Care for Some Meat with Your Potatoes?

After spending Thanksgiving in China, I returned to New York with a suitcase full of tea and cashmere scarves, while Fork returned from a visit to his family lugging winter vegetables and meats courtesy of the wilds of upstate New York. Stocked with cashmere, chrysanthemum tea, butternut squash, potatoes and venison, my apartment is ready to battle winter.

About the vegetables. I have a feeling Fork's mom may have genetically engingeered these things. The butternut squash probably weigh a hefty four pounds each. Suffering from jet lag one morning, I chopped one up and roasted half of it for Roasted Butternut Squash Muffins. The recipe was labor-intensive, although at 3:30 AM, I was in no rush. Steps included roasting the squash, making applesauce, simmering apple cider down from two cups to a quarter-cup, and whipping the egg whites separately from the yolks. But the muffins were delicious: they had a nice crusty top and weren't overly sweet. They were even a little healthy, thanks to the sprouted flour I used. The rest of the squash found its way into Butternut Squash Soup, which we enjoyed with a dollop of sour cream and spicy toasted pumpkin seeds.

If the squash are on the big side, the potatoes are positively freakish. One is about as big as the butternut squash. Fork took on the mammoth task of twice-baking one of them, and the result was enough to serve six. And since we needed just a little meat with our potatoes, jerk-seasoned venison stood in as a commendable side. Fork will expound on his experiences with the potatoes and venison momentarily.

Fortified and ready for winter!--S