Who Does the Shopping?

With men taking on a more active role in the household and parenting duties, guys are doing a greater portion of grocery shopping than in the past. Does this hold true for your household?

Marketing folks are on it. Ads on ESPN now feature Dad and son passing a football out back and then coming in for bowls of cereal. 

photo from www.gourmetads.com

We are curious, have your household responsibilities shifted over time or have they stayed the same? Does the "man of your house" go to the grocery store? Does he go alone or with you... and if he goes alone do you feel he does as good a job with the shopping list?

Squash Hash, The New Breakfast of Champs!

Break the cold cereal cycle with these squash hash browns that can be made in advance for a quick weekday breakfast. One of our hash brown's provide 100% of the RDA for Vitamin A and about 30% of the RDA for Vitamin C (just think all those vitamins before lunchtime!)

• 1 small butternut squash, about 2 lbs
• 1/2 a small onion
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• pinch cayenne (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
• olive oil, about 2 Tablespoons

Trim and peel the squash thoroughly, down to the dark orange flesh. Cut off the neck of the squash (from the base) and then halve the base and scoop out the seeds and pulp. Trim and peel the onion.

Using a box grater, grate all of the squash. Transfer the grated squash into a large colander resting inside a large bowl. Sprinkle the squash with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mix thoroughly. Set aside.

Separately, grate the onion, discarding any juices, to get about 1/3 cup grated onion. Add the onion to the squash and mix. Next reduce the amount of liquid in the mixture by squeezing handfuls of the squash mix over the. Ideally you want the mix to be as dry as possible.
Add the egg and mix to combine. Sprinkle in the flour, one tablespoon at a time, mix thoroughly.

Line a large plate with a sheet of plastic wrap and drizzle 1 teaspoon of olive oil on top of the plastic. Take about 1/3 cup of mixture at a time and form the squash into a patty, pressing firmly, then transfer to the oiled plastic. Repeat. You should get about 8 patties.
Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to the pan or spray with pan spray. Flip a patty into your hand, oiled side up, then slip the patty into the hot pan. Cook until golden brown, about 3-5 minutes, then flip and brown the second side for another 3-5 minutes, transfer to plate to cool.

Transfer patties to an airtight container with plastic wrap in between layers and freeze.
To reheat, preheat oven or toaster to 325. Place frozen hash browns on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until heated through. Serve.

Food and Music Pairings: Turntable Kitchen

Check out the next level of food pairings: food and music pairings!

Just as like foods pair well with like wines (acidic wines with acidic foods, bold wines with bold foods) Turntable Kitchen matches similar components in foods and tunes for delectable combinations.

For instance, Squash Blossom Omelet + The Shins' Oh, Inverted World album

Matthew's playful descriptions of "fluffy... airy... sparkling acid-tinged..." music, yes music, are remarkably articulate and delightfully accurate! We love that there's a link to listen to the featured music while reading about the pairing.

What an inspiration! We can't wait to read about the combinations to come. Too bad the list for monthly pairings boxes is not currently accepting additional signups. 

Do you have music on while cooking and/or eating?

Surprisingly Recyclable

Most people here in SF have larger recycling bins in their homes than trash cans. We passionately recycle and compost as much as we can, but what exactly can be recycled these days?

It varies (greatly) from city to city, depending on the capabilities at your local recycling plant, so definitely check online to see what is and is not recyclable in your neighborhood.

We checked the list for San Francisco and we shocked and impressed at how much the list of recyclables has grown since we last checked!

These items were most surprising for us to toss in the blue bin:
aluminum foil
spray cans
buckets with metal handles
CDs, DVDs and cases (with paper insert removed)
coffee cup lids
corks - plastic
flower pots and trays
toys (no electronics, metal or batteries)
tupperware
plastic utensils
wrapping paper (non-metallic)


Here's the full list of items welcome in the blue recycling bin:

Since we are legally obligated to compost, not many things go into the trash these days. A free standing paper grocery bag under the sink can hold the trash of 3 people for a week or longer, and because food scraps are in the compost bin, the trash doesn't get gross or smelly. It's odd, but awesome!

The question is no longer who takes out the trash, but who takes out the compost.