I'm blaming it on the Butternut Squash Gratin!

My posts have been abruptly halted by the incredibly lame right neck and arm pain that has kept me off my laptop for over a week.

Once I took the time to retrace what brought this on, all paths led to the huge pan of Butternut Squash Gratin I made for Thanksgiving last week (although, I have yet to disclose this to my frustrated chiropractor).   You see, I cut 4 large butternut squashes into 1/8" slices with the dullest damn (Global) knife on the planet.  Why didn't I use a mandolin?  Well, I only have a cheap-o model that doesn't have an adjustable blade (take note all of you out there wondering about what to get me for Christmas! ha!).  The squash would have disintegrated had it been any thinner and the texture of the gratin would have been one big pile o' mush instead of the delineated layers of goodness that it was.

However, that fricken squash was hard (as it should be) and my knife was painfully (literally) duller than you can imagine.  Funny thing is, the reason I even have this lovely piece of steel is because my chef friend Jon was prepping a side dish for one of my dinner parties a few years ago, and was shocked  at my poor stock of kitchen knives.  Next occasion to buy me something, a global knife appeared at my door (and he isn't even my bf!).  Okay, well that was a few years ago, and let's just say my sharpening skills are, um, non-existent.

Which brings me to the current issue, I can't type anymore without producing mucho pain later, so, don't worry, my posts will pick up as my arm chills out.  Stay tuned for more local eats as well as new posts about the naturally edible world outside my door.