and I get a bag of fresh veggies (Farmer's Market style) that we order every week and last week I ordered a spaghetti squash. My mom makes it sometimes and I have some vague memory of liking it. So last night I decided to bake it, since it was probably getting a smidge old. I bust out my nice big chef's knife to hack the thing in half. I cut the end off, which took way more effort than I had anticipated. Huh...that's weird. So I start to try to cut it in half and that stupid squash had the skin of a damn boulder. I could barely get the knife in there at all, let alone cut it.

So I stabbed the knife in through the end I had cut off and was literally slamming it down on the counter trying to get the knife in further. Naturally, there was a ceramic bowl sitting on the counter next to the sink and I was whacking that stupid squash so hard that the bowl bounced off the counter and shattered in the sink. Great. After breaking a sweat (no joke), it finally split in half. I opened it and immediately yelled some obscenity. It's not even an effing spaghetti squash!! I was pissed. It's supposed to have little spaghetti string things (hence the name), but it looked and smelled exactly like a pumpkin inside. I threw it on a baking sheet and decided to bake it anyways, because I sure as hell wasn't going to waste the mystery squash. An hour later it was done (I think. Like I would know). I stabbed it with a fork and, whaddya know! Spaghetti thingies! Oops...

If you survive cutting it in half, put both halves (cut side down) on a cookie sheet or baking dish or something. I put foil down first so that clean-up doesn't suck ass. Cook at 350 for about 30 ish mins (until the fleshy part is soft when you poke it with a fork). I like it served with salt and pepper, others like it with butter...whateva...

Lemon Carrots and Rutabaga

We get a bag of fresh organic veggie's every week, farmer's market style. We get to chose what we want, and I usually try to branch out and try new things. Having NO clue what the hell a rutabaga was (I would've guess it was a car), I ordered it. Usually when I get new things, I hop on AllRecipes and do an ingredient search to find a way to cook them. I found this recipe and went for it:

Ingredients:

-4 med carrots, cut into 3in julienne strips (eff off with you fancy schmancy talk, allrecipes! Basically, cut into chunky strips. I think.)
-2 cups rutabaga, peeled and cut into 3 inch julienne strips (I think I used 3 or 4 rutabagas, the size of med potatoes)
-1/2 cup water
-2 Tbl butter
-1 Tbl brown sugar
-1 Tbl lemon juice
-1/2 teas grated lemon peel
-1/4 teas dill weed (I was pretty sure that dill weed was an insult, not an herb, so I left it out. The herbs in our pantry consist of cinnamon, salt, pepper, and...uhhh...that's about it)

Directions
1. In a large saucepan, combine the carrots, rutabaga and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cover and cook for 13-15 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients; cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 2-3 minutes or until butter is melted.

2. Drain vegetables; add butter mixture. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables are glazed, stirring occasionally.

Pretty easy! Rutabaga tastes a little sweet, a little tangy, a little rad. I served it with quinoa made with chicken broth. Anytime I have veggies and don't know what to serve them with, with I pretty much always throw them on some quinoa. Super good for you! Plus it turns it from a side dish into a full meal.

Nicole found a couple 'thorns' in hers, tough sharp pieces. She might just be delusional, because I never got any, and I have no idea what part they're from, but just a heads up.