'Tis the Season for BBQing

Mmmmmmm... this was my Sunday night dinner...


What delicious tidbits are on there, you ask? Well... there is marinated tofu (extra firm, in cilantro, lime juice, smoked paprika, garlic, and cumin), onions, peppers, zucchini, and mango. (mango is my secret kabob weapon... its awesome... it holds up really well and adds a lot of moisture and is just really fantastically delicious).

Yum!

Featured Etsy Seller: soku

This weeks seller is soku, hailing from New Mexico. Her shop has gorgeous carved wood pieces, I especially like this Circular Walnut pendant:

and this Cherry 4-Tears pendant as well...

You should go check it out!

I'm back!

Well, after the emotional rollercoaster of the sweetened condensed milk, I seem to have taken a blog hiatus. But, I'm back! Here is a brief update on what I've been doing...

1. Making jewelery...
First, for myself (found something to do with leftover coins from my trip to Japan a few years ago):

Then for my cousin's prom:

And of course for my shop (continuing my love affair with chandelier prisms):

2. I highlighted my hair, which in a stroke of brilliant luck did not either make it fall out or turn green despite the fact that I am too impatient to mess around with "test strands" and all that jazz.

3. And, of course, I've been hanging out with the lovely Charlotte:

There's more, but these are many of the events that were actually recorded on film... so, now you're all caught up and I'll be resuming my regular posting (theoretically, of course).

Cheers!

The Victorious Return of La Leche...

Me vs. Sweetened Condensed Milk.
Round 2.

Ok, so, I had to do some work this afternoon, and while I as doing it, decided to take another stab at the boiling milk and making caramel thing. All revved up and confident from my first experience (not that it went that well, but I was at least more sure that I wasn't going to blow anything up), I put the can in, really really boiled it for 4 hours. And... it totally worked!!! Check it out!


So, this looks basically like all the stuff everyone else made. Now my problem is (and this is very hard to admit given that I have now invested approximately 7.5 hours of boiling, 2 trips to the grocery store for the 2 cans of milk, and quite a bit of time on google)... I don't like it. Its actually kind of gross- its just too sweet and heavy and still has too much milky taste. Maybe there is some delicious thing to use it in that I don't know about yet, so I saved it, but... yeah... there you go... victory is (way too) sweet.

Delicious dulce de leche... ummm.... yeah...

So, usually if I post about food, its because I'm all psyched that something turned out really well. Well, not today. Today, I would like to introduce you to one of the nastiest things to emerge from my kitchen in quite a while.

It all started when one of my co-workers picked up a can of sweetened condensed milk and told me that you can boil it (the can) and make caramel. (as a side note, what kind of job would involve cans of sweetened condensed milk but not kitchens? thats another story). He claimed you just stick the can in a pot of water, boil it, and end up with a can of caramel. I am a huge giant sucker for things that have very few ingredients and yet produce that "no way, I made that!" feeling (see, pitas) so of course I had to try it.

I consulted the internets, and it was even better than I hoped, you seriously just take the label off a can of sweetened condensed milk, completely submerge the can, and either simmer or boil it for 4 hours (there was conflicting info regarding simmering vs boilin). Now, on the face of it, heating up a closed can full of molten sugar seems like an insane prospect. And, it turns out, you need to be very careful to avoid acquiring a new dulce de leche colored kitchen paint job and hair-do (also, to be serious, being burned by a projectile boiling sticky substance would be no joke). But, people the world over seem to have done this without too much damage to life and limb, so I gave it a shot.

Here are my ingredients:

I submerged the can, and since I was kind of concerned about this whole thing, decided to go with a simmer rather than a boil (this was the first mistake). I also read that you can cook it from anywhere from 1-4 hours, with the main difference being the thickness of the resulting caramel (pourable vs scoopable). So, after 3 hours I decided to be done mainly because I wanted to go to bed (second mistake).

All the info said it has to be really cool before you open it, or it explodes (this was a lot more drama than something like, cookies). So, I let it cool over night, and woke up this morning all excited to see what I made.

Now, this is the kind of delicious looking item people have made (they also frost cakes with it, top ice-cream with it, make cookie sandwiches, etc, etc):

This is what I made (little did I know, this was the pinnacle of what I would produce)... a can of under-cooked yellow goo:

I remembered reading that if this happens, you can just submerge the open can most of the way to the top in a pot and cook it for a while. I started to do that, but, I had things to do and places to go, and got bored. I had also read that you can cook it in a pan, on the stove, and it'll do the same thing. So, that seemed reasonable. And, it was initially promising:

That era of promise lasted 3-4 minutes tops... when it reached the phase you can see below, I finally decided to pull the plug on the whole debacle... as you can see I generated a pot of chunky goo that was simultaneously burnt and undercooked and in no way resembled delicious caramel. Julia Childs, here I come!

Now, the upside is, I am a stubborn lady, and now that I am more confident that the can won't explode, am definitely going to try this again... so, I'll keep you posted.

(The real irony here is that when I went to get the milk, strawberries were on sale, so I also made this super awesome strawberry pie inspired by Lauren over at Love Your Oven, but I didn't even get to take a picture because the camera batteries died (or maybe, the lens was burnt out by the hideousness of the chunky goo?). Anyhow, it is spectacularly delicious.

Daily Mystery: Solved!!!

This is about as good a resolution as I could have hoped for... with almost no work on my part, I have figured out what these weird things are!

It was by complete random chance that I clicked on a post that had a link to this...

It looked very coincidentally like my mystery flower, so I sent a message to the very kind and helpful etsian Sapphires Child on the off chance she knew about this one too. Turns out, she did!

Since I am sure you were on the edge of your seat waiting to find out about this, this is your moment...

So, the mystery plant is a Blue Passion Flower, or Passiflora caerulea, which is a South American vine. Apparently it gets its name based on religious symbolism associated with the Passion of the Christ, which I'll leave to you to read on wikipedia if you feel like it. I was more intrigued by the fact that the weird fruits are actually edible, and the flowers can become tea. Although, I was sort of put off that idea by the fact that the article says that the leaves contain a substance that breaks down into cyanide, but that 'its possible to boil away most of the cyanide'. Really, this is a little disturbing on a couple levels... 1. should people really be getting instructions on eating random plants in their yard from wikipedia? and 2. "most of" the cyanide can be boiled off? MOST OF? hmmmm... when we're talking about a highly toxic substance (although- maybe its fine, the caveat here is the only thing I know about it is based on Sherlock Holmes novels where I remember that it smells of bitter almonds) somehow that just doesn't seem like a good idea...

But at any rate, I'm totally psyched that I ran into Sapphires Child and she helped me out... in honor of that, here's her etsy mini... check out her shop and spread the good will!

Major Excitement!

Now, I realize I haven't actually owned this thing long enough to take credit, but CHECK THIS OUT! These are totally baby limes... hurray! Now I just have to try not to kill them...

Movie Alert: The King of Kong

If you haven't seen the documentary "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" yet, stop reading immediately, update your netflix cue, and them come back and finish. Seriously, you will regret it if you don't.

It tells the sordid story of the battle for the worlds highest Donkey Kong score. (Yes, apparently people still play Donkey Kong in arcades, and yes, they take it very very seriously). The main contenders are the reigning Donkey Kong champ, Billy Mitchell and the up and coming new kid, Steve Wiebe. Billy has been a video game champion since the 80's with high scores on PacMan and Donkey Kong. He also sports a truly fantastic blow-dried mullet, and equally fantastic gaudy neck ties. Steve is a pretty normal looking dude, with a nice seeming wife and kids, who sets a goal of achieving a high score, and spends the entire movie trying to get the higher echelons of the gaming establishment (mainly consisting of the community affiliated with Twin Galaxies, the main organization regulating gaming scores) to acknowledge his efforts.


Its totally hilariously intriguing, because the extent that Billy (and, his battalion s of yes-men and henchmen) will go to to maintain the status quo is kind of mind blowing. I got to go to a screening of this where the director and producer spoke afterwards, and, apparently not only is it all true, the drama continues on to this day. You've got to see this, mainly, because you seriously cannot make this kind of stuff up...

Mmmm.... Lemon Bars

I love lemon bars... (now it seems like maybe getting a lime tree was a tactical error? nah, I still want the margaritas. Maybe I just need lemon bars AND margaritas... hmmm...).

Anyhow, I made some on Saturday, as you can see here. I've loved them since I was a kid, and I like them better than any lemon bars you can get in a store because #1 they are not florescent yellow and #2 they are really tart and lemony. This is how you make them...

Crust:
2C flour
1C butter (real, unadulterated, buttery butter. yep)
.5C powdered sugar

Blend these up and then press them with your fingers into a buttered (more butter! hurray!) 9x13 pan-- just make sure its evenly spread, don't completely mush it down. Bake about 25 minutes at 350, or until its a really light lovely golden brown.

While its cooking, mix up the topping:
4 eggs
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (fresh, seriously, its what makes the whole recipe)
2C sugar

Beat the eggs, blend in the sugar and juice and beat more. It will taste even better if you put in a bunch of really fine lemon zest from the lemons you just juiced.

When the crust is done, just pull it halfway out of the oven, pour the liquid topping on, and put it back in. Bake for 25 more minutes, until just slightly golden brown....

Take them out and let them totally cool off before you slice them up... garnish with powdered sugar.

Yum!

Daily Mystery: Revisited

A while ago I posted about these totally bizarre fruits that were growing on a plant I pass every day on the way to my car. I didn't really think about it further, until that plant just popped out the weirdest Dr. Seuss-like flowers I have ever seen... check it out. So weird!

Sunday Shopping Alert: My Belle Bijoux

This week's feature is Michelle Hambourg at My Belle Bijoux, a seller from Toronto. Her shop has a variety of jewelry styles, but my favorites are the burnt wood pieces. The lines are simple, but the trees have almost a dreamy Dr. Seuss-like feel to them... they are definitely totally unique. I especially like these two pendants: the Crying Tree Pendant and the Only In Dreams pendant


You can also find more of her work on her flickr and her blog... go check it out!

Mmm.... Margarita Time! (well, eventually)

Whats this? This is the cutest little dwarf lime tree you've ever seen. I had this pot, which is awesome and blue, and weighs about 1 million pounds, but when I got it, it had this sort of deformed lemon tree that has never in its life yielded a lemon. The lemon tree didn't survive the winter, so I went to buy a new one. Then I realized... if you have lemons you can make lemonade... but if you have limes, you can make margaritas! The choice was clear. And, here he is...

Website Wednesday: No Pants Day

This is also late... this weeks feature is (wait for it)... No Pants Day! Now, you may not be aware of this, so I'm considering it a public service announcement. You should most likely start doing power squats immediately in prep for the annual No Pants Day on May 2, 2008. For more info, you can see the comprehensive website at (you guessed it)...
http://www.nopantsday.com

You can actually see documentation of the no-pants celebrations in the no-pants photo gallery... I was going to put up a few, but, after some careful consideration I decided that posting pictures of strangers in their underwear is just not really my bag. So, you'll have to go forth and forage for pics yourself.

I realize you may be thinking things like... so, if I have no pants on, then where do I keep my pocket lint? Or, if I have no pants on, and my shoes don't have to match my belt, do I have to match them to something else or does everything just devolve into complete chaos? Or, if NO ONE has pants on (not just young hot people, but all people), do I even want to go out of the house? The FAQ answers some of these kinds of burning issues, for instance-- "haha, you only said no PANTS, so can I wear a kilt instead?" (the answer is no, you wiley wiley cheater)

If you ARE debating what outfit to wear, they have kindly supplied a quiz. I, apparently, will be wearing a lovely pair of boxers. Keep your eye out!

You Should Wear Boxers! Boxers are a good choice for you. They are always funny, and they keep your private parts private. Find out which No Pants Day outfit YOU should wear! No Pants Day is May 2nd, 2008. To find out more about No Pants Day, visit www.NoPantsDay.com

Belated Easter Craftiness

Well, I'm running a little late this week... you knows how it goes.

But, this is exciting. This weekend, during a visit home, I walked in the door and was immediately greeted by the sight of one of my earliest crafty endeavors. Meet... the purple paper mache easter bunny, circa approximately 1985.

This guy was a pretty prototypical childhood paper mache project- there are a couple balloons in there, tissue paper, paste, some googly eyes, cut up egg cartons, pipecleaners, and so on. What I think is amazing is that he is a testament to the sheer staying power of properly preserved combinations of paper and glue. Seriously... he looks basically identical to how he looked on the day of his birth. He has slightly crossed eyes, lovely pink and purple shading, and sprongy little whiskers. He's sort of in need of a patch job in a few places, but you know, like a few grey hairs- I think it makes him look distinguished.

Featured Etsy Seller: Stepping Stones

I fell madly in love with the work of this etsy seller as soon as I saw it... Stepping Stones has gorgeous jewelry made from, you guessed it, stones! (and, as you can see by my banner, I am WAY into that ;-). Stepping Stones is a family endeavor, based out of the Rhode Island Coast (although, I've been told that some of the stones are also the product of occasional visits to LA!).

I really like the clean, simple lines of the jewelry as you can see here with the Tres Hermanas neckace...

Of course I can't just pick one favorite, and also like the Tres Sorelle choker
and The Eye pendant.... this stuff is gorgeous and you should check it out!

Who's Bed is it Anyways?

I think it is pretty clear- I may pay the rent, but she's just letting me live here as a courtesy.

Pita: The Next Generation

So, having made mass quantities of pita bread I just wanted to show some of the forms it has taken this week... in addition to pita and hummus (obviously), pita to dip in yummy lentils, and pita with peanut butter, we have... pita pizza! (since its extra thick and squishy it makes perfect individual pizza crusts. yum!!!)

Website Wednesday: Monobrow.com

As a follow up to last weeks feature on Beard Team USA this week we're going to move a few inches north and celebrate... the monobrow!

In case you need clarification, wikipedia can give use some additional information: it seems that the monobrow, or unibrow, which is medically known as a synophrys, refers to a hypertrophy and merging of the eyebrows-- basically, the presence of abundant hair between the eyebrows, so that they seem to converge to form one long eyebrow. If you STILL need clarification (which seems impossible, but I will pander to your whims), here are some famous monobrows...


Behold, Bert and Frida.








Now. I don't want you to think that monobrows are a thing of the past. On the contrary, monobrows are alive and well... in fact, there is a thriving monobrow community, located at none other than http://www.monobrow.com . This group has a mission statement, and a deeply moving call to arms... "You're not alone. Monobrow.com, celebrating the unity of your eyebrows".

I'm pretty sure my favorite feature is the monobrow of the week although the game of Memory comprised entirely of pictures of monobrows is also something special. Fortunately, they also supply a series of helpful links, including ones on management of unibrows and appropriate tools to use.

Homemade Pitas... wow!

On my list of things I never even pondered making at home was (apparently) pita bread. I was so far from pondering it that I had never even wondered about it until my aunt gave me 'A Baker's Odyssey' for my birthday (which is worth checking out, by the way). Among recipes for baked goods from around the world was a simple sounding pita recipe. I've been biding my time until I had an empty Sunday evening, and this weekend was it!

Here is the cliff notes version of what to do (including my modifications):
1. proof one package of yeast in half a cup hot water with just a dash of sugar (10 min)
2. to the yeast/water mixture add 1c flour, 2c water, and ~2tsp salt (it seems like a lot, but gives a good non-sweet flavor to the final product) and beat. Add 2 more cups flour to this along with 2T olive or canola oil.
3. stir in about 3 more cups flour until it looks like dough.
4. knead this for a bit, adding more flour until it is smooth and not sticky any more, shape into a ball.
5. coat a clean bowl with more oil, put the dough in the bowl and roll around to coat. cover and let rise (if I had read this post already, I would have used a shower cap, because I think that is an awesome idea).
6. Wait for the dough to double (an excellent activity during this time is to pre-emptively make hummus!)
7. Turn out on to work surface, deflate it a bit, and divide with a sharp knife (you can do 16 pieces, that worked well or if you want mini pitas could even do 24 or so).
8. shape each piece into a ball (be sure to pinch the seam shut) and put on a cookie sheet or towel, seam side down
9. let them sit while you pre-heat the oven (10-20 min). The oven should be REALLY hot. I used 500 because it was the hottest my oven goes. Put a cookie sheet in there while it is preheating so it also is pre-heated. If you have a baking or pizza stone you should use that, but plan ahead and start heating it up earlier.
10. roll out the dough into round shapes- you can decide if you want them fatter or thinner, mine are about as wide as my hand is from the fingers to the wrist. let them sit a few more minutes
11. this is the crazy part. Put some circles on the very hot cookie sheet (mine held 4) for only about 2-3 minutes (my oven took 3 minutes because it is a 'crapi' apartment oven). You'll know they are close because they puff up like little balloons! they shouldn't be very brown at all, the puffing is the main sign they are done.
12. now you have to get them out- BE CAREFUL, they are full of really hot steam. I gently pulled mine onto a oven mitt and then tossed them onto a towel... you can see how puffy they are...
13. Deflate each one as it comes out, and stack them up wrapped in a tea towel. I let mine cool tightly wrapped in the towel over night because they were too hot to put in a plastic baggy.
14. enjoy! this is seriously the best pita I have ever had, it is so moist and soft and delicious- and its like magic, it even is split on the inside like 'real' pita. I'm incorporating it into every meal and its awesome...

Truth in Advertising

Ok, this is hilarious. I drive by this apartment building EVERY DAY and have been doing so for about 4 years now... and I never noticed this until someone (my Mom! who was visiting with my family!) pointed it out Sunday. A lot of apartment buildings around here have named themselves, and most of the time they're pretty cheezy, usually something about sunbursts, villas, and the like. But this one... this one completely takes the cake...
Do you think they just never said the name out loud? Or, did they think that a fancy font and spelling it with an 'i' would bamboozle people? Or maybe, just maybe, they thought that they'd just put it all out there, and see if anyone would just rent it anyways...

Sunday Shopping Alert: CidTalk

This weeks featured etsy seller is Cidtalk, an extremely talented artist from Jefferson City, Missouri. Her etsy shop is full of prints of ink drawings, available as both frameable prints and cards. The subjects of her work are often details from nature, such as flowers, plants, fish and insects (even snails!). I really like how the topics are so organic, but then the drawings have a really crisp, sharp, modern edge to them. The details of the pictures (like, in the leaves) have an abstract feel that reminds me of art from the Pacific Northwest.

My favorite series is the "Crops of the World"... it is a group of four pieces that include Coffee, Wheat, Chocolate & Sugar, and Corn.

Being the die-hard coffee lover that I am, obviously I can't resist showing you that one...

And, if I can't have coffee, I want to have chocolate, so I better show you that one, too!

You can see her at her shop and also on her blog... go check it out!

Sock Drawer Hilarity

The other day, I found something fantastically amazingly awesome in my sock drawer (ok, ok, maybe it was the underwear drawer. whatever... either way.). I had no idea it existed, that I had it, or that I had been apparently dragging it around with me for years with my stash of unclaimed socks. Here it is... (drumroll please!)...

So, now that you've seen the picture I bet you think that I have either a. a very small body, or b. very big feet. Well, my friends, you would be wrong. The sock is there for scale, because what we have here is the extremely rare and elusive Cabbage Patch Kid bathing suit. Yep, when you grow up in sunny Southern California, even the dolls have bathing suits. Not having grown up into a particularly girly-girl, the fact that I ever even wanted this thing in the first place is almost as hilarious as the fact that it is still with me to this day. I love it. After recovering from my hysterical laughter, I put it right back in the drawer. I think I'll keep it there forever, you know, to keep in touch with my inner 8 year old...

Website Wednesday: The Beard Series

There is nothing I love more than inadvertently stumbling upon some random niche full of people completely passionate about something I have never even thought about before.

For instance, I have recently learned that beards have more uses than concealing receding chins, keeping lumberjacks warm in winter, and making life scratchy and miserable for your significant other. Oh no, beards appear to be a deeply prized art form. As a case in point, for this Website Wednesday, I give you.... the Beard Team USA... a group who's primary goal is 'promoting the worldwide appreciation of beards and mustaches'
http://beardteamusa.org/index.html

Is this some crazy American fetish, you ask? Ooooh no. Not even close. Because (brace yourself) the USA Beard Team COMPETES in the World Beard and Mustache Championships. Yes, its true:
http://worldbeardchampionships.com/

In addition, the Beard Team has a blog, in which they discuss modern and historical events as related to beards, as well as beard related events.
http://worldbeardchampionships.com/

I was super excited about the loofahs, but this, this is really exciting stuff. I'll leave you with a few samples of some of the contestants (these photos come directly from the Gallery of Contestants and Champions, part of the World Beard Championships website)

News Flash: You Can Grow Loofahs in Your Yard

I learned this the other day and to me, this is nothing less than mind blowing. You know loofahs, the things you scrub with in the shower? You might have thought they were a sea sponge, or something similar, right? Oh no, my friend. A luffah is a tropical vine that bears a fruit that can be eaten, or dried and turned into a shower sponge.

I know, I know, how bizarre is that?

If you don't believe me, here is a picture of the fruit, lifted from wikipedia...
Apparently, you can get the seeds, plant them, and it grows as a vine. After they mature, you can harvest them, remove the fleshy part of the fruit, and dry the rest. I found step by step instructions here at Groovy Green (which also has some interesting instructions on things like making a compost heated shower- an idea I was slightly less enthusiastic about).

I guess you learn something new every day!

Sunday Shopping Alert: Spamberly

This weeks etsy seller is spamberly with her alt_cross_stitch, a seller from Sommerville, Mass (which on an unrelated note is one of my old stomping grounds). She does hilarious cross stitch samplers, and loving the Big Lebowski as I do, I especially like this one ...
Go check it out!

Hammer Time

Now that I have a little more room to work, I've recently started getting into hammered sterling jewelry. I've always liked wearing it, so now its exciting to be starting to make some. Plus, what better kind of hobby is there than one that lets you simultaneously be productive and bang the cr@p out of something! (my neighbors may be somewhat less enthusiastic, though).

Here are some of my recent efforts... I like that this group of pieces have this vibe thats both rustic and modern, but also really simple. You can see some of them at my etsy shop (I might keep the bracelet, though ;-)...

Cuteable- hoooray!

I've been featured on Cuteable... yay!

http://cuteable.com

(and more specifically http://cuteable.com/cuteable-finds-171/1776 )

Website Wednesday: Programmer or Serial Killer

This quiz is surprisingly difficult...

http://www.mattround.freeserve.co.uk/files/killerquiz.swf

Mmmmm.... beer...

So, this weekend some friends and I tapped into our inner Homer Simpsons and went to (no, not a chili cook off)... a Belgian Beer festival... mmmmm... (no Duff, though).

We planted ourselves there for the afternoon, and here are some of the very delicious samplings...

And, being the industrious, organized, well-documented people that we are, we took copious notes. Some small percentage of which are still legible.

Once I locate, and attempt to decipher, the list, I may report on some of our more delicious findings.

Sunday Shopping Alert: Aloka Jewelry

This weeks featured etsy seller is Aloka Jewelry, headed up by Lakshmi, a very talented metalsmith who is also a medical student! Her shop name is inspired by a Sanskrit word, meaning 'vision, glimmer, an opening of the eyes'... and I think that description is well-suited to the aesthetic of her shop. Her pieces have simple clean lines, but also carry a lovely, exotic feel. I especially love the Blooming Lotus piece pictured below, but the Filigree Necklace representing a lotus emerging from a pond is also gorgeous...In addition to bringing you really unique and lovely jewelry, the shop has an important social mission as well... all profits are donated to Asha for Education, an organization that is trying to achieve socio-economic change in India by focusing on education- they're working towards this by both improving the educational system, and the factors that influence access to education. So, get a fantastic piece of jewelry... help children... what is there to lose? Go check it out.

Comfort Food: Squash Soup

I've had a crazy week, so last night on the way home I decided the perfect dinner after a series of long long days would be blended curry squash soup.

In my head, I called it comfort food. But, that got me thinking about what that phrase really means- the last comfort food post I had was on peanut butter cookies I remember making as a kid, which seems more like canonical comfort food- its from my childhood, its sugary and fatty and delicious, and its definitely a treat. This soup is not like anything my mother ever made me, its not fatty or unhealthy or even particularly treatlike, but its one of my go-to recipes whenever I want something yummy that takes just enough work to make you feel like you cooked, but not so much you can't muster the energy when you're tired. Maybe as an adult, thats one form of this kind of comfort... learning how to put in just enough effort, in just the right direction, on your own behalf to make yourself feel better.

At any rate, whatever it is... here's the soup!
Basically, there are millions of versions of it, everyone I know has their own. Mine starts with a coarsely diced onion, coarsely diced granny smith apple, a whole bunch of ginger, some curry powder, salt, cayenne, and a dash of cinnamon. Brown it all in some oil.

Then... the squash. Butternut, acorn, just something yellow. Usually I throw in a sweet potato, too (but today I forgot).

After chopping up the squash, cover with water, and boil until soft. Once its soft, throw it in the blender and mash it up- I like to only blend it just enough, it tastes good just a bit chunky.

And after that all thats left to do is... enjoy!