More Reverb

Day Six - Make - What was the last thing you made?  What materials did you use?  Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Author: Gretchen Rubin)

I made chili and butternut squash soup.  Matt and I were hosting the social workers from my department at our house Friday evening.  I chose to do chili because I had managed to find the recipe for Redstone Grill's chili online, and Redstone Grill makes the best chili I've ever had.  I was fully aware that I would not exactly replicate the recipe, but I hoped it would be close.  And I chose to do butternut squash soup because I love it, and I found a good vegan recipe for it (my supervisor and his wife eat vegan).  

The chili had a lot going on, but it was really delicious.  It wasn't quite the same as the restaurant, but it was close.  Ground beef, celery, onion, garlic, chipotle pepper puree, cayenne pepper powder, chili powder, cumin, oregano, tomato puree, diced tomatoes, tomato juice, and kidney beans.  I made it a few days before the party, so the flavors had a chance to blend.  I heated it up the evening of, and - not to toot my own horn, but - it was pretty awesome.

The butternut squash soup was really good, too.  First time I ever cooked with fresh ginger, which smells amazing!  It also had onions, butternut squash (obviously), vegetable stock, and coconut milk.  Mine didn't quite get completely smooth, but it was still pretty good.  Not as sweet as I would've like - probably a bit more coconut milk would've helped. 

As far as what I'd like to make...there's all kinds of recipes I'd like to try, but I just don't have the time and/or patience for them.  I usually try to make a really special meal for us on Christmas and one for Valentine's Day.  I'm trying to come up with something for that.  I am thinking that maybe for Christmas I'll make some spinach and egg fritattas for breakfast.  And I have dessert figured out - creme brulee!  As for dinner, I'm really not sure.  Matt suggested lasagna.  I tried that once, but it didn't turn out that well.  So maybe I'll give it another go.  

And Matt and I are talking about making babies, but have decided that we'd like to wait until next year...as in, 2012.  But, we'll see.