Sunday Supper

I awoke at 7:30 AM on Sunday. I made a 6-cup pot of coffee and then wrote out the Blog entry. It's 11 degrees F. out there but I am not complaining. The same high pressure system that's pushing in the artic cold kept the massive snow storm that dumped on Texas and Oklahoma south of us. I heard it hit North Carolina (my daughter Melissa) and Virginia (Sadie and Lu), with like ice and 6-8 inches of snow. I haven't heard from any of them (maybe the phone lines are out) but I hope they are all okay.

Here it's just quiet and cold.

I made myself three soft-boiled eggs for breakfast.

Melissa called at 1:00 PM. They only got two or three inches of snow, but that was topped with ice. We wouldn't think twice about that here, but there it paralyzed the whole state.

We talked about Sunday supper and I mentioned roasting a chicken and some butternut squash. She said she had a great recipe for butternut squash but you had to peel it. Peeling a butternut squash? I tried that once and never again! It's like trying to peel a rock!!

I took a nap after we hung up.

I started the roasted chicken and butternut squash at 6:00 PM. I cut the squash in half and dug out the seeds. I put a couple tablespoons of butter into each cavity and filled it with fresh thyme. Those went on a cookie sheet covered with tinfoil.

Next, I rinsed the brine off the chicken and patted it dry. I worked the skin loose here and there and slid in some compound butter I had made (butter and basil). I put a rough-chopped carrot, some celery, a couple cloves of garlic and an onion inside the bird and then trussed it. I rubbed the skin with olive oil (I think it makes it crispier than butter) and liberally sprinkled it with pepper. I put that in my small roasting pan.

I put the chicken and the squash into a preheated 350 degree F. oven and set the timer for an hour. When the timer went off, I checked the internal temperature of the chicken and took it out to rest. After about twenty minutes, I carved off a nice chunk and plated it with half the squash (discarding the thyme stems). It tasted fantastic!!!

I watched my usual Sunday night shows, but couldn't fall asleep until after midnight.